Raphael Mechoulam, an Israeli researcher and professor of chemistry known as the “father of medical cannabis”, died recently after devoting much of his life to the study of cannabis.
If he is not the first to have researched this plant, he has contributed in a pioneering way to many scientific advances in his knowledge, for medicine and patients. Thanks to the work he has done, we all know a little more about cannabis.
Here are his 5 most important discoveries.
He isolated THC
During the first years of his research, in 1963, Dr. Mechoulam and his team focused on understanding the chemistry of cannabinoids. In 1964, they succeeded in isolating THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), one of the two best-known cannabinoids in cannabis and the one responsible for the psychotropic effects of the plant. After isolating THC, researchers were able to understand the chemical structure of THC and even synthesized it.
The isolation of THC has been of central importance to tons of other cannabis research.
Discovering the entourage effect
Dr. Mechoulam discovered the entourage effect with Dr. Shimon Ben-Shabat in 1999. This is the synergistic way that cannabinoids work together, often enhancing each other’s benefits when consumed together. rather than individually or in isolated form. He and his team observed that certain cannabinoids taken alone had little or no effect, but when combined with THC or other cannabinoids, they were found to be very beneficial.
Understanding the entourage effect is important not only for scientific purposes, but also for consumers. It can help medical patients better understand what kind of products they should consume. This is all the more important as there are dozens of different forms of cannabis today, from CBD and THC isolates to whole plant medicines. People take isolates for certain reasons, but today, due to the entourage effect, we know that to maximize the healing properties of cannabis, it’s best to take whole plant medicines.
Effect of CBD on epilepsy
In 1980, Dr. Mechoulam published the results of a small study whose findings suggested that CBD may be beneficial in reducing seizures in epileptic patients. He found CBD to be more effective than a placebo, and he expected this to spark interest from big pharma to develop CBD-based drugs for epilepsy.
That didn’t happen, at least not for several decades. It was thanks to his groundbreaking research that THC had to share the limelight with CBD, CBD does not get you high, but has powerful anti-epileptic properties that no other pharmaceutical drug is able to surpass.
Today, it’s easy to see that Dr. Mechoulam hit on something important when he studied CBD at a time when no one else was paying attention. CBD is a household name in cannabis today, being incorporated into all sorts of products, from drinks and capsules to cosmetics, edibles And many more. Thousands of people use CBD not only for epilepsy, but also for anxiety, stress, depression, inflammation, and general well-being.
Discovery of endocannabinoids
Dr. Mechoulam’s research also led to the discovery of endocannabinoids, specifically anandamide in 1992, a compound produced by the human body and capable of activating the CB1 receptor, the same receptor that binds to THC. This was a significant milestone, as it was the very first endocannabinoid to be discovered.
His discovery of anandamide not only had a great impact on cannabis research, but it had far reaching implications for the world of biology, biochemistry, chemistry, medicine and science. pharmacology as a whole.
A more potent cannabinoid than CBD and THC
Dr. Mechoulam has not stopped working on his cannabis research. In 2020, he even discovered another compound called EPM301, which was found to be more potent than THC and CBD. He was 88 when EPM301 was discovered.
It took some time to discover EPM301 due to its instability, but Mechoulam found a method to extract acidic cannabinoids that were stable for a long enough period to be used in further studies and trials. Additionally, they found that EPM301 may be useful in the treatment of nausea and anxiety, although it may also be useful in the treatment of cancer, chemotherapy, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel syndrome.
