Cannabis without high_For a team of Israeli scientists, the "high" associated with smoking marijuana is simply an unfortunate side effect that can be eliminated so the drug can get down to the more serious business of treating illnesses The scientists have invented a cannabis plant that has the look, smell and taste of ordinary marijuana, except in lieu of THC, the plant's psychoactive chemical, there is an increase in this chemical, which doesn't affect users' sobriety and has also been known to treat disorders like this and this.Scientists have found a way to unlock the pain-relieving potential of one of the same proteins in the body activated by marijuana, says a new study.

The complex human cannabinoid system is thought to hold great potential for the control of chronic pain, and could also prove useful in the treatment of anxiety, depression and even obesity (see, Marijuana: What science has to say).

In experiments on mice, U.S. researchers have now found a chemical that prevents a naturally occurring enzyme from blocking a pain relieving cannabinoid receptor, called 2-arachidonoylgylceroOnce the enzyme, known as MAGL, is deactivated, the protein is more effective in dampening pain, say the team, led by Benjamin Cravatt of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.

Their research is published in the current issue of the British journal Nature Chemical Biology.

In earlier research, Cravatt and colleagues decoded the chain of chemical reactions that acted on another cannabinoid receptor, AEA, paving the way for the development of pain-relieving medications.

But finding the key for unlocking 2-AG proved more difficult. The tools – selective and efficacious MAGL inhibitors – just weren't there, said Jonathan Long, a graduate student at Scripps and lead author of the study.

The breakthrough came thanks to a new technique for rapidly testing large numbers of chemical compounds – all potential inhibitors – called Activity-Based Protein
Profiling.One of the 200 compounds the researchers created was particularly effective in blocking MAGL, and did not appear to interfere with any of several dozen other brain enzymes.

Tests on mice showed that the new molecule – dubbed JLZ184 – increased the concentration of 2-AG in the brain, significantly reducing pain in the lab animals.

The molecule did, however, have at least two drawbacks, highlighted by the complex web of reactions in neurochemical pathways: JLZ184 also caused hypothermia, a lowering of the body temperature; and reduced movement.

These side-effects would have to be managed in any treatments developed for humans, the researchers said.
Israeli scientists have cultivated a cannabis plant that doesn't get people stoned in a development that may help those smoking marijuana for medical purposes, a newspaper said on Wednesday.

According to the Maariv daily, the new cannabis looks, smells and even tastes the same, but does not induce any of the feelings normally associated with smoking marijuana that are brought on by the substance THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol.

"It has the same scent, shape and taste as the original plant -- it's all the same -- but the numbing sensation that users are accustomed to has disappeared," said Tzahi Klein, head of development at Tikkun Olam, the firm that developed the species.

"Many of our patients who tried the new plant come back to us and say: 'You tricked me,'" because they assumed they had been given a placebo, he said.

According to Maariv, Tikkun Olam sought to neutralise the effect of the THC and to increase the effect of another substance called CBD, or cannabidiol, which has been shown to help diabetics and to ease various psychiatric disorders.

Not only does it leave users stone-cold sober, it also doesn't induce the munchies, the hunger pangs that the drug's smokers generally suffer.

Despite the innovation, it is unlikely to have any impact on Israeli law, which outlaws the use of marijuana as illegal except for medical purposes.

According to figures published earlier this year by Sheba Medical Centre and the Israel Cancer Association, medical marijuana has been approved for use by about 6,000 Israelis suffering from various illnesses.
sraeli scientists have cultivated a cannabis plant that may benefit those who smoke marijuana for medical purposes but wish to do so without getting high, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper, Maariv.

The new cannabis plant appears the same as regular marijuana and reportedly tastes and smells the same as well. The main difference is that smoking it does not induce any feelings normally associated with ordinary marijuana, leaving users completely sober.
The plant was developed by Tikkun Olam, which sought to neutralize the effect of the substance, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and increase the effect of another substance called cannabidiol (CBD).
It has been shown that CBD has the ability to help diabetics and ease various psychiatric disorders.
“It has the same scent, shape and taste as the original plant — it’s all the same — but the numbing sensation that users are accustomed to has disappeared,” said Tzahi Klein, the head of development at Tikkun Olam, according to the National Post.
“Many of our patients who tried the new plant come back to us and say: ‘You tricked me,’” after assuming they had been given a placebo, he said.
The CBD substance also leaves users without the normal hunger wrenches, also known as the “munchies,” that marijuana smokers tend to experience.

Israeli law strictly prohibits the use of marijuana except for medical purposes.
Medical marijuana has been approved for approximately 6,000 Israelis suffering from various illnesses, according to the Sheba Medical Centre and the Israel Cancer Association.
The National Post reports that this new innovation is unlikely to affect Israeli law in the near future.

What is marijuana without the high? Still a very effective painkiller. And now, scientists believe they can harness the drug's anaesthetic action while doing away with its psychedelic effects. In a new paper published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, Professor Li Zhang and a team of scientists at the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism report that THC can potentially be used as a side-effect-free painkiller. Is a new class of "non-psychotropic cannabinoids" on the way? Here's a brief guide:Zhang and his team discovered that tetrahydrocannabinol (more commonly known as THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, produces different effects by bonding to different receptors in the brain. Scientists have known for years that THC bonds with a certain receptor to produce the classic disorienting marijuana high. But now researchers have identified precisely where THC targets the nervous system to lessen anxiety and dull pain. Hence, the potential to satisfy medical marijuana's desire for pure pain relief. By experimenting on mice, naturally. Scientists blocked the pain-reducing receptors in the stoned rodents' brains, then subjected them to a "tail-flick test" — hitting mices' tails with "focused heat" — and counted how long it took for them to respond. The fact that the mice still felt pain, even when they were dosed with THC, "confirms that the drug's pain-relief and psychotropic effects can be decoupled," says Andy Coghlan at The New Scientist.Quite possibly. "Soon," says Annalee Newitz at IO9, "people whose stomachs are too tender for aspirin or ibuprofin may be swallowing THC pills to get rid of headaches."