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What is the endocannabinoid system?
The endocannabinoid system is a signaling network the body makes for itself: cell receptors called CB1 and CB2, the body's own cannabinoids, such as anandamide and 2-AG, and the enzymes that build and clear them. THC's intoxicating effect comes mainly from binding one of those receptors, CB1.
Three parts, one cycle
Researchers describe the system in three parts. Receptors are proteins on cells that receive a signal; the two best known are CB1 and CB2. Endocannabinoids are signaling molecules the body makes when it needs them, chiefly anandamide and 2-AG (2-arachidonoylglycerol). Enzymes build those molecules and break them down after they have signaled: one called FAAH clears anandamide, and one called MAGL clears 2-AG. Made, sent, cleared: that cycle is the system.
Where the receptors sit
CB1 receptors are abundant in the brain and the rest of the central nervous system. CB2 receptors are found mostly on immune cells and in tissues outside the brain, though not only there. Where each receptor sits is part of why compounds that act on one more than the other behave so differently.
How the plant's cannabinoids fit in
The body's own compounds are endocannabinoids, "endo" meaning within; the plant's are phytocannabinoids, such as THC, CBD and CBG. THC binds CB1 as a partial agonist: it switches the receptor on, though less fully than 2-AG does, and that is the source of its intoxicating effect. CBD binds both receptors only weakly and is not intoxicating; much of what it does in the body is thought to run through other targets, which are still being worked out.
A young field
The first cannabinoid receptor was cloned in 1990 and anandamide was identified in 1992, so the system has been studied for little more than three decades. Its basic parts, the receptors, the endocannabinoids and the enzymes, are well established. A claim that a product will produce a particular result by acting on the endocannabinoid system goes well past that, and deserves real skepticism.
To see which cannabinoids a product carries, read its certificate of analysis; for the compounds beyond THC and CBD, see minor cannabinoids.
Educational content, not medical advice. Cannabis affects everyone differently. For use only by qualified patients. Keep out of reach of children.