Scientists have proven that marijuana use leads to sleep disorders

So, adults who used cannabis products for 20 or more days were 64% more likely to sleep less than six hours a night. Sleep disorders lead to cardiovascular disease and stroke. In addition, chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and coronary heart disease progress.

According to study author Calvin Diep, he and his colleagues analyzed data from 21,729 volunteers who used marijuana. These people represented the age group from 20 to 59 years old. They also complained of trouble falling asleep.

Two components of marijuana, cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol, affect sleep quality. The former is a key component of medical marijuana and the latter is the main psychoactive compound that induces strong sensations. Both improve sleep in the short term but lead to sleep disturbances as they become addictive. Nevertheless, people continue to believe that marijuana helps them sleep, CNN reports.

In the U.S., more than 11% of pregnant women infected with HIV use marijuana. Experts believe that the main reason for the increase in the use of this drug is its legalization in many states.

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Some people may not develop dependence at all if they use cannabis no more than once or twice a week for a year. For others, it forms quickly, and when they try to stop using the drug, a withdrawal syndrome occurs. According to experts, this is due to the individual characteristics of the body, the type of psychoactive substance used and the degree of its purification, as well as the presence of other bad habits (for example, such as alcohol abuse).

There is no definite answer to the question of what kind of addiction to cannabinoids can occur with their abuse. Most often there is a psychological form of dependence, but under the influence of certain factors can not rule out the formation of physical dependence.

There are three main stages of cannabinoid dependence:

The first stage is characterized by the beginning of regular use of cannabis. Smoking marijuana or hashish causes pleasant sensations: warmth throughout the body, feelings of euphoria, relaxation and happiness. At this stage, an altered reactivity syndrome occurs (the form and frequency of use changes, and tolerance to the psychoactive substance gradually develops). Mental dependence on cannabinoids manifests itself in the form of an irresistible obsessive urge to smoke marijuana. For the addict, a new dose becomes the only way to get pleasure and normalize his state.

The second stage of addiction. At this stage, the previously occurring relaxing effect becomes more short-lived. Drug intoxication no longer brings the former pleasure. It is followed by a decrease in activity and general tone. For the addict, cannabis use becomes the only means of ensuring normal life activity. Mental dependence reaches its peak, and physical cravings for the drug begin to form. When trying to refuse its use or skipping a dose, withdrawal symptoms occur.

The third stage of the disease is physical dependence on cannabinoids. Usually only develops with years of substance abuse. The stage is characterized by a drop in tolerance and the action of cannabinoids solely as a tonic (energizer). During the period of abstinence from drugs, the addict experiences loss of energy, anxiety, and depressed mood. The withdrawal syndrome becomes intense and prolonged.

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Rope plants

The natural source of cannabinoids is hemp (Cannabis sativa), a dicotyledonous plant with separate male and female flowers. Hemp is unpretentious enough to be grown on an industrial scale.

Seed hemp

Hemp has long been a source of material for fabrics and ropes: the famous hemp ropes were made from hemp fibers. Various parts of cannabis have also been used as cosmetics and as fodder for livestock. The psychotropic effects of cannabis were also known, but it was used relatively rarely.

The industrial use of hemp was severely restricted in 1961 due to the entry into force of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Despite this fact and the fact that many countries have passed laws prohibiting the use of cannabis derivatives, today between 130 and 230 million people worldwide use cannabis as a drug.

The mental effects of cannabis are caused by cannabinoids, a group of plant-derived terpene phenolic compounds. There are dozens of cannabinoids, but Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has the strongest psychotropic effect. Other members of the family have less potent effects. In plants, cannabinoids are formed by two pathways. The polyketide pathway allows the synthesis of cannabinoids from olivetolic acid. The second mechanism is more complex: it is based on the production of geranyl diphosphate and the subsequent synthesis of monoterpenes.

Tetrahydrocannabinol molecule

I wonder why hemp needs this group of substances at all? Most likely, as with nicotine, cannabinoids protect the plant from insect pests. It is not entirely clear whether they have a direct effect on the central nervous system of insects or act in some other way, but their effectiveness in this role is not disputed.

In search of a receptor

The possibility of a chemical substance affecting the human body implies the presence of a point of application (simply put, a target of action). This can be a specific receptor, as in the case of digoxin contained in foxglove. Another option is the global effect of the drug on a variety of processes and binding to multiple receptors. Alcohol has a similar effect (but this is not certain).

Scientists have long tried to find the target of the action of cannabinoids in the human body. This was accomplished in 1988, when cannabinoid receptors of type 1 (CB1 receptors) were described. In 1993, a second class of receptors to cannabinoids (CB2 receptors) was also discovered. CB1 receptors are located in the central nervous system. Activation and blocking of CB1 affect memory processes, neuroprotection, and nociception. In addition to the brain, they can be found in the liver, myocardium, kidney, gastrointestinal tract, lung, and in the endothelial lining and muscle wall of blood vessels. CB2 is widely present on immune and endothelial cells. The synthetic cannabinoids found in smoking mixtures mainly stimulate CB1 receptors – which is why these drugs alter a person’s mental state so severely.

Cannabinoid receptors in human organs

CB1- and CB2-receptors are 44% identical in their amino acid sequence. Both types of receptors belong to the class of G-protein-coupled receptors (you can read a selection of articles about this type of cellular structures on our website). Scientists now know the crystal structure of the cannabinoid receptor with high precision. In addition, in recent years it has been possible to understand how receptors change when interacting with THC and another cannabinoid, hexahydrocannabinol. Interestingly, pharmacological methods can block CB1- and CB2-receptors separately, but it is not yet possible to stimulate them separately.

This begs the question: why do we need receptors for cannabis substances in our body?

A year before the description of the second type of receptors, Science magazine published a paper about anandamide, a representative of our body’s endocannabinoid system. In other words, it is a molecule produced in the human body that acts on the same receptors as cannabinoids. Apart from it, endogenous cannabinoids include 2-arachidonoylglycerol. CB1 receptors are found in cortical neurons, basal ganglia, cerebellum and hippocampus. The function of these receptors is to reduce the release of the neurotransmitters GABA or glutamate.

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There are so many cannabinoid receptors in our body

Paradoxically, cannabinoid receptors are the most numerous in the central nervous system. What are they and why are they called that? When a receptor is studied in science, one of the key ways to describe it is to label what molecule is used to cause its activation. For example, there are nicotinic receptors. This doesn’t mean they are specifically designed to perceive nicotine. But because they were first described as receptors that are activated by this substance, they became known as nicotinic receptors. The same is true of cannabinoid receptors. They are present in our brain, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, muscles and respond to cannabinoids.

The human brain produces endocannabinoids on its own

There are endocannabinoids in the human body. These substances are produced naturally by the brain and are used as neurotransmitters. Endocannabinoids are structurally similar to phytocannabinoids (which are present in marijuana), have similar effects, and activate the same receptors. They are implicated in suppressing pain sensations, producing feelings of euphoria, and are also involved in appetite regulation, affecting memory and learning.

When marijuana is smoked regularly, the number of cannabioid receptors in the brain decreases

With regular marijuana use, the number of cannabinoid receptors in the brain decreases, scientists found out in a study. It involved people who regularly smoked marijuana. And as a control group were involved those who did not use it. And when measuring the number of receptors in the cortex of the large hemispheres in the first group they were more than in the second. The thing is that when the body gets too much cannabinoids, it realizes that something is wrong. There is too much load on the receptors, they are too active, and this causes unnatural physiological processes in the body. And in order to reduce this effect, to protect itself from excessive activation of these receptors, the body itself reduces their activity. Therefore, when a person smokes a lot and regularly, the number of these receptors decreases. With this is associated with the emergence of tolerance in smokers.

Smoking marijuana clearly has an effect on memory, but scientists have not yet realized how bad it is

Evidence on the long-term effects of cannabis use on memory varies. Occasional use is not thought to cause long-term memory impairment. With regular use, some sources report that normal memory functioning returns after 48 hours to 1 month of cessation, while others report that normal memory functioning does not return even after 1 year of smoking cessation. Why might this be happening in the first place? Scientists believe that memory impairment is due to suppression of mitochondria, the energy centers of cells, which also have cannabinoid receptors on their membrane.

Regular use of cannabinoids may reduce dopamine production

Dopamine is a pleasure hormone that also has one of the most important functions – motivational. That is, when you are motivated to do something, it means that your brain cells have secreted this neurotransmitter. According to a study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, with regular use of cannabis, the human brain begins to secrete less of it. Accordingly, when the amount of dopamine decreases, a number of physiological and psychological disorders can occur.

Marijuana may help treat Alzheimer’s disease

THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, one of the main cannabinoids) may be a potential cure for Alzheimer’s disease. It develops in people of advanced age. The main marker of the disease is a decrease in the amount of gray matter in the brain, and there is a die-off of a large number of neurons.

If you look at the brain of a patient with this disease, you can see clusters of protein. This protein changes its shape and rolls up into balls. The clumps join together to form plaques. This causes the neurons to “suffocate.” It’s called neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques.

So THC is able to attach to amyloid proteins and prevent plaques from forming. It prevents the protein from taking on an irregular shape. The mechanism has been studied in animals and the study has been published on the website of the U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Cannabinoids can inhibit the development of cancer cells

Cannabinoids were originally used to relieve the side effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients. A person undergoing chemotherapy has a large number of physiological disturbances. For example, he or she feels nauseous all the time. Cannabinoids used to relieve the person’s condition and have an analgesic effect. But eventually scientists found out that cannabinoids can cause tumor shrinkage and destruction of cancer cells without causing destruction of healthy cells.

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