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GiantAxon t1_jefav3x wrote

Reply to comment by Kaiisim in Sublingual Spray With THC And CBD Can Control Blood Sugar, Lowers Cholesterol In Type 2 Diabetes Patients by Defiant_Race_7544

Can you explain what you mean by "powerful"? Specifically, I'm curious to hear in what way the cannabinoid system is any more "powerful" than the serotonergic, adrenergic, dopaminergic system, or any other system you feel like comparing it to.

I wonder if "powerful" is referring to the broad variety of "effects" people claim the system modulates. In which case, I wonder if effect size is a better marker for "power" than number of effects claimed/discovered.

I'm growing tired of claims about marijuana being a wonder drug. I think people need to look at the historical context of other wonder drugs like stimulants, opioids, benzos and consider what lessons we might derive from our past experiences with those.

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GH057807 t1_jefryyj wrote

The endocannabinoid system regulates homeostasis. Things like sleep, appetite, stress, mood, the ECS keeps us in balance with our own naturally produced cannabinoids. The ECS is arguably one of the most important system in the body. Phytocannabinoids do what our own do, differently and sometimes better.

When you abuse cannabis, your body down regulates it's own cannabinoid production, and relies on the phytocannabinoids instead. This is "tolerance" and "withdrawal".

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GiantAxon t1_jefv8x8 wrote

That's nice but I'm looking for evidence that it's a "powerful" system. Wakefulness is mostly regulated by acetylcholine. Mood is mostly regulated by serotonin, but also by norepinephrine and dopamine. Cannabinoids do not regulate homeostasis, because homeostasis is the regulatory mechanism in the body, and relies on multiple systems that interact with eachother to maintain balance.

So far, I've heard from you that cannabinoids might be inplicated in some of these systems, to an extent that I would argue is much smaller than the other systems we are aware of.

I'll repeat my question. What's the evidence that it's "powerful"? Is there any comparison to other systems and neurotransmitters required to make that assertion or are we just saying "I've heard about it doing stuff therefore it's powerful"? I realize I might be asking questions a little bit above the level of a reddit forum. The point I'm trying to make here is that the original assertion was made without any basis whatsoever.

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GH057807 t1_jeg1y39 wrote

I suppose that depends on how hard you want to focus on the definition of an adjective.

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GiantAxon t1_jeg5lmd wrote

Considering this is r/science and weed is being pushed to anyone and everyone who will pay for every indication under the sun... I want to focus on it really hard.

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GH057807 t1_jeg67sz wrote

Well honestly I didn't realize what sub this was in hah, so I hear ya. I don't know if "powerful" is the right word at all for any system then, except maybe the...digestive one.

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