THC is a psychoactive substance that damages brain function—the polar opposite of medicine. While useful drugs like cannabidiol and dronabinol were derived from cannabis, and even approved for medical use by the Food and Drug Administration, they owe their medicinal effects to the herb’s non-psychoactive components, like CBD.
THC mimics brain chemicals your body makes called endocannabinoids. The endocannabinoid system represents the biggest receptor system in the human body. It regulates equilibrium, or homeostasis, between the various bodily systems. THC just happens to have a shape like the “keys” on the endocannabinoid molecules that fit into brain and nerve receptors and tell them what to do. But it can’t turn them on; it just blocks their functions. Said functions include physical growth, brain growth and development, sleep, immune control, and the secretion of hormones associated with sexual function and stress control.
THC slows down these things—or just stops them from happening. If a user is under the age of 25 (about the time the brain stops developing), the THC essentially stunts the user’s brain growth. And let’s not forget the mental illnesses, especially schizophrenia, associated with heavy cannabis use, not to mention lowered IQ and loss of ambition.
Because of heavy lobbying by people whose knowledge of marijuana’s chemical content is stuck in the 1960s, many states currently allow doctors to prescribe cannabis products for pain, nausea, HIV/AIDS, ALS, Alzheimer’s, and other ailments. This includes my home state of Colorado and all states on the West Coast, most of which now also allow recreational use. But studies suggest so-called medical marijuana may cause side effects like dizziness, addiction, withdrawal, and increased appetite. Plus, it has yet to be approved by the FDA for treating any condition.
At the federal level, marijuana, the source of THC, remains illegal.