What’s So Scary About THC? – Cannabis | weed | marijuana

What’s So Scary About THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol)? If we listen to the “experts,” we believe that high-THC cannabis will lead to anxiety, depression, “cannabis use disorders,” and even psychosis like schizophrenia.

Special interest-funded studies love to find “connections” between cannabis and all things negative.

Is this the last remnant of the reefer craze? Critics have always said cannabis makes you stupid, destroys motivation and contributes to memory loss. They also said that smoking cannabis will lead to “harder” drugs like heroin.

No one except the radically misinformed believes this propaganda anymore.

Still, the industry is at risk of a “cannabis-induced psychosis,” like the lung cancer rates at tobacco companies. The idea is that modern, high-potency THC causes consumers to disconnect from reality.

According to the Canadian government, before legalization, the rate of cannabis-related hospitalizations doubled from 2006 to 2015. Almost half of these (48%) were “mental and behavioral disorders related to cannabinoid use, psychotic disorders”.

So what’s going on? Is Cannabis-Induced Psychosis Disorder (CIPD) real or just madness? Finally, THC is structurally similar to an endocannabinoid called anandamide.

What’s So Scary About THC?

What’s So Scary About THC?

According to the “experts”, high-potency THC can lead to cannabis-induced psychosis disorder (CIPD). Symptoms of CIPD include:

• confusion
• Difficulty expressing feelings
• disorganized speech
• grandiosity
• memory loss
• uncooperative
• Unusual excitement
• Unusual Thoughts

According to the “experts,” you’ll be diagnosed with CIPD if these symptoms persist days or even weeks after you last used cannabis. Or if these symptoms cause stress and interfere with your work or social life.

You may not be diagnosed with CIPD if you already have schizophrenia or another psychosis. The idea is that cannabis causes psychosis. Therefore, any data that does not match must be discarded for the definition to work.

Are you beginning to understand why they make THC look so scary?

What about too much THC?

Anyone who has ever eaten or drunk too much of an edible knows what too much THC feels like. You may hallucinate or even experience mild delusions. In large enough doses, cannabis becomes a psychedelic.

Do we all suffer from CIPD when we get uncomfortably high? According to the “experts”, CIPD differs because the consumer cannot tell what is real and what is fake.

As noted, the studies supporting this view are observational. They “suggest an association” between cannabis use (particularly in youth) and the onset of psychosis.

But as we mentioned before, it’s a chicken and egg problem.

Are young people with psychosis more likely to find relief from cannabis? Or does cannabis cause psychosis? Maybe cannabis triggers the early onset of something that’s going to happen anyway?

Many “experts” believe that potent cannabis can cause psychosis, which is why they find THC scary. In at least one study, this false connection is clearly established.

Another study claims it’s in our genes. People with a specific variant of the AKT1 gene are seven times more likely to develop psychosis from cannabis.

Assuming that’s all true – what’s the problem? Just as some people cannot drink or smoke, others cannot use cannabis.

There is evidence that quitting reverses CIPD. There are even antipsychotic medications available for medicinal cannabis patients who cannot (or should not) avoid cannabis use.

But overall, we still haven’t answered the question: What’s so scary about THC?

What’s So Scary About Anandamide?

THC is a compound that interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system. It’s similar to a natural (or endogenous) cannabinoid in our bodies: anandamide.

Anandamide regulates our physiological processes, including pain, mood, appetite, and memory. It’s a neurotransmitter that binds to our cannabinoid receptors.

Anandamide and THC share many structural similarities. The “runner’s high” people feel after intense exercise is linked to the release of anandamide. That’s why its nickname is “Bliss Molecule”.

THC binds to the same receptors as anandamide. It mimics the molecule, except where anandamide has a short shelf life, THC lingers for a while. (This is because enzymes break down anandamide faster than THC).

Interestingly, CBD inhibits the enzymes used to break down anandamide.

So what is the difference between THC and anandamide? Aside from being naturally occurring in the body, cannabis is a natural herb.

But what’s so scary about THC when it’s molecularly similar?

Cannabis: Fact vs. Myth

What’s So Scary About THC?

Whether from a lack of study or a lack of interest, no “expert” has a satisfactory answer. You could say that THC cannabis alters cognition and mood. But so is anandamide.

Cannabis can “impair motor coordination,” “alter thinking,” cause “time distortion,” and produce other effects not associated with anandamide or the “runner’s high.”

But does cannabis do any of this? You may present impaired motor coordination. But all medicines, medicines and even certain foods cause this.

Fast food, for example, impairs motor functions and alters the mesolimbic pathway. Just like cocaine.

But “altered thinking” and “time warping”?

How much of this are the actual, objective characteristics of the cannabis high compared to expectations? How much of the cannabis experience is due to the actual effects of THC on the brain and body compared to our interpretations of those effects?

Cannabis (or any other drug or medicine) cannot change the content of your thoughts. Your perception of time is always subjective, whether or not you have THC in your system.

“Changed thinking” as an effect of cannabis is an example of an active placebo. This calls into question the symptoms of ‘unusual thoughts’ and ‘difficulty expressing feelings’ in CIPD.

We still don’t know what’s so scary about THC.

What’s So Scary About THC?

There is nothing scary about THC. It is essentially a natural cannabinoid (anandamide) that is added to steroids. To break through this propaganda, perhaps best to quote Dr. Andrew Wiel:

In my opinion, the best term for marijuana is active placebo—that is, a substance whose apparent effects on the mind are actually placebo effects in response to minimal physiological effects.

Calling cannabis an “active placebo” doesn’t deny its pharmacological effects, whether you’re a cancer patient who needs it for your appetite or an average person eating a little gummy bear for insomnia.

But what about the idea that cannabis can make you creative? It’s a socially accepted effect, but there’s nothing concrete about it.

Because if cannabis could change your thoughts and make you more creative, then it should be able to do the opposite. Cannabis should be able to make you think dark, delusional things and then hurt yourself or others.

But that’s not how drugs work. Whether cannabis, heroin or your morning coffee.

There is nothing scary about THC. It binds to your cannabinoid receptors and produces a high similar to that you get after an intense workout.

Everything else is fixed and set. Whether positive (cannabis makes me more tolerable) or negative (cannabis makes me paranoid).

The only thing cannabis does is stimulate your endocannabinoid system. The rest is up to you.