Pubdate: Sat,  1 Feb 2003
Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)
Copyright: 2003 Boulder Weekly
Contact:  http://www.boulderweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/57
Author: Ron Bain
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

EVERYBODY'S HIGH

Getting Stoned Is Just A Matter Of Degree. Our Brains Give Us All A 
Marijuana-Like High Every Day, Like It Or Not

You've heard of a "natural high?" Well, it turns out we're all a little bit 
high all the time-whether or not we smoke dope. In fact, the pleasures 
derived from marijuana, sex and chocolate are all tied together. by similar 
chemical reactions in our brains.

Right now, there's a naturally occurring molecule in your brain and body 
that's chemically similar to THC, or delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, the 
stuff in marijuana that gets users high. The scientists who discovered this 
natural THC-like body chemical in 1992, most notably Raphael Mechoulam of 
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, named it "anandamide" after the 
Sanskrit word for ecstasy, "ananda." THC molecules can plug into the 
brain's receptors for anandamides quite easily, he found, but THC lasts 
longer than anandamides, overwhelming the brain's pleasure sites and 
causing-at least in novice users-feelings of giddiness and ecstasy.

For almost 30 years, Jewish researchers have dominated the world's research 
into marijuana and why it produces a "high" when smoked. Recently, Dr. 
Mechoulam and his counterpart at the University of Buffalo, Herbert Schuel, 
explained to Boulder Weekly how and why most people are high most of the time.

Mechoulam's and Schuel's ongoing research shows that anandamides appear to 
be involved in regulating and balancing the body's biochemical systems, 
influencing or controlling the reproductive, sleep, fight-or-flight and 
appetite cycles.

"It's a quirk of nature that THC works on our receptors," Mechoulam 
remarked. "We were lucky to be the only group in the world working on this 
chemical."

All mammals, fish, birds and reptiles seem to have anandamide-based 
regulatory systems; it's even found in cacao nuts, from which chocolate is 
made.

"It is found in substantial quantities in chocolate, and may account for 
the feelings of pleasure that come from chocolate," Schuel said. Other 
researchers have found that chocolate seems to prolong the marijuana 
high-as pot users have long claimed.

Street mythology about marijuana has always held that the drug makes girls 
easier to seduce, that it makes guys impotent or sterile, that it induces 
drowsiness, and that it prolongs life by easing cumulative stress. Turns 
out that these two specialized geniuses, Mechoulam and Schuel, no longer 
view the above as mythology.

Experiments with rats, Schuel explains, show that marijuana causes some 
"enhancement of sexual activities," at least for the female rats "who 
appear much more eager than the males." Tests of heavy pot-smoking human 
males show lowered sperm counts to the point that marijuana could be 
considered an effective contraceptive, Schuel said, although "it's not a 
cut-and-dried thing. Sometimes when both smoke, they have babies."

One of Schuel's studies with sea urchins reveals that anandamides inhibit 
the process of sperm penetrating and entering the egg cell. When 
anandamides or THC are present, the sea urchin sperm-which actually has 
anandamide receptor sites on its surface-cannot break through the egg's 
tough protein coat.

Many people consider marijuana to be a virtual panacea, good for the 
prevention and treatment of glaucoma and as a digestive aid, or as a 
treatment for asthma, nausea, insomnia, constipation, menstrual pain, 
headaches, hangovers, hiccups, eating disorders and lack of appetite.

Schuel agrees that, with the discovery of anandamides, "there's an enormous 
potential for new medicines and home remedies. There are medicinal aspects 
plus the psychogenic effects." Cannabis-based medicines were common in the 
19th century and may become so again in the 21st century, the two 
scientists speculate.

Already, European researchers are testing an anandamide-based stroke 
treatment that, if used quickly enough, seems to protect and cushion the 
brain from the worst effects of stroke, Mechoulam said.

History of THC Research

In the early 1960s, Dr. Mechoulam was fresh from post-doctoral studies at 
the Rockefeller Institute in New York and working at the Weizmann Institute 
in Rehovot, Israel. He was looking for a unique field of research in which 
to work and make his scientific name.

"I decided to initiate... a re-examination of the chemistry of hashish," 
Mechoulam wrote in a 1998 edition of the International Cannabinoid Research 
Society newsletter. Mechoulam's preliminary research showed that ancient 
Assyrians used cannabis for mind-expanding and medicinal purposes 4,500 
years ago. "Apparently nobody was working on this plant resin, although 
from a careful perusal of the literature it was quite obvious that, in 
spite of several claims to the contrary, the active constituent had not 
been isolated in a pure form and its structure was unknown," he wrote.

Mechoulam persuaded an administrator at the Weizmann Institute to contact 
Israel's top law enforcement commander "and ask for a few kilograms of 
hashish," he wrote.

"Within a week I went to police headquarters and signed a receipt, 'free of 
charge,' for five kilograms of hashish... still packed in their original 
cotton bags, with the trademarks of the Lebanese suppliers."

Mechoulam thought he had fulfilled all procedural requirements to legally 
obtain the illicit substance, but later he found out that only the Israeli 
Ministry of Health could legally dispense "narcotics" and that he had 
technically broken the law. But he never spent any time in jail and he got 
to keep his hash stash, Mechoulam explains.

In 1964, Mechoulam and a fellow researcher, Prof. Yehiel Gaoni, isolated 
THC for the first time. Mechoulam applied to the U.S. National Institute of 
Health (NIH) for a research grant, and was turned down flatly. "The drug 
was only used by South American natives and was unknown in the United 
States, I was told."

But mid-'60s pot politics turned things around. "A U.S. senator had asked 
NIH whether they knew anything about marijuana, as his son had been caught 
smoking it," Mechoulam wrote. "The senator wanted to know whether his son 
had permanently damaged his brain."

Dr. Dani Efron, at that time the head of pharmacology for NIH, contacted 
Mechoulam immediately. "In order to not look out of touch, they asked for 
my help. We supplied them with 10 grams of pure delta-9 THC-the entire 
world supply-and we got a grant," Mechoulam wrote. "Much of the early 
research on THC in the U.S. was done on our material, although Dr. Efron 
kept his source of supply a secret."

Dr. Mechoulam has held an NIH grant ever since. In the late 1960s, he went 
on to synthesize most of the other cannabinoids in marijuana, finding that 
delta-9 THC is the only one that showed measurable laboratory effects on 
rhesus monkeys.

In a 1970 article in Science magazine, Mechoulam speculated that the human 
body metabolized THC into another chemical that acted on the molecular 
level to produce the drug's high. Later he found this metabolized substance 
in mammalian urine, leading to today's urinalysis industry... "and we had 
neglected to patent it!" he added.

In 1988, an American research group that included Bill Devane announced 
they had found evidence of a cannabinoid receptor in the mammalian brain. 
Devane joined Mechoulam in Israel to further research this question: Did 
our brains evolve to receive marijuana?

"We assumed that such a receptor does not exist for the sake of a plant 
compound," they concluded.

Other drugs, like opium, had been found to bind at the molecular level to 
brain receptor sites intended for endorphins, the body's natural pain 
reliever. Mechoulam and Devane decided to look for the natural version of 
THC, and in 1992 they announced finding a fatty molecule that bound 
naturally to the cannabinoid receptor site.

"Now, there have been about 12,000 papers published on it," Mechoulam adds 
proudly.

How Anandamides Work

Anandamides are produced by our brains and bodies to achieve a sort of 
yin-yang biochemical balance, and do not produce the extreme "high" of 
marijuana, Mechoulam says.

"They're completely different, from a chemical point of view, from THC," he 
said. "But they combine in the receptor sites the same way." Anandamides 
are quickly broken down by the body after they have served their intended 
purpose, and do not last as long as THC metabolites, which remain in the 
body for weeks.

"The body, the way I see it, is made of compounds which enhance 
(biochemical) reactions and compounds which reduce reactions," Mechoulam 
says. "Anandamide is basically a compound that reduces activity; for 
example, it reduces the formation of many neurotransmitters that are 
stimulatory."

Anandamides play a survival role for young mammals-their instinctive 
suckling behavior seems integrally tied to the presence of anandamides. "If 
we block the system (from receiving anandamides), there is no suckling," 
Mechoulam explains.

Scientists today use genetic engineering to create special strains of mice 
that have no anandamide receptors. "These mice are called 'knock-out' 
mice... and they survive pretty well," Mechoulam said, but he explained 
that knock-out mice die at a younger age than their anandamide-receiving 
counterparts and don't reproduce as well.

What would happen if a human were born without the ability to produce or 
receive anandamides? "I don't think he or she would be born. I don't think 
they could survive. It would probably be a very difficult life," Mechoulam 
remarked.

But it fits the logic of earlier research into the brain chemical dopamine 
to assume that there are humans who produce too much or too little 
anandamide, Mechoulam explained. "There are people with lots of dopamine 
that are schizophrenics and others who don't have enough dopamine.

"Lack of anandamide levels can cause spontaneous abortions" in mammals, 
Mechoulam said. "And it makes sense that disease would shut down the 
anandamide system."

But testing a human to see if their anandamide levels are correct would 
require a painful spinal tap to find the specific enzyme produced by the 
body's breakdown of anandamides, which is why today's research remains 
confined to rats, mice and sea urchins.

"We can't do that painful procedure (to humans) just for research," 
Mechoulam said.

Across the world, in differing cultures with wildly varying socioeconomic 
structures, a consistent 10 percent of the population smokes marijuana, 
studies have shown. Could these be people born with low levels of natural 
anandamides?

Schuel thinks questions like this will be answered soon, now that countries 
like Canada and Holland are allowing recreational use of marijuana while 
anandamides research continues in Israel and Ameica. Here, though, "there's 
a big disconnect between the public policy world and the science of 
biochemistry," he said, which will prevent America from legalizing 
marijuana any time soon.

But there are already websites selling anandamides and a legal snythetic 
analog of THC that, Schuel estimates, is 100 to 1,000 times stronger than 
marijuana.

The Israeli Connection

Schuel says that the major reason that research into THC and anandamides is 
based primarily in Israel-rather than some drug Mecca like Holland or 
Canada-is that Dr. Mechoulam chooses to live and work there. "Raphael is 
the big mover-I'm just a little fish in the pond," he said, complimenting 
the elder Mechoulam, who's 72.

"There are quite a few people and hundreds of groups working on 
cannabinoids all over the world now," Mechoulam says, diverting all 
reverence away from himself. "The world is not just made of small countries 
anymore. It doesn't matter if my fellow researchers are in Canada, France, 
Spain, NIH or California, we have these frequent contacts. I am currently 
refereeing several papers that are up for publication."

Schuel thinks the reason it was Jews who broke ground in marijuana research 
dates back to World War II and has nothing to do with drugs. "Hitler drove 
all the Jewish physicists out and they came to America and built the bomb," 
he said, pointing out the tradition of Jewish intellectual inquiry.

"Studying for study's sake is a glorious endeavor," Schuel said, noting 
that today people from an infinite variety of ethnicities work in the 
cannabinoids research field all over the world. Compared to their 
percentages in the general population, Jews are more often drawn to careers 
in science, academic research or writing than other demographic groups, he 
noted, so it was only natural that Jewish researchers were first drawn to 
the esoteric field of marijuana research.

In the January 2003 issue of High Times magazine, writer Chris Bennett 
claims that ancient Hebrew royalty and religious leaders used anointing oil 
containing a large amount of marijuana extracts. Bennett, who referenced 
his article heavily with scriptural and historical citations, goes on to 
claim that Jesus might have been called Christ because he was anointed with 
this oil, called "kaneh-bosem," which was reserved for kings.

"Anointing was common among the kings of Israel. It was the sign and symbol 
of royalty. These kings led their people with the benefits of insights 
achieved through using the holy anointing oil to become 'possessed with the 
spirit of the Lord,'" wrote Bennett.

"The ministry of Jesus marked the return of the Jewish Messiah-kings, and 
thus the re-emergence of the holy oil. Jesus was called the Christ because 
he violated the Old Testament taboo on the cannabis oil and distributed it 
freely for initiation rites and to heal the sick and wounded," Bennett's 
article continues.

Maybe the claims of Rastafarians-who say that marijuana is a sacrament, 
that it allows them to be closer to God and that they are one of the lost 
tribes of Israel-are not too far from the literal truth.

Even Judges Are High

Everyone alive-including parents, politicians, judges, police and 
jailers-is on a natural anandamide high every day. . . except perhaps for 
those who lack certain genes to produce or receive the natural THC-like 
chemical. Thanks to Mechoulam and Schuel, someday soon there will be 
cannabinoid-based or anandamide-based medical treatments for those who 
can't sleep, who have no appetite, who develop strokes or heart conditions, 
who suffer asthma or glaucoma, who are too restless or anxious, or who 
suffer any number of other maladies.

When that day comes, perhaps a memorial will go up for every person who 
suffered or died in prison for smoking or selling an innocent, medicinal 
herb and to those who devoted their lifetimes to expand the human race's 
knowledge of marijuana, cannabinoids and anandamides.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager