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CBD%, THC%, What’s All The Hype? Let’s take a poll!
19 FebIf you’ve stepped into any number of dispensaries as of late you might have noticed that much of the bud out there now days is being tested and marketed for its percentage of the cannabinoids THC and CBD as well as CBN. It is commonly known that THC is the much-touted psychoactive active compound. The lesser known compound, CBD, has been found to not have the psychoactive effect but is touted to have proven pain reducing capabilities. It’s also known to balance the effect of the THC. Harlequin is one example of a strain that boasts some phenotypes testing high amounts of CBD and lesser amounts of THC. CBN is a degraded form of THC. Percentages of CBN can indicate if the herb has been properly stored and it can give some indication of its age. It seems many well-intentioned dispensaries are equating the percentages of the cannabinoids to the plants value. Marketing gimmick? Science in the interest getting the most potent medicine to the patient? This blogger wants to know. Could the science be reductionist thinking that undermines the vast potential of the herbs as it applies to each individual user? Many people who have experience with psychoactive plants will tell you first hand that the experience has little to do with the quantity of the dose. There are examples of this in other herbal approaches i.e., homeopathic medicine, where one takes miniscule doses to trigger the bodies own healing resources. I recently talked to some veteran connoisseurs who swear that the cheaper outdoor grown strains effects lasted hours longer than their indoor counterparts that are known to test higher percentages of cannabinoids. Their reasons for their conclusions bordered on the esoteric sighting that it was the length of the season and its relationship to the vast energy field of the sun the moon and the stars that transmitted the longer high. Indoor plants have shorter growing cycles so that explained it in their eyes. Clearly, “the market” responds to the percentages placed on the neat little tags placed on the nugs in the shiny glass cabinets at the well-organized dispensary. However, the labs are merely testing for percentages. To my knowledge there are no case studies showing that these numbers have any real correlation with the actual experiences of the user.
Michael Pollan’s Botany of Desire Turned Documentary Film
16 FebBotany of Desire, the bestselling book that made Michael Pollan a household name, is now a documentary film available on DVD. In his groundbreaking book, Pollan asserts that there’s another way of looking at domestication by turning the tables to give the reader a plants eye view of the world. Plants such as Cannabis are exploiting man’s desires to propagate and spread the world over and man is of course taking all the credit. As matter of fact there’s a whole history of this and Pollan explores several other examples including corn, the potato, tulips, and apples. Botany of Desire is one of our favorite books. It belongs on the shelf of every serious connoisseur of the herb (and qualified California Patient). We look forward to checking out the DVD but we found these excerpts to wet our collective appetite.
Tags: cannabis, medical marijuana, organic, pain relief, pollan
