Marijuana chemical properties

As discussed above, marijuana contains four constituents (viz,I-IV) similar in structure and chemical properties whereas the metabolites are more polar and in the case of V and VI, more acidic than I. Thus it seemed plausible that I-IV could be separated from V and VI in plasma based upon pH adjustment and solvent extraction properties. Compounds I-IV were found to be extractable at ambient pH of 7.4 using petroleum ether whereas V and VI could be extracted at pH 4.1 using 99 1, benzene isopropanol. Once the initial plasma separation was effected a chromatographic separation was feasible using normal phase conditions for I-IV and reverse phase conditions for V and VI. Each technique is detailed in the following sections. 

Inhalant abuse is also termed volatile solvent abuse. It should be noted that many drugs besides those classified as inhalants can be administered by inhalation, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl patches, and nicotine. These drugs are not volatile solvents and have different physical and chemical properties therefore, they are not classified as inhalants. Inhalants are chemicals that are volatile, meaning they can readily vaporize from... 

The resin of the flowering tops of the Indian hemp plant contain the chemical compounds responsible for marijuana s psychoactive and medicinal properties. This resin can be collected and pressed into blocks, known as hashish. 

The cannabis plant has been cultivated for centuries both for the production of hemp flber and for its presumed medicinal and psychoactive properties. The smoke from burning cannabis contains many chemicals, including 61 different cannabinoids that have been identified. One of these, A-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (A-9-THC), produces most of the characteristic pharmacological effects of smoked marijuana. 

Figure 6-6a). Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active constituent of marijuana, also has the molecular formula CjiHjqOj (Figure 6-6b). Progesterone and THC are isomers they have the same chemical formula but veiy different structures. Does this mean that they have similar effects on the human body No The different structures result in different effects-structure is everything. Nature can take exactly the same atoms in exactly the same numbers and make two different molecules with drastically different properties and functions. One of them, progesterone, makes pregnancy possible the other, THC, alters the way the brain processes stimuli. 

Marijuana contains nearly 500 different chemicals. The most important one as far as psychoactive properties are concerned is A-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as delta-9-THC (A -THC). Nature, being a brilliant synthetic chemist, just makes the single isomer (-)-A -THC. It is possible to make the other isomer in the laboratory, but (+)-A -THC has no psychoactive properties. 

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