The long history of medicinal cannabis use posed a mystery to researchers, clinicians and patients:  How could the compounds contained in one plant possess therapeutic properties for such a wide variety of human diseases and physical ailments?

This mystery began to unravel in 1964, when tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive chemical in cannabis was isolated and synthesized by Raphael Mechoulam and colleagues in Israel. Subsequently, in 1988, Allyn Howlett and colleagues discovered the cannabinoid receptor in the brain.  This receptor called CB₁was a precise match for the unique chemicals called cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant (phytocannabinoids). This initial discovery led to scientists hypothesizing that humans are "wired" for cannabis.  The CB₁receptors have been found in the brain in areas that control the coordination of movement, emotions, memory, reduction of pain, reward systems, and reproduction, yet are almost  absent in the brain stem (which affects our vital functions such as breathing). It appears that cannabinoid receptors, which modulate other neurotransmitter function in a retrograde “on demand” fashion are present in far higher concentrations in the brain than any other receptor. While the CB₁ receptors are primarily found in the central nervous system, a  second type, CB₂, discovered in 1993, are found primarily in the immune system, GI tract, liver, spleen, kidney, bones, heart, and peripheral nervous system.  In fact, the CB₂ receptor appears to be up-regulated whenever there is tissue pathology.

The first endogenous cannabinoid, arachidonylethanolamide or Anandamide (a Sanskrit word meaning blissful amide) was found in Dr. Mechoulam's labratory in Israel in 1992. This discovery built on the idea that when receptors were found there had to be an endogenous ligand that would be the key to its use. Back in Mechoulam's lab a second endocannabinoid called 2-arachidonylglycerol (2-AG) was discovered in 1995.

These discoveries of the cannabinoid receptors, endocannabinoids and the related enzymes make up what is now called the endocannabinoid system and it seems to be essential in most if not all physiological systems.  The endocannabinoid system is essential to life and it relates messages that affect how we relax, eat, sleep, forget and protect as noted by the Italian researcher, Vincenzo Di Marzo.

To understand that this system of life exists within your body and brain is to understand the remakable and various therapeutic applications of cannabis.

http://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/58/3/389.full#abstract-1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gOYVJu__14&feature=share

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2834283/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3165955/

Positive Developments in Recent Studies Using Cannabidiol (CBD) Compound; NBC News, ABC News and Huffington Post Report California Pacific Medical Center’s Findings That CBD Stops Metastasis in Aggressive Cancers – The Wall Street Journal

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/medical-marijuana-inc-announces-positive-developments-in-recent-studies-using-cannabidiol-cbd-compound-nbc-news-abc-news-and-huffington-post-report-california-pacific-medical-centers-findings-th/