THC: Good for More Than Just Getting You High
At this point pretty much everyone has heard of THC. It’s the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis and has been vilified for ‘getting people high’, rather than praised for providing medical benefits (as CBD has been for the last few years). What you may not know is that THC has many forms, some more psychoactive than others. For instance, delta9 THC—what most people are thinking of when they think THC—is converted to 11 hydroxy THC when metabolized in the liver. While both forms are psychoactive, 11 hydroxy much more readily binds to endocannabinoid receptors, (this is why many of us feel more ‘stoned’ after ingesting medibles than after simply smoking a joint).
The THC found in the plant itself—before it’s decarboxyated (heated)—is actually THC-A, which also has many medical benefits but no psychoactive properties. So if you’re not one for feeling ‘high’ there are still options for whole plant cannabis use without psychoactive properties. Juicing, for instance, is a great way to benefit from the curative properties of THC-A without having to worry about potentially unpleasant or unwanted psychoactive effects. Topicals are also a good non-psychoactive option because although the molecules penetrate several layers of tissue, they do not cross the blood-brain barrier and are therefore non-psychoactive. (The skin also has the highest concentration of CB2 receptors.) In many shops you can also find THC-A diamonds, which are formed by allowing polarized THC molecules to crystalize during extraction processes. When these THC-A diamonds are vaporized or smoked they become very potent, but if they are added to medicines without introducing heat they have no psychoactive effects at all. (Even though you are consuming more or less pure delta9 THC when smoking diamonds, the high is generally shorter lasting and less robust because there are none of the other secondary molecules found in cannabis that offer more nuanced highs, such as the calming effects of the terpene myrcene or the sedating effects of the cannabinoid CBN.)
A very close analog of delta9 THC is delta8 THC, which is differentiated by just a few atomic bonds. Delta8 THC is another psychoactive form of THC that is only found in very minuscule amounts in cannabis. Like the other many faces of THC, delta8 has many therapeutic benefits of its own—strong antiemetic effects, for instance. Although delta8 THC only exists in very small amounts there are companies out there that are working to isolate it and create products that allow patients to benefit from delta8 THC’s unique medicinal properties. So if you’ve been considering trying out cannabis but don’t like the idea of getting high, rest assured that there’s a product out there for you!