everyone is talking about CBD and THC
which are two important chemicals found
in marijuana with marijuana legalization
becoming mainstream what is the actual
difference between CBD and THC inside
you right now there's a biological
pathway at work called the
endocannabinoid system that helps
regulate your mood appetite memory and
pain sensation THC and CBD though hijack
this system this is the chemical
structure of THC also known as
tetrahydrocannabinol if you are feeling
fancy and this is the chemical structure
of CBD also known as cannabidiol what
you may notice is that their chemical
structures seem almost identical they
have the same molecular formula which is
C 21 H 3002 and both of their masses
clocking at 314 grams per mole but there
is one extremely important structural
difference where THC contains a cyclic
ring CBD contains a hydroxyl group and
this difference in biochemistry actually
controls whether or not you feel high in
order to fully understand why you need
to first know about the cb1 receptor in
your unstoned
to sober body your cb1 receptor is
affected by a neurotransmitter called an
and amide which controls generation of
pleasure motivation and feeding behavior
in your unstoned body and manda mine is
released after exercising and it's what
causes a runner's high THC structure is
so similar to Ananda mine that it fits
in perfectly to the cb1 receptor
therefore causing you to feel high CBD
on the other hand because of the
hydroxyl group is different in shape and
does not fit into the cb1 receptor
therefore it doesn't make you feel high
but CBD does bind to other receptors in
your cannabinoid system affecting you in
other ways a lot of excitement came
around a 2011 study where a few dozen
people with social anxiety disorder were
asked to speak in front of a large
audience some were given CBD some were
given a placebo those who were given CBD
reported significantly less anxiety
there are also many animal studies
showing CBDs anti-anxiety and
anti-inflammatory properties which can
explain why some people say it helps
with their anxiety and with chronic pain
research is also discovering that THC
can actually
a head Grove eight psychotic symptoms
while CBD on the other hand may help
with psychosis so what happens when you
consume them at the same time one study
found that due to CBDs biochemical shape
it can actually bind to the cb1 receptor
and turn it off in a binding pattern
known to biologists as allosteric
inhibition
this means that CBD actually makes the
THC unable to bind as well and therefore
decreases how high you feel if you
vaporize marijuana with 25% THC and 0.1%
CBD you will feel high as the THC is
going to bind to the cb1 receptor with
little interference from CBD if you
consume marijuana with 25% THC and 12%
CBD this more CBD will inhibit the THC
from binding to the cb1 receptor
decreasing th DS effect and leading you
to being less high where marijuana is
legally sold likely they will indicate
what percentage of THC and CBD is in the
product you are choosing which will help
you to understand the effects that will
have on your body in the end THC is a
chemical found in marijuana with a
chemical structure that makes you feel
high CBD is a chemical found in
marijuana with a different chemical
structure that doesn't make you feel
high but it can affect your body in
other less obvious ways there is still
conflicting research and a lot more to
understand about both chemicals with
more states and countries legalizing
marijuana
hopefully increased research can uncover
more details about how these two
chemicals affect us because weed is now
legal in Canada we created a new series
called stoned
science where we make comedians get high
and try to explain complex science
concepts our first episode is about the
respiratory system so click here to
watch it and let us know what you think
as we continue to evolve this new idea