The ECS
Endocannabinoid System:
When educating of the ECS we must also include the hypothalamus (this part of the brain plays a significant role in the endocrine system and it is responsible for regulating body temp, heart rate and BP, fluid and electrolyte balance, appetite and body weight, glandular secretions of the stomach and intestines, influences the pituitary gland to release hormones, sleep cycles and more.) The hypothalamus is the link between the endocrine and nervous systems. Every human has a hypothalamus and an endocannabinoid system. Research appears to be proving that our bodies are on smart control, for the most part, by our hypothalamus whose primary job is overall body regulation. Envision our hypothalamus controlling our ECS and using it as a master regulatory tool. We know our hypothalamus is responsible for governing our internal balance and we also know that it does in fact use our ECS to try and achieve it’s duty which is homeostasis. How on earth do I know this? Because all of the data from cannabis and the endocannabinoid system research are indicating this. Have a look for yourself here. https://www.nih.gov/
Endocannabinoid Receptors:
As you can see our cannabinoid receptors are found all throughout the body: in the brain, glands, immune cells, organs, and connective tissues. It remains a mystery why we don’t teach modern medicine involving this critical key regulatory system. We will be covering the surface and understanding a little about the ECS so let us dive right into phytocannabinoids, (phyto) which just means plant origin.
To touch briefly on phytocannabinoids and their role in cannabis consumption in humans we must understand the basics. The Cannabis sativa plant contains hundreds of different chemical compounds. Some of these include ; nitrogenous compounds, amino acids, flavonoids, terpenes and simple fatty acids. This plants chemistry is far from being understood or anticipated to its fullest and with it being so complex, it makes it really exciting for the future to come and unlock some cool surprises that reflect the universe.
Here you can find information on specific cannabinoids that have been isolated and studied. It is important to identify these cannabinoids and be aware that there are hundreds more out there that we have yet to find and study. Who knows what kind of secret mysteries lie beneath the prohibition surface of cannabis.
https://www.learngreenflower.com/articles/128/beginners-guide-to-cannabinoids
Prohibition:
Two men are primarily responsible for the modern federal-level legal prohibition of marijuana that has been in existence for the past 80 years: Harry Anslinger and William Randolph Hearst. Plenty has been researched and recited on the internet about these two and their roles in cannabis prohibition. You can find articles and research on them below.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harry-anslinger-the-man-behind-the-marijuana-ban/
http://www.csdp.org/publicservice/anslinger.htm
https://prohbtd.com/henry-anslinger-the-godfather-of-cannabis-prohibition
https://www.massroots.com/learn/the-man-responsible-for-marijuana-prohibition/
http://www.ozarkia.net/bill/pot/blunderof37.html
It is especially hard to go back in time and determine ones intentions but some will argue against the fact that cannabis prohibition was due to Anslinger, Hearst, and Dupont protecting their financial interests when competing against hemp so they made the competition illegal. Some will say that this prohibition period was targeted as a racism and oppression move. Here is an article worth the read for skeptics.
https://www.alternet.org/story/77339/debunking_the_hemp_conspiracy_theory
Recap thoughts:
Simply put and the way that it seems to have unfolded was that since hemp was already made illegal and affiliated with “marijuana” they became one plant in the eyes of the government. That happened and scientists did their thing as they found the ECS in a rat when it responded to cannabis (1988 study, leading to naming the discovery after the cannabis sativa plant) they went to discover the system in humans and then in 1992 they discovered anadnamide and 2-AG (endocannabinoids that are made internally in our own bodies). After discovering anadnamide and 2-AG scientists named them cannabinoids, named after cannabis, which is what caused all of this to unravel and unfortunately caused a lot of automatically induced stigma attached to this discovery. Years passed after a long war on drugs and reefer madness craze that we are here today in 2018. Half the states in the US have a form of legalized marijuana and 92% of the population of the US lives in a legalized state. So now we have this master regulatory system that could be tied to having some responsibility in achieving homeostasis with the hypothalamus, which we just discovered and are just finding out how it can be enhanced, well nourished, and studied. Studying plant human interaction is key to finding out about this regulatory system (ECS). It could lead to suggesting that the plants and foods we consume are vital to our operating system and thus indicating how optimized we could truly be. Some say the gut is the second brain and this is just one more step to being able to confirm something like that.
