A guide for understanding what’s going on in your gray matter while you smoke green matter.

A guide for understanding what’s going on in your gray matter while you smoke green matter.

Herbal Cannabinoids a.k.a. what gets you high

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC): psychoactive chemical in cannabis, is more highly concentrated in sativa strains.

Cannabidiol (CBD): sedative-like chemical in cannabis, is more highly concentrated in indica strains.

Amygdala

(regulates emotions)

Sativa: High amounts of THC can cause the amygdala to overreact, making you paranoid and anxious.

Indica: CBD overrides the amygdala’s main flight-or-fight function, resulting in a dulling calm.Your house could be on fire and you’d give less of a fuck.

Hybrid: The perfect balance of THC and CBD floods the amygdala with dopamine and norepinephrine and is processed as pure bliss. You think everything is awesome, and nothing can bring you down, not even the sketchy neighbors who keep watching you.

Basal Ganglia

(regulates your planning mechanisms, and gets you motivated to start moving)

Sativa: THC excites your ganglia a lot. Normally the brain works on one thought or plan at antime, but when you get high those neurons don’t stop firing. You feel like getting up and moving around, starting 300 projects, and oh, maybe you should start playing the guitar again.

Indica: CBD calms that ganglion down. Your ability to plan anything or even get the motivation to get off the couch is null. You’d rather nap all day, and even feeding your cat is a chore.

Hybrid: This part of the brain is also responsible for time perception. With all of the speeding up and slowing down cannabinoids do, it’s no wonder you’re always between 15 minutes and three hours late to everything.

Cerebellum

(responsible for motor coordination and balance)

Sativa: THC sends your cerebellum into overdrive. Your brain has too much going on to translate your thoughts into calculated action. So you go to pick up the bong but reach too far and end up knocking it over or singe your bangs while trying to light the bowl.

Indica: CBD also messes up your coordination because it slows down your reaction time. Even though your brain wants you go when the light turns green, it can’t get the message to your foot in time. Now you’re sitting through another red light getting honked at and potentially pulled over. It’s best to just stay out of public for a few hours.

Hippocampus

(responsible for learning and memory)

Sativa and Indica: There are a lot of cannabinoid receptors on the hippocampus, and when THC and CBD flood it, it resembles a brain lesion. Cannibinoids block information from entering your brain by shutting down the hippocampus. This severely impacts your short-term memory and is why you forgot you put that frozen pizza in the oven two hours ago.

Hypothalamus

(regulates appetite and sex drive)

Sativa and Indica: THC and CBD both excite the hypothalamus, making you super hungry and super horny. Because your brain thinks it wants absurd amounts of food and booty, the food and booty you do end up with are amazing, even if it’s just a stick of butter.

Neocortex

(responsible for complex thinking, feeling and movement)

Sativa and Indica: Normally your brain slows down to regulate the number of thoughts and ideas you have; this is famously known as concentration. When you introduce THC or CBD, the neocortex cannot slow down the flow of information, so it processes it or skips over it very quickly. This is why your thoughts bounce from topic to topic, your judgment is faulty at best and why the loose string on your sock seems to be bothering you so much.

 

Cannabinoids in the body:

Endocannabinoid System – a complex system scientists only recently discovered. It affects your entire body and consists of endocannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors, including enzymes that create and destroy them. It regulates how fast and how many messages are sent by neurons responsible for thinking, remembering and walking as well as brain development.

Cannabinoid Receptors – are all over your body but concentrated in key areas of the brain including the amygdala, basal ganglia and cerebellum.

CB1 – have a say in nearly everything you do, from walking to thinking. When bound with THC, CB1s produce the euphoric high we’ve all come to appreciate as well as all the signs and symptoms associated with marijuana use, including uncontrollable laughter and the munchies.

CB2 – are concentrated in the immune system and some parts of the nervous system. They unleash the anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties in cannabis when bound with THC or CBD.

Anandamide – is the naturally occurring endogenous cannabinoid produced by the brain in areas that control memory, higher thought processes and movement. This neurotransmitter was only recently discovered and named after the Sanskrit word for “bliss.” Anandamide and THC are extremely similar in molecular structure, so much so that THC binds to CBRs seamlessly and produces an amplified effect of the endogenous cannabinoid.