There has been a wide divide of opinion on marijuana as the drug has been classified as dangerous by most states, yet its medical benefits could not be denied. One attribute that marijuana has been known to give to its users is the ability to get high and scientists are currently examining the drug more closely to see how it injects the high feeling.
Marijuana contains Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and it binds to a cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1), which essentially gets people stoned from consumption of the joint. Live Science explains that THC can induce hallucinations, delusions and can even change a person's way of thinking, of which the effects last to a couple of hours after about 10 to 30 minutes of ingestion.
Scientists have managed to develop a special molecule (AM6538) that freezes the receptor long enough for them to see its molecular structure. They froze the said receptor due to the fact that the receptor moves a lot too much making it difficult to examine and it also did not help as certain chemicals also caused the said protein to fall apart despite how common CB1 was.
Youth Health Mag reveals that they have discovered how CB1 has different sub-pockets and channels, which makes it quite a complex structure. However, with this breakthrough, scientists are now able to create diverse compounds that will target particular portions of the receptors in order to arrive at a desired outcome.
With the emergence of the new research, it allows scientists to actually understand and reveal why synthetic marijuana is so dangerous and why it has been labeled as a dangerous drug in several states. However, this breakthrough may also pave the way for the legalization of marijuana as it would most likely prove its medical effects while scientists may create a medically-cleared drug out of this discovery, not just get the high feeling.
