Tag: Endocannabinoid System

Godspeed, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam 1930-2023

Deep gratitude to the Godfather of Cannabis Research.

After starting at Harborside in 2013, I was introduced to the work of Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, the Godfather of Cannabis Research — he isolated THC in 1964! If you don’t know this legend and his work, read/share his self-authored look back in the Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology describing the life journey of the Bulgarian Holocaust survivor. Also, please watch/share Zach Klein’s incredible documentary, The Scientist.

It’s an incredible doc about how Mechoulam got started, and then continued to research cannabis for more than 60 years Among his early stories of getting five kilos of hashish from the police to research THC, and the strange looks he got on the city bus taking him back to the lab. His first research into the effects of THC happened in his home. He dosed five pieces of his wife’s cake with 10mg pure THC, and observed friends who took it, as compared to the five of them whose pieces were not dosed.

In 2017, with sweat beading on my brow, I sent Raphael Mechoulam a LinkedIn request to connect. I was shocked when he accepted the request within a few hours. We began a cursory conversation. I reached out to him to ask specific questions; he usually answered within a couple of days. His responses were short and business-like. After a heated debate with co-workers at Harborside on how many cannabinoids had been discovered in the plant…(with several saying 120), I clapped back shortly thereafter that “Mechoulam told me ‘more than 100, most in minute amounts.'” Eyebrows raised.

At the start of the pandemic, I reached out, with fingers crossed, to ask Dr. Mechoulam if he thought there was any potential for cannabis to fight Covid19.

  • Raphael Mechoulam  10:31 PM Hello, We are trying to convince clinicians to look at CBD for the second (lung inflammation) phase of the CORONA infection.  Best R. Mechoulam
  • APR 6, 2020 Jaene Leonard sent the following message at 8:48 AM Jaene Leonard (She/Her)  8:48 AM How’s it going? Are they receptive?
  • Raphael Mechoulam sent the following message at 9:44 AM Raphael Mechoulam  9:44 AM Not yet
  • Jaene Leonard sent the following messages at 3:26 PM Jaene Leonard (She/Her)  3:26 PM Well, thank you for advocating.

He went on to say he was working with two other teams — in Israel and Brazil.

Shortly thereafter, GW Pharmaceutical’s Epidiolex was descheduled in the U.S. I’m guessing with the hope that it could possibly be used for the cytokine storm characterizing second phase of that first devastating strain of the coronavirus.

In 2020, Mechoulam received The Harvey Prize, considered by many to be a predictor of the Nobel Prize. [I recently found a petition to have Dr. Mechoulam considered for the Nobel Prize. Please add your name and share this! (You can choose to have your name withheld from the public!)]

Dr. Mechoulam continued to work with cannabis compounds. Here are links to an article about his latest discovery of and research on cannabidiolic acid methyl ester (EPM301), and further information on his projects from the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I’m certain we’ll continue to see more come of his cutting-edge research in the future.

Side Note: I went back to school in 2019 to get my degree in screenwriting. I was inspired to write about cannabis from different perspectives, and in 2020 finished a fish-out-of-water pilot. A non-using cannabis researcher let go from Mechoulam’s lab team lands an educator job in a busy California dispensary. May this piece have legs.

So much of my work this past decade would not have happened without your work coming before. Thank you for being the trailblazer, sir. I bow in honor to you. May you fly free, Raphael Mechoulam. Thank you for all the blessings.

The Compassionate Budtender’s Chalk Talks… How Does Cannabis Do it All?

How is it possible cannabis helps with so many things? It works with systems in the body to promote balance!

Watch and learn about how cannabis interacts with the amazing ECS!

“Microdosing and Mindfulness” with Jaene expands this fall at Harvest Dispensary Locations in San Francisco, California

Jaene’s “Microdosing & Mindfulness” classes continue and expand at Harvest Dispensaries in San Francisco, Fall, 2018.

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Thanks to all of you who have turned up for some self-love at the Microdosing & Mindfulness classes in San Francisco since I began teaching there  last April.

I’m excited to announce that my partnership in wellness with Harvest continues with expanded autumn offerings in the delicious pairing of cannabis and meditation!

 

EACH Sunday, starting October 14,
We’ll start at 4:30pm at Harvest Off Mission with a primer — Microdosing & Mindfulness. This class includes a Cannabis 101/Refresher and an introduction to iRest® Yoga Nidra meditation — a good iRest® session is like the best, most restorative, luscious nap you’ve ever experienced. And, snoring is completely acceptable.

Then, at 6:30, join us at Harvest on Geary for Medicate & Meditate, for a quick medicating session and a longer iRest® meditation. Come to both, and shop (or let that edible kick in) in between!  Medicating is ALWAYS optional!

I love Newbies! Please feel free to bring your friends new to cannabis, or inexperienced in meditation, or both! Please share this post with them! Follow the links for ticket info.

All classes are FREE!
You must be 21+ with a valid ID, or,
If you’re a medical cannabis patient, 18-21+, bring your current medical cannabis recommendation & valid ID.
Patients younger than 18 with a valid cannabis recommendation must be accompanied by an adult guardian with a current caregiver certificate and valid ID.
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#6 ThCB — The Compassionate Budtender — 1:1: A Slow Jam

CBD and THC — the Greatest Love Story. Ever.

Newbie! Meet the 1:1 Ratio!

I’d been thinking about writing a blog post about the 1:1 ratio for some time and was planning to put fingers to keys last week, but then was beset by a maleficent flu that put me down in all the worst ways. While I was aching and writhing for endless spans over three nights, a sweet riff from the beginning of a tune started playing in the back of my mind, lulling and soothing, like a cool cloth on my fevered brow.

Ding Ding…Ding Ding…Ding Ding…Ding Ding…

“One on One,” from 1983. Hall & Oates.

Let me explain: Many of you newbies say “One on One” (instead of One to One) when you talk about ratios, and it’s just another reason to love you. As I’ve mentioned before, we love everything about you, and we welcome you to the cannabis community with open arms. You’re even more endearing than you know, because when I hear you say One on One, I am transported. Suddenly, I’m a junior in high school again, swaying slowly at the Winter Dance to one of the best second verse phrasings in the history of 80s pop ballads, under a mirror ball with the shortest guy in my class. Know this, Newbie: Cannabis is like your best days at school, and we’ll never make you feel like a wallflower here.

The drum machine and sweet bass line… Ding Ding…Ding Ding…Ding Ding…Ding Ding…

When I talk about ratios, including the 1:1, I am talking about CBD to THC. Well, usually. Some product packaging still lists ratios in other, confusing ways, but the industry standard is mostly alphabetical — CBD first, then THC. That said, Newbie, just a friendly reminder to ALWAYS CHECK THE LABELS CLOSELY. This is your medicine, take a little ownership, you adorable newbie, you.

We’re so early in the game with regard to knowing how the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) works. We know that every mammal has an ECS, as does every other creature on earth.  Except insects. Maybe even insects. We know that we have cannabinoid receptors all through our bodies. We know that THC locks into the CB1 receptor. We know some other more complex facts about CB receptors, too, and about endocannabinoids (cannabinoids our bodies make) as well as phytocannabinoids, (those in cannabis plants and plants like echinacea), but I’m not trying to overwhelm you with all of that delicious info. You can research more about it when and if you feel like it. Take your time!

CBD interacts with and benefits our bodies in varying ways — acting as, among other things, an anti-depressant, anti-psychotic, anti-tumoral, and neuroprotectant. CBD can also remove beta amyloid plaque, the hallmark of Alzheimer’s, from brain cells. Like THC, CBD has many different applications. But CBD works a little bit differently than THC.

CBD doesn’t lock into the CB1 receptor like THC does. Instead, according to Project CBD Director Martin Lee, “CBD changes the interface of the CB1 receptor so that THC doesn’t lock into it as well as it would normally.” What does that mean to you, Newbie? It means that when CBD and THC is taken in equal amounts, one will experience the medicinal benefits of THC without much of the euphoria (high) or dysphoria (unease) which normally accompanies THC use. Further adding to its mystery, according to Lee, “CBD interacts with over 65 targets in the body, including many non-cannabinoid receptors,” binding to some, influencing others.

Because of all this action, scientists, including Lee, refer to CBD as a promiscuous compound. While I find this label a bit unfair due to the general derogatory common usage of the term, (preferring myself to see CBD more as the quintessential flower child, loving the one it’s with and all that), I must agree. CBD slips gracefully into more varied positions than there are poses in the Kama Sutra.

Maybe I’m just a romantic stoner, but it seems to me there is no greater love affair than that which exists between CBD and THC. In the 1:1 ratio, working together as a team, there’s really no stopping these cannabinoids. Together, they might just change the world…

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Here are just a few of the many, many ways THC and CBD work together:

  • CBD mitigates some of the high that makes newbies afraid to try THC.
  • CBD is great for quelling THC-related anxiety; if you get too high, take a little CBD!
  • CBD and THC are both anti-inflammatory powerhouses.
  • CBD and THC together are great for sleep — CBD calms the nervous system and THC brings relaxation and drowsiness. (CBN — the aged cannabinoid version of THC, is even more drowsy-making.)
  • On a cellular level, CBD and THC both capture free radicals to mitigate oxidative damage to cells.
  • Unlike many pharmaceuticals, which are experienced by the body as toxins, cannabinoids float around freely and are interpreted by the body as natural.
  • Both CBD and THC can help prevent Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), taken as a prophylactic, and even directlyfollowing impact.
  • In addition to altering the CB1 receptor to keep THC from locking into it, CBD also inhibits the enzyme that breaks down THC in the liver. THC may recirculate and re-dock in a CB1 receptor, increasing the duration of effectiveness, (which is why a high may be felt some time later when using a 1:1).
  • CBD decreases cravings for opioids and THC help is a powerful analgesic. This is a winning combination to help fight the opioid crisis.

How should you get your One on One…? In stereo, preferably somewhere where you’ll be comfortable dancing along. I’m sorry, Newbie, I can’t get that song off my mind. Here’s a link, in case you love it like I do.

Inhaling is definitely the fastest-acting method of delivery, and you can get excellent, clean delivery of cannabinoid medicine vaporizing flower with a good handheld or table-top vaporizer. I do NOT condone the use of vape pens, as I cannot attest to their safety), and generally, they do not feel good in my body. Please do your due diligence on any method of delivery, and listen to YOUR body, Newbie.

My vote is increasingly for sublingual tinctures as method of delivery preference — for you, Newbie, as well as for myself. For anyone, in fact. Sublingual delivery runs a very close second to inhaling for quick feedback and is definitely in first place for putting the user in the driver seat. Sold in bottles with droppers, tinctures provide the patient the most control over effects, which is what every experimenting newbie wants. With a tincture and a little bit of free time, you’ll find your minimal effective dose pretty quickly and painlessly.

I know I’ve said this before, but just a reminder, Newbie, record your dosing progress in a journal. on this here Stash Card, (created after this blog post). Before each dose, record date, time, starting symptom level, product taken, how much, effects (once the dose has kicked in), time, and another rating of symptom level as much as you can in the columns. There’s a sample of one filled out in the link. Save the labels of the products you’re using so you can refer to them when you figure out what is working for you. (Or take photos, 

One to One, One Drop at A Time: The Newbie Challenge

  • Start with with one drop under the tongue, (I always use a mirror – that area under the tongue isn’t sensitive enough to feel each drop). Don’t oversaturate! Be diligent!
  • Hold the drop of tincture for at least a minute under the tongue, swallow, and wait 15 minutes.
  • Rate your symptoms again. Choose whether you want another drop, or if you’re feeling relief already. It’s quite possible to feel relief with one drop — microdosing is very effective for many people, yours truly included. Stopping at one drop or even a couple of drops of the 1:1, you may not feel any psychoactivity whatsoever. You may just feel good.
  • If you continue, dose up very, very slowly — a drop at a time — and check in with your body fifteen minutes after each drop. Ask yourself, ‘Am I feeling different?’ ‘Am I feeling better?’ And wait. Listen for the response in your body. And write it down!

At the end of this experiment, you’ll have your first baseline for dosing. HOWEVER. This does not mean that this will always be your dose. It’s more of a starting point. Some days you may need less, some days a little more. If you found you used under five drops, excellent! Your low tolerance means you will get more for your money with cannabis medicine. Continue to dose up one drop at a time.

If you find your tolerance was over ten drops, the next time you dose, you may choose to use two drops at a time, every fifteen minutes. Keep notes! Rate changes! Check in with your body, and know that you’ll feel the effects a little more quickly.

If you get too high, and you don’t have extra CBD on hand to inhale or take sublingually, don’t forget the three things I tell every newbie:

Tell yourself it will pass,

Surround yourself with things you love, and

Go to sleep!

Who knows? The 1:1 sublingual may become your go-to cannabis medicine, as it is mine.

‘Cause if it’s really right…there’s nothing else…

#5 ThCB – The Compassionate Budtender – Giving Thanks for the Tender Bud

Newbie – I know I’ve told you this before, but you’re in good hands. Your cannabis community welcomes you with open arms — no matter who you are, where you come from, or the challenges that have befallen you. Cannabis is a healer, and whether you’re looking to lighten things up and laugh a little more, or hoping for help with sleep, pain, anxiety, depression, or other more serious health challenges, you will find relief in cannabis — but only if you’re taking an active role in your care.

Approach cannabis with an openness and optimism. The lovely plant is here to heal and it will keep on healing, despite its own challenges. Despite the monetization. Despite Big Pharma. Despite anyone who looks upon it solely for the purpose of capitalizing on it. It will persevere. It will change minds. And lives. It will continue its Mother Nature-assigned mission of healing. And so must you. It is the calling of all of us to heal ourselves, heal each other, and heal the planet.

I didn’t enter the cannabis industry five years ago knowing that it would become such an integral part of my life. I’d used cannabis recreationally for many years and always knew there was something to it beyond giggling and getting the munchies. I got my card to help with pain from a yoga injury. I was a yoga and meditation teacher, and planned to continue studying the healing arts. I had no idea that cannabis itself would become such a force for healing, or that it would complement my other interests so beautifully.

I began to see for myself how healing this plant can be to so many. I came to hear – again and again – testimonials about difficult symptoms and serious illnesses being managed and even reversed with cannabis medicine. I started learning about our beautiful endocannabinoid system (Relevant Sidenote: my spellcheck is still underlining endocannabinoid! We still are so early into all of this that my operating system doesn’t know what do do with it!). I read more and more about the cannabinoids, the terpenes, and how, through the miraculous ‘entourage effect,’ they all work together synergistically to make the medicine even more effective.

I also began to work with patients on developing treatment plans that they then made their own, adjusted as they felt was right, and reported their discoveries back to me. This feedback loop in itself has been tremendously healing for me and for others around me. We’re all learning from each other, since cannabis is still STILL! demonized by the federal government. The plant has made me her own, and I will forever believe in her. I invite you to allow her into your life, too. Microdose her, or saturate with her, and watch the shifts in your health and in your consciousness.

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As this movement continues to grow, keep in mind that people everywhere are being drawn to the plant. There will soon be many more new workers entering the industry, as we move into adult use in California in January, so be sure to bring your patience and compassion with you when you come to the dispensary.

And, should you ever feel like your questions are not being answered, or that you’re not getting the attention you need, don’t take it personally. Ask to speak to the sales manager. If you still feel like your needs are not being met, go to another dispensary. Do your research. Check out reviews on YELP. Find out where the best people are near you. Read up! Research! Take responsibility for your health.  Keep. Going. Don’t give up. If you honor your own journey, you’ll be surprised and delighted at the people that show up to support you.

Blessings to you and your loved ones for Thanksgiving. I’m so grateful for the healing power of cannabis, for all those who lovingly tend it, and for the this moment we share in time!

Jaene

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