The health benefits of Cannabis and THC – Nation Valley News
Posted: August 19, 2020 at 3:00 pm
Cannabis 101: CBD vs THC
A column by Dr. Pierre Milot, PhD.
The Genetics of Cannabis
Cannabis is believed to be one of the oldest domesticated crops. Throughout history, humans have grown different varieties of cannabis for industrial and medical uses.
Tall, sturdy plants were grown by early civilizations to make a variety of foods, oils and textiles, such as rope and fabrics. These plants were bred with other plants with the same characteristics, leading to the type of cannabis we now know as hemp.
Other plants were recognized for being psychoactive and were bred selectively for medical and religious purposes. This led to unique varieties of cannabis that we now know as marijuana.
According to Dan Sutton of Tantulus Labs, a Canadian company that specializes in cannabis cultivation technology, the core agricultural differences between medical cannabis and hemp are largely in their genetic parentage and cultivation environment.
In fact, scientists believe the early separation of the cannabis gene pool led to two distinct types of cannabis plants. The two species (or subspecies) of cannabis are known as Cannabis Indica and Cannabis sativa.
THC Content
Cannabis plants contain unique compounds called cannabinoids. Current research has revealed over 100 different cannabinoids so far, but THC is the most well known. THC is credited with causing the marijuana high.
While marijuana plants contain high levels of THC, hemp contains very little or none at all of the psychoactive chemical. This single difference is what most rely on to distinguish hemp from marijuana. For example, countries like Canada have set the maximum THC content of hemp at 0.3 percent. Any cannabis with higher THC levels is considered marijuana instead.
In comparison, medical marijuana produces anywhere between 5-20 percent THC on average, with prize strains tipping the scale at 25-30 percent THC.
Hemp and marijuana plants contain another important cannabinoid: CBD. Hemp plants produce more CBD than THC, while marijuana produces more THC than CBD. Interestingly, research has shown that CBD acts to reduce the psychoactive effects of THC, separating hemp further from marijuana.
Cultivation
Hemp and marijuana are grown for different uses, and therefore require different growing conditions.
Medical cannabis has been selectively bred over generations, and its characteristics are optimized in its cultivation environment to produce female flowering plants that yield budding flowers at the flowering stage of their life cycle,
In contrast, hemp plants are primarily male, without representing flowering buds at any stage in their life cycle. Instead, centuries of selective breeding have resulted in relatively low concentrations of THC, and tall, fast growing plants optimized for higher stalk harvests.
* Achieving maximum THC levels in marijuana is tricky and requires close attention to grow-room conditions. Marijuana growers usually aim to maintain stable light, temperature, humidity, CO2 and oxygen levels, among other things.
On the other hand, hemp is usually grown outdoors to maximize its size and yield and less attention is paid to individual plants.
A Bit About the Anatomy of the Marijuana Plant
Most people know that THC is only present in the female cannabis plant, because this is the one that produces those resinous flowers that are able to provide the high that so many marijuana consumers desire. On the other hand, the male cannabis plant, which is also known by some as hemp, might not have any THC present, but it does contain some CBD. Both the female and male cannabis plants have a source of CBD, so they both make suitable options for cannabidiol oil extraction and processing.
* In addition to being female and male, cannabis plants can also be hermaphroditic (a.k.a. both!). Pretty neat right? Hermaphrodite plants are capable of pollinating themselves, because they contain both female and male sex organs. This is a nuisance though for marijuana growers, because it means their final product will be filled with seeds and the hermaphrodite genetics can be passed down onto other generations, which defeats the purpose of having feminized seeds. To ensure a female plant, either specifically bred feminized seeds can be purchased, or clones of a female cannabis plant.
The structure of a female cannabis plant, also known as the marijuana plant, is typically built up of a stem with roots that dig deep into the earth, with fan leaves and sometimes colas that stick out in between some of the fan/water leaves. These colas are a mass collection of the buds, which are the flowers and the part of the plant that can get you high.
* These buds contain sugar leaves, which are coated with those crystal-appearing trichomes (the component that directly contains the THC and shown in the last picture). Additionally, pistils and stigmas are those tiny, usually orange hairs mixed amongst the sugar leaves. Lastly, there are calyxes and bracts, which also contain potent quantities of cannabinoids.
Hope you enjoyed this article and once again I encourage you to email me any questions or comments you might have on cannabis, request more explanations or share a success story with other readers at: drpierremilot@mail.com
Talk to you soon,
Dr. Pierre Milot, PhD., PhD. (tc)Certified Medical Cannabis CounselorWinchester, ON.
Related
Visit link:
The health benefits of Cannabis and THC - Nation Valley News
- Bryan Sykes, Who Saw the Ancient Past in Genes, Dies at 73 - The New York Times - January 9th, 2021
- Identical Twins Are More Genetically Different Than We Thought: Study - The Swaddle - January 9th, 2021
- A thematic analysis of experiences of HIV risks among female sex workers in the Yunnan-Vietnam Chinese border region - BMC Blogs Network - January 9th, 2021
- A Look at the Subversive Art of lisabeth Vige Le Brunand the One Gender-Bending Portrait That Has Kept Historians Guessing - artnet News - January 2nd, 2021
- Big rewards for Section II girls as basketball avenues increase - The Daily Gazette - January 2nd, 2021
- 2021 in books: what to look forward to this year - The Guardian - January 2nd, 2021
- Sex, Genetics, and the Relationship Between the Two in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network - December 30th, 2020
- What Is the Average Shoe Size for Women? Its Bigger Than You Might Think - Footwear News - December 30th, 2020
- 'Keep calm and develop vaccines': Meet the scientists behind the Oxford jab - Telegraph.co.uk - December 30th, 2020
- IAEA Highlights and Achievements in 2020 a Year in Review | IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency - December 30th, 2020
- New Year honours 2020: citizens awarded for response to pandemic crisis - The Guardian - December 30th, 2020
- St. Paul authors Fossil Men is a tale of discovery thats anything but old and dry - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press - December 30th, 2020
- East Idaho ranchers find strength in unified bull auction - Post Register - December 24th, 2020
- Burning sensation in lower abdomen: Causes and treatments - Medical News Today - December 24th, 2020
- World-record mountain goat shot with bow by Kansas native in Alaska - The Topeka Capital-Journal - December 24th, 2020
- How Researchers Hope to Save the Florida Scrub-Jay From an Inbreeding Crisis - National Audubon Society - December 21st, 2020
- Eddie Izzard praised after fans notice use of she/her pronouns in latest TV appearance - The Independent - December 21st, 2020
- Special report: Twenty extraordinary women blazing trails in biopharma R&D Covid-19 and beyond - Endpoints News - December 11th, 2020
- Hyperemesis Gravidarum researcher Dr. Marlena Fejzo is on a mission to understand women's health - Motherly Inc. - December 11th, 2020
- Loeffler claims she is the candidate who will create jobs - Yahoo News - December 11th, 2020
- Nobel Prize history from the year you were born - Albany Democrat Herald - December 4th, 2020
- Nobel Prize history from the year you were born - Kenosha News - December 3rd, 2020
- Genomics, gene-editing and the Blue Revolution - Pursuit - December 3rd, 2020
- How breeding can improve lice-eating efficacy of lumpfish in salmon farms - The Fish Site - December 1st, 2020
- 5G and 'Biohackers': Technology rules! (Is that a good thing?) - People's World - December 1st, 2020
- Aspira Women's Health, Inc. Announces a Collaborative Agreement with Baylor Genetics for the Co-Development of an Ovarian Cancer Early-Detection Test... - November 23rd, 2020
- New genetic tools will deliver improved farmed fish, oysters, and shrimp. Here's what to expect - Science Magazine - November 23rd, 2020
- Fitter and Faster: U of O alum Rachel McBride is breaking through barriers and championships - The Fulcrum - November 23rd, 2020
- Fearn farming family to run first online breeding cattle sale at turn of year - Northern Times - November 23rd, 2020
- A key to the mystery of fast-evolving genes was found in junk DNA - Science News - November 23rd, 2020
- The role of a data-analytics director in genomic discovery - Siliconrepublic.com - November 23rd, 2020
- Triangle headliners: Previewing 50 webinars & events coming up rest of this month - WRAL Tech Wire - November 23rd, 2020
- Face Shaving for Women: Pros and Cons, Best Practice Tips - Healthline - November 4th, 2020
- NASCAR's only female track president ready to host championship - The Athletic - November 4th, 2020
- Four Black WomenAll CEOsHave Created A 'Call To Action' To Close The Health Gap For Black Americans - Forbes - November 4th, 2020
- Breeding program 'being worked on' to boost caribou population in Jasper National Park Jasper's source for news, sports, arts, culture, and more -... - November 4th, 2020
- Angelika Amon, cell biologist who pioneered research on chromosome imbalance, dies at 53 - MIT News - November 3rd, 2020
- Berkeley Talks transcript: How Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' took on a life of its own - UC Berkeley - November 3rd, 2020
- UKZN boast its first black female graduate with a PhD in leisure and recreation - IOL - October 31st, 2020
- This Young Farmer Has Advice for Anyone Who Wants to Grow Food - Global Citizen - October 31st, 2020
- Help your health by taking breaks from stress - The Robesonian - October 31st, 2020
- Poor intimate hygiene linked to being one of the biggest causes of cervical cancer - Microbioz India - October 23rd, 2020
- Breastfeeding Won't Cause Your Breasts to Sag and Nine other Surprising Facts about Breasts - PR Web - October 23rd, 2020
- Female moles are intersex they have testicle-like tissue that helps them grow big and tough - CBC.ca - October 20th, 2020
- How to Stop Growing Taller and Why You Shouldn't - Healthline - October 20th, 2020
- Republican voters are taking a radical internet conspiracy theory into the mainstream - Economic Times - October 20th, 2020
- BreakPoint: Inventors of CRISPR win Nobel Prize, but should we 'rewrite the code of life'? - Chattanooga Times Free Press - October 18th, 2020
- Genetics of Height and Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: A Mendelian Randomization Study - DocWire News - October 18th, 2020
- Women Rise Above with Launch of Pink Haze - PRNewswire - October 18th, 2020
- Female Moles Have 'Ovotestes' that Produce Testosterone That Make Them Excellent Diggers - News18 - October 18th, 2020
- New bison to join Catalina Island herd The Log - The Log Newspaper - October 18th, 2020
- More bison to join island herd - The Catalina Inslader - October 18th, 2020
- Woman with rare disease delivers healthy baby - The Hindu - October 10th, 2020
- Working-class ants take the reins when the Indian jumping ant queen dies - Massive Science - October 10th, 2020
- City of Hope leads novel clinical trial to treat cancer patients with COVID-19 - The Cancer Letter - October 10th, 2020
- Andrew Gammie's Westpit Limousin herd makes its mark - The Scottish Farmer - October 10th, 2020
- Everything About Hair Loss & DHT - The Ritz Herald - October 6th, 2020
- Sexcel The basis of a new plan! - Farming Life - October 6th, 2020
- Scientists use 16 genes to distinguish between two types of lethal pancreatic cancer - Massive Science - October 6th, 2020
- We Discovered a Missing Gene Fragment Thats Shedding New Light on How Males Develop - Gizmodo Australia - October 6th, 2020
- Lactose tolerance spread through Europe faster than previously thought - Massive Science - October 4th, 2020
- DNA found in caterpillar guts points to what they are eating - Massive Science - October 4th, 2020
- What is the COVID-19 polyclonal antibody treatment that President Trump took? - Massive Science - October 4th, 2020
- RCC partners with Upswing to provide increased academic support services - The Robesonian - October 4th, 2020
- How hybrids have upturned evolutionary theory - The Economist - October 2nd, 2020
- In Rita Colwell's Memoirs, a Reminder That Discrimination in Science Is Universal - The Wire Science - October 2nd, 2020
- The Science of Joint Health - What Causes Pain and How to Ease It - GoodHousekeeping.com - October 2nd, 2020
- In Disorders of the Heart and Brain, Does Sex Matter? - Medscape - October 2nd, 2020
- One Case of a Rare Eye Cancer Was Weird. When 4 More Appeared, the Town Knew Something Wasn't Right. - Mother Jones - October 2nd, 2020
- This years SN 10 scientists aim to solve some of sciences biggest challenges - Science News - October 2nd, 2020
- The aquatic chicken: tilapia genetics and their parallels with poultry - The Fish Site - September 30th, 2020
- Mutations That Affect Aging May Be More Common Than Previously Thought - Science Times - September 30th, 2020
- Lack of transparent data on egg freezing creating ethical issues, experts warn - The Irish News - September 30th, 2020
- Receding Hairlines: Lets Get To The Root Of The Issue + 6 Expert Ways To Stop It - mindbodygreen.com - September 30th, 2020
- Kraftwerk K9 Offers Some of the Best-Trained German Shepherds in the World - Centralia Chronicle - September 30th, 2020
- Women Speak Out Against Body Shaming & Reveal Cruel Nicknames They Got For Their Weight - Storypick - September 30th, 2020
- Genomic Medicine is Knocking on the Courtroom Door - JD Supra - September 30th, 2020
- Cracking the code to live your best life: Canadian DNA testing companies, dnaPower and Inagene, partner to unlock true personalized health through... - September 24th, 2020
- America's Ugly History With Selective Sterilization Against Women of Color - POPSUGAR - September 24th, 2020
- COVID-19 and small island nations: what we can learn from New Zealand and Iceland - The Conversation AU - September 24th, 2020