THC & CBD Content Is Almost The Same In Different Types Of Cannabis
Psychoactive cannabis is being grown in many different varieties with many different names. But a new research shows that even though each of the cultivated varieties went through a different breeding process and they have colorful names - the varieties don’t differ in their THC or CBD contents by a large degree.
Many legends, stories, fables, and lies exist when people talk about cannabis. And some of them just exist because people are lazy to learn new facts, some are being spread by people who fight against cannabis and some by those who love it. One of the things you can hear often is that some of the cannabis plants – especially the new ones are often dangerous because they have a very high amount of THC.
Sarah Murch and her team from the University of British Columbia in Okanagan decided to take a deeper look at how much cannabinoids you can actually find in cannabis. They checked the levels of tetrahydrocannabinol – better known as THC and cannabidiol – CBD. These are two of the key cannabinoids and chemically they are very close. But their psychoactive effects are quite different and CBD often acts as an inhibitor of for many of the THC’s effects. But both of these chemicals have many and powerful therapeutic uses.
The scientists say that nowadays many hundreds if not thousands of different varieties of cannabis are being grown. And often they have attractive and exotic names. But do they truly differ in their cannabinoid content? Well, humans have been cultivating cannabis for thousands of years and the THC and/or CBD content was often their focus.
Sarah Murch and her team tested 33 different varieties of cannabis from five different licensed producers. And it shows that the vast majority of the varieties – no matter their origin or name – has a very similar THC content and a very similar CBD content. The researchers also found the breeding programs affect the genetic diversity but not the THC and CBD contents. But they also found several previously unknown cannabinoids and while the contents of those were fairly low they are still very interesting for pharmaceutical research.
When it comes to cannabis and all psychoactive drugs you need to remember that the final effect isn’t caused by a single chemical. The chemicals interact often in counterproductive ways. That is certainly the case for cannabis. That is why licensed producers always show both the THC and CBD content of their particular product. And if you are a person using cannabis for either medicinal or recreational reasons – be sure to get all the information you can.
Sources:
- https://globalnews.ca/news/4533548/ubc-okanagan-study-thc-amounts-identical-in-most-cannabis-strains/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-31120-2
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