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42 I heard that there are over 400 chemicals in marijuana... Wellllll...?




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This article is from the Hemp / Cannabis / Marijuana FAQ, by Brian S. Julin verdant@twain.ucs.umass.edu with numerous contributions by others.

42 I heard that there are over 400 chemicals in marijuana... Wellllll...?

True, but so what? There are also over 400 chemicals in
many foods, (including coffee, which contains over 800
chemicals and many rat carcinogens) and we don't see police
arresting people in McDonald's, or giving Driving while
Eating citations. Only THC is very psycho-active; a few
other chemicals also have very small degrees of
psycho-activity. People who use marijuana do not get sick
more, or die earlier, or lose their jobs (except to drug
tests), or have mutant kids... so what's your point?

The fact that there are over 60 unique chemicals in
cannabis, called `cannabinoids,' is something that
scientists find very interesting. Many of these
cannabinoids may have valuable effects as medicine. For
example, `cannabinol' is a cannabinoid which can help people
with insomnia. Doctors think that this chemical is why most
patients prefer to use marijuana rather than pure
Delta-9-THC pills (called dronabinol) -- the cannabinol
takes the edge off being `high' and calms the nerves.
Another cannabinoid, `cannabidiolic acid', is a very
effective anti-biotic, like pennicillin. Many of these
chemicals can be extracted from marijuana without any fancy
laboratory equipment.


(800 chemicals in coffee)

``Too Many Rodent Carcinogens Mitogenesis Increases Mutagenesis '' by
B. N. Ames, L. S. Gold in ``Science'' Vol. 149 pp. 971. ed. pub.,
1990.

(other cannabinoids)

``Marijuana Chemistry Genetics, Processing, and Potency '' by Michael
Starks pub. Ronin Inc., 1990.

``Marijuana, The Forbidden Medicine'' by Lester Grinspoon M.D. and
James B. Bakalar pub. Yale University Press New Haven, 1993.

 

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