ANOTHER CANNABIS DRUG SANS BUZZ
Israel
Jerusalem -- Hey man, wanna score some cannabinoids?
An Israeli pharmaceutical company is working on a drug mimicking
cannabis' chemical constituents -- cannabinoids -- to offer marijuana's
therapeutic benefits without the buzz.
The new type of synthetic cannabinoid is
"equivalent to ... the best-quality marijuana," says Dr. George
Fink, vice president of research at Pharmos, which presented its
new bicyclic dextrocannabinoic compounds at the BIO CEO and Investor
conference in New York in February.
The cannabis plant contains over 60 cannabinoids.
When you smoke ( or eat ) pot, the cannabinoids bind to two cannabinoid
receptors in the body, called CB1 and CB2. CB1 appears to enhance
appetite, reduce pain and ease muscle spasms -- and it is also
the receptor that produces the psychotropic effects smokers want.
However, getting stoned is not what the pharmaceutical
industry wants for its clients. Pharmos' synthetic cannabinoid
shuns CB1 to bind almost exclusively to CB2. So, unfortunately
for some, there's no getting wasted. "I wouldn't call the 'high'
an adverse side effect," Fink says. "The serious side effects
are those which prevent people getting on with their normal work."
...
-snip-
...The U.S. government is also supporting
cannabinoid research. Dr. Steven Childer of the department of
physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest University is conducting
work on cannabinoids in the brain, for example. The National Institute
on Drug Abuse is funding part of this research.
Childer welcomes Pharmos' specific CB2 cannabinoid,
calling it preferable to natural THC because of its lack of psychotropic
effects. But he is uncertain if such compounds could bring all
the therapeutic benefits cannabis has to offer.
snip-
Read Complete Article Here
