[Maj.PotHead]

found this while surfing lol

scientists believe they can harness the drug's anaesthetic action while doing away with its psychedelic effects

full story here kinda interesting



for those who dont hit links


posted on April 5, 2011, at 2:26 PM

In a move stoners may consider irreverent, scientists may have figured out how to separate the pain-relieving and mind-altering effects of cannabis. Photo: CC BY: r0bz SEE ALL 40 PHOTOS


What is marijuana without the high? Still a very effective painkiller. And now, scientists believe they can harness the drug's anaesthetic action while doing away with its psychedelic effects. In a new paper published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, Professor Li Zhang and a team of scientists at the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism report that THC can potentially be used as a side-effect-free painkiller. Is a new class of "non-psychotropic cannabinoids" on the way? Here's a brief guide:
What is this breakthrough exactly?
Zhang and his team discovered that tetrahydrocannabinol (more commonly known as THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, produces different effects by bonding to different receptors in the brain. Scientists have known for years that THC bonds with a certain receptor to produce the classic disorienting marijuana high. But now researchers have identified precisely where THC targets the nervous system to lessen anxiety and dull pain. Hence, the potential to satisfy medical marijuana's desire for pure pain relief.

How'd they figure this out?
By experimenting on mice, naturally. Scientists blocked the pain-reducing receptors in the stoned rodents' brains, then subjected them to a "tail-flick test" — hitting mices' tails with "focused heat" — and counted how long it took for them to respond. The fact that the mice still felt pain, even when they were dosed with THC, "confirms that the drug's pain-relief and psychotropic effects can be decoupled," says Andy Coghlan at The New Scientist.

So... THC pain pills?
Quite possibly. "Soon," says Annalee Newitz at IO9, "people whose stomachs are too tender for aspirin or ibuprofin may be swallowing THC pills to get rid of headaches."
Could another result be THC pills that do nothing but get you high?
It's the question recreational users will be pondering: "Is there a way to create a synthetic form of THC that does nothing but get you high, without all those pesky 'medicinal' side-effects?" asks Newitz at IO9. Stay tuned.
Sources: Nature Chemical Biology, New Scientist, I09, LA Weekly, Ars Technica


hum

[TB Gardens]

Been around for years already .... Called brick weed ;-)

[MJBadger]

Been around for years already

Thats bit is true . Sativex is just 1 product of Canna that is on the market & there are a lot more with the same principle . Pain relief without the high . A good search amongst MMJ threads/sites will provide plenty of information .

[jd4083]

Originally Posted by TB Gardens

Been around for years already .... Called brick weed ;-)

IDK about you, but when I think back to the highest I've ever been, I think of some Columbian brick weed from about 10 years ago...not any of the Dutch Special BS commercial strains that even I am guilty of running today...

[mean mr.mustard]

I have smoked some seriously good bricked weed.

I'm pretty disappointed that people want some but not all of what cannabis puts on the table.

Marketed drugs containing cannabinoids scare me into thinking we aren't going to be seeing MMJ much longer.

[treewizard]

You're welcome to quit growing if you want to. If they ban lights, I'll go outside(want to anyways). If they ban commercial canna ferts, still no problem. Just saying, the law is arbitrary.

[TruthOrLie]

You beat me to it with the brick weed punch line.

I was gonna say commercial growers have known about this secret for years.

The early chop!

[TruthOrLie]

You beat me to it with the brick weed punch line.

I was gonna say commercial growers have known about this secret for years.

The early chop!

EDIT: Wierd, been double posting a lot lately?

[supermanlives]

you can say that again LOL

[SOTF420]

The highest I have ever got in my life was also on some killer brick weed, some panama red actually. It was a religious experience Stringy red resinous psychotropic flowers, just totally insane potency with an electric tingly high. Panama Red that shit changed my life.

No point in MMJ without the high, that is pretty much the point.