We’ve always been strong backers of whole plant medicinal cannabis, as has the medical cannabis movement going back to its modern incarnation in the 1990s to today’s ever-growing nation-wide acceptance.
Before that, cannabis medicines in the US go back to the early to mid 19th Century when they were an important part of the US Pharmacopoeia – and – all the way back to ancient Chinese medicine 5,000 years ago.
While THC and CBD are the best known, most studied cannabis constituents, they – along with cannabinoids in general – aren’t the whole story in pain relief, nor in cannabis’ multiple other medicinal benefits.
Excerpts…
“The cannabinoid-like chemicals known as terpenes, which cannabis is also rich in, are being found to play important roles.
Terpenes give herb its pungent aroma, and deliver therapeutic relief, just like their cannabinoid cousins.
They’re produced in secretory cells within the plant’s trichomes. Trichomes are the tiny resinous stalks covering the flowers where cannabinoids are created. About 20,000 terpenes exist in nature; more than 200 have been identified in cannabis (compared to 111 cannabinoids).
Like amino acids (or possibly even nootropics [also called “smart drugs” by proponents] for having memory and focus enhancing applications), terpenes are powerful building blocks aiding in the production of vitamins, hormones, pigments, resins, and, yes, cannabinoids.
Consider pinene….
There are actually two types of pinene, alpha and beta. Alpha pinene carries a scent of pine needles or rosemary; beta smells like dill, parsley, rosemary, basil, or hops. Like terpenes myrcene and limonene, pinene is found in many non-cannabis plants. In fact, it is the most common terpene found in the plant world.”
The article links to four studies done in animals requiring further research before MD-approved human protocols can be developed, but terpenes are already mainstream agents in herbal and complementary medicines with a rich literature of clinical case reports.
Further, vendors are adding many terpenes and other essential oils to Hemp CBD oil products. This might increase efficacy, but also raises questions of expertise, though all used fall in the “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) category.
Pinene can enhance mental focus and energy. It also acts as a bronchodilator, making it helpful for people with asthma and other respiratory ailments. And it can be used as a topical antiseptic.
Probably its most promising future application, however, may turn out to be, alone or in concert, in helping reduce the size of cancerous tumors.
The combination of terpenes and cannabinoids in whole flower cannabis medicines is an example of the “entourage effect” we’ve shared articles about in the past. More recent articles have suggested “ensemble effect” may be a more apt description and we tend to agree.
More in the article….
#MMJ #Terpenes #Pinene #EnsembleEffect #UTpol #FightingForYou #TRUCE
See full article – Pinene: Cancer-Killing, Memory-Enhancing Terpene – MassRoots
