... in almost alphabetical order
Self-Titration - *key concept in pharmacology...why potency is positive
Analytical Chemistry - The area of chemistry concerned with measuring the various aspects of chemicals in a sample. Analytical chemists use small samples of material and perform a variety of tests to determine the properties of the sample. The analytical chemist does not usually synthesize compounds, but instead only takes measurments to determine content and identity. Determining the cannabinoid content of cannabis requires requires application of analytical chemistry.
Anandamide - The first discovered endogenous (occurs in the body naturally) cannabinoid. It is a chemical derivative of a fatty acid type molecule known as arachidonic acid.
Cannabinoids - A class of organic compounds (molecules) exclusive to the cannabis plant that are derived from natural terpene precursors. Some cannabinoids, such as CBD, have little to no psychoactive effect while others such as THC and CBN, are partially responsible for the psychoactive cannabis experience. Cannabinoids are terpene-phenolic compounds (derived from terpenes plus phenols).
Cannabinoid Receptors CB-1 & CB-2 - Click for pdf
Decarboxylation - The loss of carbon dioxide (CO2) from a molecule. This usually happens when a carboxylic acid (R-COOH) loses CO2. THC acid (THCa) undergoes decarboxylation when it is heated and this transformation is a vital contribution to the conversion to the more psychoactive form, THC. Also CBDa -> CBD. Here is an organic chemistry schematic of cannabinoid decarboxylation.
Drug Receptor - A cell component that combines with a drug, hormone, or chemical to alter the function of that cell. Drug receptors are conceptually like locks and chemical molecules are the keys. Many receptors will respond to multiple keys with each key having a different effect. Anandamide and other cannabinoids bond with the cannabinoid receptors to different degrees. Depending on the shape of the surface of the cannabinoid, it will affect the receptor in different ways. That is why some cannabinoids are psychoactive and some are not. It all comes down to how well and in what position that the key enters the lock. - Cannabinoid Receptor Animation
Receptors can regulate a biological process or it can turn processes on or off. An example might be depression meds called serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). The prescription drug inhibits the process of the body naturally turning serotonin into a byproduct and this elevates serotonin levels thus reducing depression.
Receptors are classified by the biological systems or cycles that they regulate. Some regulate adrenaline and those receptors and drugs are said to be adrenergic. Other important receptor systems in your body include cholinergic, nicotinic and muscarinic to name a few.
Learn more about receptors via PowerPoint: Intro to Pharmacology
First-Pass Metabolism is a phenomenon of drug metabolism whereby the concentration of a drug is greatly reduced before it reaches the systemic circulation. -Wikipedia More (The body filters out some substances before they reach the bloodstream. For this reason, oral doses often have more drug than other formulations.)
Gas Chromatograph- A sensitive oven-like instrument that distills liquids/oils from a small sample. The hot gas mixture is passed through a thin tube that is lined with a stationary chemical, similar to an artery lined with cholesterol. Gas chromatography takes advantage of the fact that different components of the mixture are collected inside of the tube at different rates and this provides for isolation and measurement of each chemical in the mixture (e.g. THC, CBD, CBN). Sometimes unknown compounds can be identified. Chemistry & Schematics
To the cannabis scientist the gas chromatograph (GC) is an extremely valuable tool. Because the GC allows you to measure most volatile compounds, it allows you to precisely determine the effects of your experiments, whether it be for THC content, THC/CBD ratio or to measure various flavor components for new floral strains (e.g. content % of a terpene called pinene).
Here is an example of applied GC.
HPLC is a related analytical tool.
Glomerular Filtration - Links to an introductory video on kidney function. This a key concept in pharmacology.
Isomerization - Generally, the flipping of a molecule into another geometric shape, or the rearrangement of the positions of the atoms. With many drugs, one shape does one thing, the other shape does another, or sometimes nothing at all. Isomerization can be a natural process but is also often influenced by things like heat, light or pH. Some cannabinoids isomerize to more more potent forms. Others do the opposite.
Medicinal Chemistry - The intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involving the design and development of therapeutic drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and development of new chemical entities suitable for therapeutic use. It also includes the study of existing drugs, their biological properties, and their quantitative (measurement of) structure-activity relationships (QSAR). -WikiPedia
It is through medicinal chemistry that the majority of man's modern pharmacopoeia is derived from natural products found plants. Say a plant-chemical shows some good effect in tests. A medicinal chemist modifies the molecule just a little, in different ways to see if they can get a better effect with fewer side effects. Looking at how the body reacts to all these little variations in the molecule tells scientists and doctors much more about the body and how diseases do what they do. These scientists continue keep building their understanding in this way. Liquid science.
Pharmacology - The study of drugs, including their composition, biosynthesis, uses and effects in animals. Two important sub-disciplines are: pharmaco-dynamics and pharmaco-kinetics.
Pharmacodynamics is the study of the molecular, biochemical, and physiological effects of drugs on cellular systems and their mechanisms of action. More simply stated, pharmacodynamics is the study of how drugs act on the body while pharmacokinetics is the study of how the body acts on drugs. You can't have one without the other.
Pharmacokinetics -
The study of the Absorption,
Distribution, Metabolism and Excretion (ADME) of drugs. More simply stated, pharmacodynamics is
the study of how drugs act on the body while pharmacokinetics is
the study of how the body acts on
drugs. You can't have one without the other.
Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) - Process for measuring/predicting how small modifications to a molecule will change its effects. Example: Cannabinoids - The scientist measures the various effects of say THC. The chemist creates a few versions of THC by making slight changes to it, then each new analogue is tested. Based on the data, accurate assumptions can be made about what hundreds of other modifications will do. This helps folks decide which forms are worth putting more effort into.
Scientific Method - An in depth paper from Cambridge University (several pages). The Value of Science - Feynman
Solvent - A substance that dissolves other substances, thus forming a solution (e.g. Table salt (NaCl) dissolved into water. Water is the solvent in this case).
There are two classes of solvents: polar and non-polar. Polar solvents are usually alcohols or water, something with OH on the molecule (H2O=HOH). Non-polar solvents are usually long chain molecules like pentane or heptane or octane, or ring molecules like benzene.
Self-Titration- Very Important Concept to understand when arguing with somone that claims increased potency is a bad thing. Any claim that more potent pot is significantly more physically harmful than the pot of yesteryear is absurd. Increased potency is a very positive trend and in the future should pharmaceutical companies need natural sources of cannabinoids, the cannabis strains that result will be unbelievably potent and genetically refined for maximum resin yield; Beyond comfort.
Increased potency means that the user obtains the desired effect (via self-titration or self-thai-tration) using a lesser amount of the other components. The basis of the 'smoking' argument really has nothing to do with cannabinoids or their effects. Due to increased potency, a medical patient consumes less cannabis to reach the desired effect, thus less of the potentially harmful impurities and byproducts... in fact, this is true of the use of butter extracts as well.
HIGHER POTENCY CANNABIS MEANS SMALLER AMOUNTS OF IMPURITIES. Higher potency cannabis consumed via inhalation is physically SAFER, in our opinion, than lower cannabinoid-content cannabis! And vaporization is much safer than combustion. Vaporization of superb quality cannabis is potentially one of the safest options for consumption in that inessential and extraneous components are minimized. . "Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutic substances known..." -Dr. Lester Grinspoon
Caveat: One possibility is proposed in which the increased THC/CBD varieties of today (the genotype of tomorrow) are actually somewhat detrimental as medical grade cannabis, should it be that non-cannabinoid consituents of the resin synergize to give maximum medical benefit. That is to say, some papers pitch the liklihood that flavonoids, phytoestrogens and terpenes in cannabis can act either independently or together, with or without cannabinoids to offer therapetic benefit. If this is true, then breeders may be increasing cannabinoid content but actually sacrificing other chemicals and critical essences that are necessary for maximum synergy and maximum therapeutic index. Science needs to compare the effects of not only high cannabinoid ratios, but high and varied terpene and flavonoid content, high-polypharmaceuticals content.
Here is a paper suggesting the importance of Polypharmaceutical Cannabis as opposed to silver-bullet THC/CBD. This is an important argument for keeping synthetic cannabinoid pharmaceutical$ from overshadowing politics and the further induction/continuation of legal medicinal usage of whole cannabis.
Soxhlet Extraction - A method of extracting certain components (e.g. oils) from a solid substrate such as plant biomass. Solvent is boiled, condensed and dripped through the plant matter to extract and collect the essential oils. The solvent is recycled making for a highly efficient and contained extraction provided appropriate solvent is used.
Spectroscopy - The study by which we utilize electromagnetic energy (e.g. light, UV, infrared, etc.) and expose readily willing molecules in order to perturb or excite them. How theses molecule react to being in the spotlight tells us much about them. With infrared spectroscopy (IR) we look at how the molecule uniquely dances about. With UV we might look at how much a molecule will absorb or throw back at us with vengence.
Terpene - Major volatile components of cannabis responsible for the smell and flavor, among other things; A type of strong-smelling chemical substance found in some plants, especially trees that have cones. Terpenes are found in essential oils. Terpenes are the major components of resin, and of turpentine produced from resin. The name "terpene" is derived from the word "turpentine". Cannabinoids are made using terpenes as building blocks. More: Wiki or Palomar.
THC content varies from 0-25%, based on dry weight. Strains containing an estimated 12-16% THC have become more more commonplace than the average strains of yesteryear. This is the result of a several factors including continued selective breeding, more experienced cultivators, easier technology access via internet, and the drastic shift in domestic cannabis production and decreased importation as a result of drug war dollars.
Therapeutic Index - The ratio of therapeutic benefit to side effects. The higher the therapeutic index, the greater the efficacy in relation to its safety.
THIN-LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY (TLC) - Method by which a mixture of organic chemicals may be separated based on their attraction (polarity) to silica (SiO2, silicon dioxide, mineral). More at Chemistry
Tincture - Usually an ethanolic solution containing some active ingredient(s). Often tinctures are simply 100% grain alcohol (ethanol) extracts of herbal biomass. Sometimes a percentage of water is used in order to optimize extraction of certain compounds. *Rubbing alcohol (isopropyl), methanol and acetone are toxic. NEVER consume them! You could go blind, lose kidneys or die.
Trichome (Only ONE 'r') - Trichomes on plants are epidermal outgrowths of various kinds. Say What? There are two kinds of trichomes: glandular and non-glandular. Non-glandular trichomes are usually hair-like such as what covers a tomato plant versus the glandular type, which in cannabis contains the resins. Cannabis has both types of trichomes.
HOW TO: See Botany & Chemistry Page
