A cure if used well, a drug if used incorrectly... One step closer to coexistence in human hands

[Hankyoreh S] Shin Chan-young's poison to the mind, medicine to the mind - hemp

Stem bark is hemp, seeds are hempseed

Dried leaves are cannabis, dried sap hashish

Incurable disease special effect... Regulations are also relaxed

Addiction remains a concern in the medical community

What do George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin have in common? The president of the United States and a farmer who grew hemp (not that they smoked cannabis). So what do Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama have in common? These are people who have (or are suspected of) using cannabis in their youth. In the United States, cannabis is known to be the second most used drug among all drugs that act on the nervous system. 1st place? It is alcohol. In other words, hemp is the most widely used and abused drug, surpassing all drugs. Studies have shown that 10% of Americans use cannabis every month. Perhaps few substances, like cannabis, coexist with passion for medicinal uses and concerns about addiction and social problems.

Hemp is an annual plant. The stem bark is used to make hemp cloth, the seeds (hempseed) are in the limelight as a super food, and the inner stem is also used as a building material. However, if you dry hemp flowers, leaves, and ears, it becomes cannabis, and if you dry hemp essence, it becomes more addictive hashish.

low-threshold drug, cannabis

Recently, interest in the medical use of cannabis has been increasing, but cannabis is ranked 11th in dependence and 10th in social harm in a total of 20 types of abuse and misuse drugs evaluated by experts around the world. Although many countries are also easing regulations, public health concerns are growing that continued use of cannabis could trigger the use of more dangerous narcotics. People who continue to use cannabis have more pain after surgery and more symptoms of nausea and vomiting, which can cause cardiovascular problems such as heart attack and arrhythmia. In severe cases, it was recommended that surgery be postponed.

In 1964, Dr. Rafael Meshlam of Israel and others discovered that 'tetrahydrocannabinol' (THC) contained in hemp induces fluctuations in mental activity such as euphoria and hallucinations. In hemp, there are dozens of substances with structures similar to THC, which are called 'cannabinoids'. Subsequent studies showed that cannabinoids such as THC bind to cannabinoid receptors such as fertilization (CB)1 and fertilization (CB)2 in vivo, resulting in pain relief, reduced movement, control of food intake behavior, hypothermia, and memory loss. It has been found that it regulates various physiological functions such as Just as there is endogenous morphine in our body, there are also endogenous cannabinoids (arachidonylglycerol, anandamide), and these substances play a role in regulating mental and physiological functions under normal circumstances.

Major pharmaceutical companies and university research institutes in the US and Israel produce substances that enhance or inhibit the function of fertilization 1 and fertilization 2 receptors, such as THC, or substances that regulate the synthesis and degradation of endogenous cannabinoids, and develop them for pharmaceutical use. in progress These substances are used for purposes such as appetite control, nausea and vomiting control for cancer and AIDS patients, pain relievers including neuropathic pain, obesity treatment, and mental disease treatment. However, synthetic cannabinoids carry the risk of being misused as drugs. Dr. John William Huffman and Dr. Alexandros Makriyannis of the United States have synthesized hundreds of new cannabinoids under their own names and used them for research and drug development, some of which have been designated as narcotics and are regulated by governments around the world. there is. In his later years, Dr. Huffman devoted a great deal of effort to publicizing the risks associated with synthetic cannabinoid addiction.

Angels and demons coexist with a single difference

Cannabidiol (CBD), a hemp-derived substance that is effective in treating intractable epilepsy without having a strong narcotic action like THC, has also recently received a lot of attention. CBD is extracted from hemp, and natural product-derived medicines, which are the main ingredient, are marketed as prescription drugs with permission from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and active mechanism research is also being conducted. Recently, <Neuron>, one of the authoritative journals in the field of brain neuroscience, reported that cvidi reduces the activity of excessive excitatory nerves related to seizures and increases the activity of inhibitory nerves, breaking the malignant link of 'continuous increase in hyperexcitation' to treat epilepsy. reported to be effective. Further research is underway to see if this hyperexcitable suppression can be used in a variety of psychiatric treatments, including autism, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In early March of this year, Israel's Dr. Meshullam, who is referred to as the 'father of cannabis research', died at the age of 92. With Dr. Huffman passing away last year, the first generation of cannabis research is coming to an end. If he succeeded in preventing the addiction and dependence of hemp and commercializing it for medical purposes sooner, Dr. Meshulam and others would have deserved the Nobel Prize.

Hemp is a crop that has been cultivated by humans for a long time since the Neolithic Age, and has economic value as a material for clothes, textiles, and various industries. Hemp has both narcotic components of THC and components that can be developed for medicinal purposes, such as CBD. These are the two faces of hemp. In the French comedy film <Paulette's Suspicious Bakery>, various episodes are drawn about an eccentric old woman who runs a failing local bakery, sells cannabis-infused bread, and gets into trouble with her drug gang. There is a difference between an angel and a devil, and I don't know if the devil is in the details. It is always in the hands of man to properly and properly use the gifts nature has given him.

Professor at Konkuk University Graduate School of Medicine

A psychopharmacologist who admits that my mind is different from yours. As a pioneer in basic research on brain development disorders, he has published more than 190 papers on animal models and mechanisms of brain diseases.