Скачать или смотреть The problems with synthetic cannabis

Earlier this month, the doctors’ union warned that seven people had been hospitalised with vomiting, vision problems and liver damage after consuming a “dangerous” edible product designed to mimic the effects of cannabis.

The product the Medical Association of Malta warned about contained a compound called CC9, a semi-synthetic cannabinoid.

But what are synthetic cannabinoids? And should consumers be worried about them?

Cannabinoids are chemicals found in cannabis plants and many animals, with Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD), both naturally occurring in cannabis plants, among the two most well known.

While not all cannabinoids are psychoactive – CBD, for example, is often instead used for medicinal purposes – others like THC, associated with the ‘high’ brought on by smoking cannabis, are.

These chemicals affect the body by interacting with the body’s endocannabinoid system, a complex cell-signalling system involved in regulating a host of bodily processes including mood, diet, sleep and stress.

This system can also be stimulated by foods such as dark chocolate and some herbs and spices and by exercise; the ‘runner’s high’, a euphoric state often reported by runners after intense activity, is partly thought to be the effect of exercise on the endocannabinoid system.