When California began the push for legal medical cannabis back in the 1990s, it was clear to even casual observers that the end goal was to legalize marijuana across the board. Pushing through medical cannabis was simply a way to get a proverbial foot in the door. Decades later, thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia have given the green light to medical cannabis.
On the surface, things within the medical cannabis realm seem pretty straightforward. But start digging and you quickly discover just how complex it is. Take the cannabinoid issue. THC is not the only game in town.
The Plant’s Many Natural Cannabinoids
Cannabis is a well-known plant with dozens of varieties. Marijuana and hemp are just two of them. The interesting thing about cannabis is that it is a wealth of cannabinoids and terpenes. Combined, there are more than a hundred such substances in a typical cannabis plant.
For medical purposes, the two most desired cannabinoids are THC and CBD. THC is the predominant cannabinoid in the marijuana plant. CBD owns the title in the hemp world. Both cannabinoids show promise as potential treatment for a long list of diseases and medical conditions.
BeehiveMed is a Salt Lake City, Utah organization that helps patients obtain medical cannabis cards. They explain that most cardholders use medical cannabis for its THC. And in fact, state residents only need a card to use THC-based medicines. No card is required for CBD or health supplements containing it.
Acids in Natural Form
What many people do not know is that THC and CBD occur in cannabis plant material as acids. If you were to extract the cannabinoids directly from plant material, you wouldn’t actually end up with THC or CBD. You would wind up with THC-A and CBD-A.
BeehiveMed explains that the acid forms of the two cannabinoids have little to no medical value. THC-A is not even psychoactive in its natural form. So how do you get from the acid form to the cannabinoids medical cannabis users are after? You need to remove the carbolic acid group.
This process is known as decarboxylation. It can be accomplished in a number of ways. The easiest and most effective is to apply heat. That is exactly what medical cannabis processors do when they extract cannabinoids from plant material.
Decarboxylation is also what occurs when a recreational marijuana user lights up a joint. Heat from the combustion process releases the carbolic acid, transforming THC-A into THC.
Synthetic Cannabinoids Are the Big Thing Now
If you thought cannabinoids and cannabinoid acids completed the picture, think again. You also need to consider synthetic cannabinoids like delta-8 and delta-10. Both are isomers of delta-9 THC, the form of THC that is illegal under federal law.
Delta-8 and delta-10 are both considered minor cannabinoids. They occur naturally in plant material, just not in large enough volumes to make harvesting it worthwhile. But it turns out that processors can synthesize the two cannabinoids in a lab. They use CBD as the base.
Synthetic cannabinoids occupy a no man’s land of sorts in terms of law. The DEA still considers them illegal but, to date, no enforcement actions against synthetic cannabinoids have been taken. As for the states, it’s a mixed bag. Some have banned synthetic cannabinoids while others have not.
More Complex Than Most People Know
The medical cannabis landscape is more complex than most people know. That’s one of the reasons so many advocates say it’s time to remove marijuana from Schedule I and then create a clear structure for regulating its use.
