Listening to the word cannabinoid, anyone can think of Cannabis.

The Cannabis plant has been used since time immemorial for both magical and therapeutic and playful rites. People didn't know why. This plant synthesizes phytocannabinoids and many other substances. The best known are THC Delta 9 and CBD or cannabis. THC is what people know, because it's psychoactive, because it shrinks us. They were isolated in 1964 and CBD in the 1990s.

What therapeutic benefits can cannabis have?

In the case of cancer, for example, it can be used to prevent vomiting or to cause hunger caused by chemotherapy and it has been observed that in sessions of several laboratories it may have anti-tumour functions. In the Basque Country there is a drug, called Sativex, derived from cannabis to treat certain effects of multiple sclerosis. It has THC and CBD in equivalent concentration. In addition, if the effect of memory is overcome, it can also be used to treat Alzheimer's and Huntington's syndrome.

Cannabis and cannabinoids are completely stigmatized.

Yes, everything that comes from the word Cannabis relates to illegal drugs and it is more difficult to market and work with it. There are not so many problems for experimentation; we don't have problems working with mice, for example. But if you then want to use it in humans, there are many difficulties and obstacles to conducting clinical sessions. In many countries cannabis is illegal and therefore substances extracted from that plant are stigmatised. I believe, however, that as more studies are carried out, the benefits of cannabis will become clearer. The case of childhood epilepsy is clear. If other drugs are not effective, cannabinoids should eventually be used.

How do we overcome this stigma?

Education is very important. On the one hand, in adolescence, you have to do the same not only with cannabinoids, but also with other drugs. It is very important to distinguish between recreational and therapeutic use. As for recreational use, everyone can do whatever they want, but it is important to have information about the consequences that cannabinoids can have. The consumption of THC in adolescence is very dangerous.

Why?

Because the brain is not yet fully developed. In adolescence, communication between neurotransmitters is under development and if exocannabinoids are taken, the risk of loss of this neuromodulation is high. It has been seen to cause schizophrenia, psychotic outbreaks and other such diseases. However, the consumption of adults is not so much at risk. Memory loss can be one of the most common consequences. However, no one has died from receiving cannabis, as it is not so aggressive.

As a researcher, what do you think of the current legislation?

It's a difficult question. I am not clear about that. Cannabis or medicinal products derived from cannabis may have very interesting medical destinations. I do not understand why cannabis is illegal and not tobacco or alcohol. Curiously, tobacco and alcohol have no therapeutic use and people die from the consumption of both. And cannabis, despite its therapeutic functions, is illegal. Certainly, therapeutic use should be legal. Yes, with control, with the same control that tobacco and alcohol should have.

CBD is not psychoactive. How is it possible that it is banned?

CBD is extracted from plants and cannot be patented. Pharmaceutical companies are not interested in working with CBD. Because in the end they won't make a lot of money. Commercial interests have a decisive impact on drug legislation. The case of Morfina is very similar. Morphine first emerged from the plant of Papaver somniferum and then heroin was derived from it, among others. With cannabis the same thing happens, that drugs can come out, but also hashish. That is why it is important to distinguish between recreational and therapeutic use.

You have analyzed the influence of cannabinoids on memory in the article published in the journal Nature.

Specifically, two articles have been published. The first in the journal Nature Neuroscience, in 2012. It was known that the CB1 receptor can be found in the neuron membrane. But through the first research, we found that this receptor is also present in the mitochondrial membrane. And it's also functional! We observed that the mitochondrial CB1 regulates the activity of neurons. It was an important discovery to understand the influence of cannabinoids taken from the outside in memory. The second article published in November 2016 is the continuation of the previous one. We have collected the memory tests carried out with the mice and the conclusions drawn from them. In short, we have shown that cannabinoids do not influence the memory of transgenic mice without CB1 mitochondria. In other words, mitochondrial CB1 are the key to the influence of cannabinoids on memory.