The Human Brain Can Produce Marijuana

Well, not literally – but a new study found that the brain is capable of producing proteins that have the same effect on the brain receptors as marijuana does. The said discovery can serve as the key to the development of new drugs that mirror the effect of marijuana for pain management, appetite stimulation and cannabis abuse prevention.

“Ideally, this development will lead to drugs that bind to and activate the THC receptor, but are devoid of the side effects that limit the usefulness of marijuana,” says senior researcher Lakshmi A. Devi, of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics. “It would be helpful to have a drug that activated or blocked the THC receptor and our findings raise the possibility that this will lead to effective drugs with fewer side effects.”

The researchers made the discovery through the extraction of small proteins called peptides from mouse brains and identifying the proteins’ amino acid sequence. These were then compared with another type of peptide that was previously found to bind to the THC receptor although it doesn’t activate it. Several of the extracted proteins were found to not only bind to the THC receptors but activated them as well.

“The War on Drugs has hit very close to home,” says Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. “Last year, scientists found that our skin makes its own marijuana-like substance. Now, we see that our brain has been making proteins that act directly on the marijuana receptors in our head.”
Dr. Weissmann further said that the new findings lead us one step towards developing a more effective treatment for marijuana abuse. With the findings of this experiment, medications that work to eliminate the addictive and negative effects of marijuana will be developed and a new course of treatment will be born.

Based on the findings of this particular study, it seems that getting ‘stoned’ may become an effective course of treatment for marijuana abuse.

For more on this study and other drug addiction related research, browse further into Miramar Recovery Centers. Here at Miramar Laguna Beach, we offer individual approaches to alcohol and drug abuse treatment to ensure that each client’s concerns are sufficiently addressed. We also seek to stay on top of industry developments to improve our services. Contact us through this website for inquiries.