Marijuana derivation

The panel did find short-term effects on "immediate memory, "oral communication and "learning, and said that it sometimes "may trigger temporary confusion and delirium. Noting that "about a quarter of the entire [U.S.] population has tried it at least once, Reiman reported the study group s recommendations (1) more work to produce marijuana derivatives with increased therapeutic action and less side effects, (2) a high-priority national effort to find out more about this drug, and (3) the decriminalization of penalties for personal marijuana use. 

Cannabinoids Marijuana derivatives, including dronabinol [droe NAB i nol] and nabilone, are effective against moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. However, they are seldom first-line antiemetics because of their serious side effects, including dysphoria, hallucinations, sedation, vertigo, and disorientation. In spite of their psychotropic properties (see p. 105), the antiemetic action of cannabinoids may not involve the brain synthetic cannabinoids having no psychotropic activity, nevertheless are antiemetic. 

Dronabinol is the only currently available derivative of THC, which is a derivative of the active substance found in marijuana Dronabinol is a second-line antiemetic and is used after treatment with other antiemetics has failed. 

Marijuana and hashish are derivatives of the cannabis sativa plant 919 Cannabinoid effects in the CNS are mediated by the CB1 receptor 919 Endocannabinoids are endogenous ligands for the CB1 receptor 919 Endocannabinoids serve as retrograde messengers 920 There are many similarities between endogenous opioid and cannabinoid systems 921... 

Marijuana and hashish are derivatives of the cannabis sativa plant. Although cannabinoids have been used for centuries for recreational and therapeutic purposes, dramatic advances in cannabinoid neurobiology have occurred since 1990 [34-37]. This is attributable to the cloning of cannabinoid receptors and the discovery of endogenous cannabinoids, termed endocannabinoids. 

Several products are derived from the cannabis plant (table 10.1). Hashish and charas are the dried resin exuded from the female flowers. These have the highest content of A9-tetrahydrocannabinol (TFIC) at 10-20% and have the most potent psychoactive effects. Ganja and sinsemilla are the dried tops of the female plants, which averages 5-8%. Marijuana and bhang are derived from the rest of the plant and have the lowest TFIC concentration (2-5%). 

Compared to the 2- hour duration of the subjective effects of natural marijuana, the effects of a mixture of the eight isomers of this synthetic derivative lasted much longer - up to 30 hours. We gave some Dexedrine to the above subject to see if it would reduce or shorten his symptoms. Not surprisingly, his alertness improved but all the other effects persisted unchanged. 

The advances in isolation methods made possible a clarification of the chemistry of cannabis. In 1963, our group reisolated CBD and reported its correct structure and stereochemistry. A year later we finally succeeded in isolating pure A -tetrahydrocannabinol (A -THC), elucidated its structure, obtained a crystalline derivative and achieved a partial synthesis from CBD. Several years later, a minor psychotomimetically active constituent, A -THC, was isolated from marijuana. Whether this THC isomer is a natural compound, or an artifact formed during the drying of the plant, remains an open problem. 

Cannabinoids are the psychoactive components of marijuana, which has the species name Cannabis sativa. Concentrations of cannabinoids vary greatly from plant to plant. The original strains of this plant species contain very little of these psychoactive components and have been used for many centuries for their great fiber qualities. Strains of Cannabis that may be smoked for psychoactive effects on average contain about 4 percent cannabinoid derivatives. The most active of these derivatives is the compound A9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), shown in Figure 14.33 on page 504. 

The simple pyrans are rather unstable compounds and of little biological or industrial significance but some of their benzo derivatives are of considerable interest. Many 2H-1-benzopyrans (chromenes) are found in plants, for example evodionol (126), lapachenole (127), lonchocarpin (128), rottlerine (129) and edulan (130). A few of the constituents of marijuana (hashish) belong to this class, for example cannabinol (131). 

The resin secreted by Cannabis indica and Cannabis sativa, varieties of hemp, is known variously as marijuana, hashish or bhang and is abused as a hallucinogenic drug. It appears however to have some beneficial properties and is currently under test as an antiemetic in cancer therapy. The secretion contains a number of interrelated oxygen heterocycles, some of which are shown in Scheme 281, which attempts to indicate their biosynthetic relationships (70MI22401). The cannabinoids are probably derived from a monoterpene unit based on p-menthane and 5-n-pentylresorcinol (olivetol), acting the part of a polyketide. 2,2-Dimethylchromene biosynthesis also requires the intervention of an isoprene fragment. 

Resorcinols. Condensation of this diene with the ketal of a fi- keto acid derivative results in a resorcinol with complete regiocontrol. Thus, the TiCl4-catalyzed reaction of 1 with ketal ester 2 results in the resorcinol 3 in 72% yield. However, use of the acid chloride 4 corresponding to 2 in the same reaction results in the isomeric resorcinol, methyl olivetolate (5). The regiocontrol is based on the reactiv ity order acid chloride > ketal > ester. The resorcinol 5 was used in a biomimetic synthesis of the chromene A1 -tetrahydrocannabinol (6), a component of marijuana. 

FIGURE 18.2 Chemical structures of A9-tetrahydrocannabinol (A9-THC) derived from marijuana, and the endogenous cannabimimetic eicosanoid, anadamide (arachidonylethanolamide), identified in the human brain. 

Marijuana is derived from the Indian hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, a member of the Cannabaceae family and the Urticales (nettle) order. Some botanists claim that this genus contains as many as three other species C. indica, C. ruderalis, and even Humulus lupulus, the hops plant. Other botanists insist that the differences between plants reflect simple variations, not different species. 

Marijuana is the flowering part of the Indian hemp plant Cannabis sativa, a weed-like species that grows wild and is also cultivated in many tropical and temperate parts of the world. Cannabis means hemp in Latin and is derived from the Greek word kannabis. Marijuana probably comes from the Mexican Spanish marijuana/marihuana (Mary s leaf or plant) or from Maria and Juan (Mary and John). Among its many names, marijuana is commonly known as weed, ganja, mary jane, and pot. 

Derivatives of cannabis are hashish, which consists of a resin produced by the inflorescences (6-10 % THC), marijuana, which is in the air-dried leaves, flowers, and the stem (2-5 % THC), and hashish oil that looks like a viscous liquid, like tar, obtained by extraction with organic solvents (15-60 % THC). These derivatives are usually smoked. 

British banks. That is not to say that Panama is clean on the contrary, most of the funds derived from the Colombian trade in marijuana and cocaine are laundered through Panama, through the three large Colombian banks resident there. However, American banks have a measure of maneuvering room that they do not have in the Cayman Islands or the Bahamas, under the snooping eyes of the British authorities. 

Tetrahydrocannabinol, the major psychoactive compound in marijuana, is derived in the Cannabis plant from olivetol and geranyl pyrophosphate. Details of the pathway are unknown. Make some suggestions and outline a labelling experiment to establish whether your suggestions are correct. 

The psychological effects of cannabis vary with personal and social factors. However, some guidance to the essential effects of the drug can be derived from investigations with THC and marijuana in non-user volunteers. Blood concentrations of THC over 75 pg/ml under these conditions are associated with euphoria, and somewhat higher concentrations with dissociation of events and memory and impairment of psychomotor tasks lasting over 24 hours (61). 

The plant material can be used as herbal material, once dried, e.g. marijuana. Low-quality products, which contain stalks, seeds, leaves and flowering tops, may be compressed into blocks (West African and Caribbean material), it may occur as loose herbal material (from Central and Southern Africa), or it may be rolled into a so-called Com Bob , wrapped in vegetable fibre (again from Central and Southern Africa). Higher-quahty materials, composed of fruiting tops and flowers alone, may also be encountered. If tied around bamboo sticks, this material is known as Buddha Sticks or Thai Sticks , and arises from South-East Asia. A central bamboo cane is used, around which up to 2 g of herbal material can be tied. The materials can be seized in bundles of up to 20 sticks. An African equivalent is to wrap the material in a small roll of brown paper such rolls frequently contain less than 0.5 g of cannabis per roll. Sieved products may also be encountered. This process removes the stems and the leaves, producing Kif, a material derived from North Africa, for example, from Morocco. 

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