Please note: this table is not at all a comprehensive guide to the cannabinoids, terpenes and terpenoids found in the cannabis plant (there are 150 cannabinoids, around 220 terpenes and terpenoids, 20 flavonoids and around 200-200 other compounds in the cannabis plant). We have listed the most ones most commonly found, and the ones that seem to most definitively have a physiological and potential therapeutic effect …
SPEAK TO A PHYSICIAN
Please remember that concentrations of the above cannabinoids and terpenes vary not only from strain-to-strain, but from phenotype-to-phenotype as well, as some strains result in different types of marijuana. To give an example, growing 12 Super Silver Haze (50% Haze, 25% Skunk, 25% Northern Lights) seeds will likely lead to 6 Haze-dominant phenotypes and 3 Skunk- and 3 Northern Lights- dominant phenotypes, all with different concentrations of various cannabinoids and terpenes.
The skill of the grower, the environment the cannabis was grown in, the age of the cannabis, at what stage of flowering the flowering plant was harvested, and how well the marijuana flowers were dried and cured also affect a plant’s cannabinoid and terpene concentrations. The only way you’re going to find out the best medicine for you is by seeing if you qualify for a Medical Marijuana Card with Leafwell and testing out some dispensary medications as soon as possible!
A lot more research is needed in order to prove cannabis’s efficacy for many conditions, especially regarding the different cannabinoid and terpenoid profiles of particular strains, products and extractions, and how they can help (or hinder) treatment. You may well still need other medications (cannabis is not an anti-rejection tablet for organs, for example, although CBD has shown some interesting results in this area as well!), and in some instances cannabis may interfere with existing conditions and medications. Always ask your primary care physician if you are unsure about anything!
Another issue is comorbidity. You may suffer from one condition that merits the use of cannabis, and another where cannabis may not be as useful, e.g. schizophrenia, although there are studies taking place with CBD being a potential antipsychotic. However, where cannabinoid-based medications may prove useful is in reducing the number of other medications needed, especially potentially dangerous and/or addictive ones such as opioids, benzodiazepines and powerful non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). This potentially means less need to balance out a range of pharmaceutical drugs so that they do not react negatively with each other and the body.
Please remember that much of what we write is theory and supposition. For many of these conditions, the efficacy of cannabis has not yet been proven-beyond-doubt – a fact exacerbated by the fact that there are not a huge number of properly-controlled studies out there. Hopefully, this will change in the future, and the federal government decides to take a more neutral, objective and, perhaps most importantly, scientific stance on cannabis and research into cannabinoid-based medications.
If you need to know more about dosing medical marijuana, check out our guide. In the meantime, here’s a quick look at using medical marijuana and utiliing these cannabinoids and terpenes in context.