For several years I have postulated that marijuana is not, in
the strict sense of the word, an intoxicant.
As I wrote in the book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving
People to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009), the word 'intoxicant' is
derived from the Latin noun toxicum (poison). It's an
appropriate term for alcohol, as ethanol (the psychoactive
ingredient in booze) in moderate to high doses is toxic (read:
poisonous) to healthy cells and organs.
Of course, booze is hardly the only commonly ingested
intoxicant. Take the over-the-counter painkiller acetaminophen
(Tylenol). According to the Merck online medical library,
acetaminophen poisoning and overdose is "common," and can result
in gastroenteritis (inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract)
"within hours" and hepatotoxicity (liver damage) "within one to
three days after ingestion." In fact, less than one year ago the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration called for tougher standards
and warnings governing the drug's use because "recent studies
indicate that unintentional and intentional overdoses leading to
severe hepatotoxicity continue to occur."
By contrast, the therapeutically active components in marijuana
- the cannabinoids - appear to be remarkably non-toxic to
healthy cells and organs. This notable lack of toxicity is
arguably because cannabinoids mimic compounds our bodies
naturally produce - so-called endocannabinoids - that are
pivotal for maintaining proper health and homeostasis.
In fact, in recent years scientists have discovered that the
production of endocannabinoids (and their interaction with the
cannabinoid receptors located throughout the body) play a key
role in the regulation of proper appetite, anxiety control,
blood pressure, bone mass, reproduction, and motor coordination,
among other biological functions.
Just how important is this system in maintaining our health?
Here's a clue: In studies of mice genetically bred to lack a
proper endocannabinoid system the most common result is
premature death.
Armed with these findings, a handful of scientists have
speculated that the root cause of certain disease conditions -
including migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and
other functional conditions alleviated by clinical cannabis -
may be an underlying endocannabinoid deficiency.