“Hey, man, be cool. Yeah, I’m hip with that, man. Got some weed to mellow things out? You bet. Thanks. Stay cool, man. Yeah, alright. See ya later, man.”

 

Although the above blog title may invoke thoughts of this type of conversation, it is not what I am referring to. Being cool with cannabis refers to keeping your cannabis cool instead of the ubiquitous combustion (smoking) and vaping of cannabis, or using cannabis products that have been heated during manufacturing.

 

I am sure all of you are familiar with EWC’s famous (and graphically beautiful) Understanding Medical Cannabis charts, where a distinction is made between “Raw,” “Heated,” and “Aged” cannabis to illustrate not only what we are dealing with, but also how its composition and effects are influenced by how we treat the cannabis.

 

Of course, the vast majority of users are primarily interested in the “high” that heated cannabis gives through THC. However, there is a growing demand for less, or even non-psychoactive cannabis among the elderly and those with medical conditions that are better served with cannabinoids in their acid forms, i.e., raw or non-heated cannabis. These are the cannabinoids CBGA, THCA, CBDA, CBCA, plus the wonderful terpenoids that are preserved when we do not heat cannabis.

 

To illustrate this, a recent article by Rameshprabu Nallathamb, et al., was published describing research on the anticancer effects of cannabis on colorectal cancer cell cultures. They found that fresh cannabis extracts compared to heated cannabis extracts were equally effective in their anticancer effect on cancer cells, but that the heated extracts were more damaging to normal cells than the cancer cells, while the fresh extracts were less damaging to normal cells compared to the cancer cells.

 

Nallathamb and friends then went on to show that cannabinoids CBGA and THCA had a synergistic effect when combined: “This study has demonstrated the potential for cannabis-based products, specifically extracts derived from fresh cannabis inflorescences, for use as anti-cancer agents. A combination of THCA and CBGA can interact synergistically to cause distinct gene expression, induction of cell cycle arrest, and apoptotic cell death in colon cancer cells.”

 

And what about those of you with inflammatory diseases like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Chronic Prostatitis, etc.? All the cannabinoids have strong anti-inflammatory properties in their acid form. And let’s not forget the divarinic acid cannabinoids CBGVA, THCVA, CBDVA, and CBCVA, if we can get our hands on a divarinic strain like Doug’s Varin.

 

Perhaps we should consider being cool with cannabis more often. Look for bud or product labels with high cannabinoid acid content and think about being a cool cannabis consumer.

 
“Yeah, man. Got it. Stay cool. Yo!”

 

Peace,

Dr. B.