The Effects Of Marijuana

17 Pages 4295 Words

70s that some nerve cells possess receptors that selectively recognize morphine, which is derived from the opium poppy. In both cases, the answer is that these receptors exist to interact with chemical messengers that the brain itself creates and releases. For example, endogenous morphine-like chemicals in the brain, called the enkephalins and endorphins, discovered 25 years ago, are similar to the chemicals in poppies. Likewise, within the past few years, endogenous cannabis-like chemicals have been discovered - again by Mechoulam and his colleagues. These naturally occurring cannabis-like chemicals are fat-like molecules; the principal one is called "anandamide" from the Sanskrit word for "bliss."
Discovering these naturally occurring chemicals has changed the way scientists view THC and other cannabinoid drugs. Investigations that initially asked how a plant-derived psychoactive drug worked in the brain have revealed a hitherto unrecognized naturally occurring chemical communication system in the brain. We still do not fully understand the ...