Cannabis for Pain, Advanced Science & Cannabis Complementarity
Note to the readers:
This is a three-part essay. The first part establishes the socio-political context for medical cannabis and new Endocannabinoid research. The second part is scientific It introduces a new concept, the Endocannabinoidome. The third essay will provide the reader with practical advice on cultivars known to relieve pain. It will also include starting dosing protocols so readers can see if medicinal cannabis is for them.
Part 1
INTRODUCING CANNABINOID COMPLEMENTARITY
What is Cannabinoid Complementarity
Definition: the scientific study of compatibility and likeness between phytocannabinoid molecules within the cannabis plant’s trichomes and the features and functions of the human endocannabinoid system.
Medical Cannabis Outreach
Most US citizens know cannabis through the context of criminalization. Once the federal government established a collective anti-cannabis mindset, they utilized it to thwart scientific research into the beneficial molecules known as phytocannabinoids which are found within the trichomes and resins of the cannabis plant. Indeed, interest in cannabis use has far outpaced good scientific research.
But state-based policies are changing. moreover, the public increasingly demands federal legalization. Since they now know cannabis effectively manages several debilitating conditions. This series of articles will focus on cannabis for pain.
Medical Marijuana for Pain Relief in 2020
Patient testimonials reveal widespread success in pain management treatment with cannabinoids. In fact, New Frontier Data, a leading purveyor of cannabis stats, report pain alleviation/management is the top motivation for medical cannabis use.
The growing acceptance of cannabis was apparent in the 2020 election. Therefore, if cannabis was running for president in Mississippi or South Dakota, it would have won. In these states, the margins of victory for cannabis measures got more supportive votes than either Biden/Harris or the incumbent.
In addition, Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota all legalized cannabis for adult-use. Also, Mississippi and South Dakota voted to decriminalize the plant for medicinal users.
As people speak up, politicians are taking note. The federally-introduced Marijuana Opportunities, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE Act) now before Congress will be voted on in December 2020.
This bipartisan legislation moves to strike marijuana from drugs included in the Controlled Substances Act, with full-on decriminalization as its goal.
Who knows better than patients the costs of, and remedies for, pain? Rigorous science protocols will be necessary going forward for cannabis to earn its rightful place in the medical pantheon. Keep in mind, the FDA routinely allows mixed results for pharmaceuticals. It also includes negative and life-threatening side effects and addictions as acceptable side-effects.
A 20th Century Scientific Cannabis discovery
A 20th-century scientific cannabis discovery unearths a heretofore unknown bodily system called the Endocannabinoid System (ECS). The ECS concept explained this complementarity well enough to develop into what’s now a more complex physiological system under consideration: “the Endocannabinoidome.”
These new concepts based on cannabinoid receptor activity in the Endocannabinoidome contribute to the decriminalization/legalization effort by establishing human/plant cannabinoid compatibility.
The argument that cannabis mimics human cannabinoids established the plant as complementary holistic medicine, providing the “upward spiral” towards complete health-physical, mental and spiritual wellness if you will.
Medical cannabis with THC
The ECS was first named in 1990, almost thirty years after the discovery of THC. So how does Western science discover a new physiological system as late as the 1990s? Simply stated for our purposes: because time-tested oral histories and modern diligent research indicates the human body is especially receptive to cannabis. (See my article Ancient History Schools Modern Science).
The problem is Western science lacks unbiased concepts regarding the physical responses to THC ingestion since THC can have a strong psychotropic component. Yet, in medicinal doses, those “bad” mind-altering effects of marijuana are non-existent.
Learn about ‘lack of natural healing modalities in America‘
Early science funding of cannabinoids fueled insight into endocannabinoid activity on the neurological system. Research activity finds that our ECS is entirely complementary to Phyto (plant-based) cannabinoid compounds.
Medical science concepts supporting cannabinoid complementarity between humans and cannabis plants provide a strong legalization argument. Therefore this science will be relevant as the MORE Act, and state legalization efforts, are debated.
The irony is the ECS concept comes out of U.S. government funding. Seeking to spread misinformation about cannabis’ harmful effects. Only to discover the ECS is central to the health and wellness of all humans and most mammals.
The Endocannabinoid System (ECS) concept explained this complementarity well enough to develop into what’s now a more complex physiological system under consideration: “the Endocannabinoidome.”
Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids
The grey area between medical and recreational use is rendered obsolete by the ECS/ Endocannabinoidome research that finds a vast neurological communications network defying the brain/ body split.
Our viewpoint challenges the traditional science used to deny cannabis medical applications. And even suggests recreational policies can view “health benefits” as a bonafide cannabis side-effect. This is an important point when comparing cannabis’ relative innocuous effects with alcohol and opioids.
This all gets down to how cannabinoid co-presence in human and plant cells is interpreted. The “Reefer Madness” argument suggests that neurological cannabinoid receptors are (negatively) agitated or undermined by phytocannabinoids. But the interpretation of neurological cannabinoid receptors as co-evolved physiological structures developed to receive phytocannabinoid effects– depicts Cannabis Sativa (cannabis), its psychotropic and psychoactive agents, as important medicine.
Support for Legalization of Medical Cannabis is High (Lol)
The government’s old Reefer Madness scare tactic discrediting cannabis medical benefits through long played-out research backfires in a social climate testifying so strongly in favor of cannabis medical applications. A new legalization climate can interpret ECS science as proof of co-evolutionary cannabinoid complementarity, further questioning the criminalization of a plant as a sound public health policy.
If a plant alleviates and can stand in for, natural occurring physiological processes, that’s called medicine, right? The ECS is a medical concept central to the cannabinoid complementarity interpretation– further validating legalization over this nonsensical Drug War environment that punishes and stigmatizes those who seek out cannabis for either medicinal or adult-use applications.
