N&PD Moderators: Skorpio | thegreenhand
fastandbulbous said:^ Seems reasonable - nothing induces anxiety/panic like cannabis (well maybe yohimbine)
Coolio said:If anything I find the 1-pentyl to be very anxiolytic. I find indica strains to be anxiolytic usually and sativa strains to have a potential for a lot more anxiety.
THC begins this process by binding to the CB1 receptors for anandamide. These receptors then modify the activity of several intracellular enzymes, including cAMP, whose activity they reduce. Less cAMP means less protein kinase A. The reduced activity of this enzyme affects the potassium and calcium channels so as to reduce the amount of neurotransmitters released. The general excitability of the brain’s neural networks is thus reduced as well.
However, in the reward circuit, just as in the case of other drugs, more dopamine is released. As with opiates, this paradoxical increase is explained by the fact that the dopaminergic neurons in this circuit do not have CB1 receptors, but are normally inhibited by GABAergic neurons that do have them. The cannabis removes this inhibition by the GABA neurons and hence activates the dopamine neurons.
[...] indicating that Delta(9)-THC is a full agonist at CB1Rs on GABA axon terminals. These results suggest that Delta(9)-THC inhibits GABA release, but does not directly alter GABA(A) receptors or GABA uptake in the hippocampus. Furthermore, full agonist effects of Delta(9)-THC on IPSCs likely result from a much higher expression of CB1Rs on GABA versus glutamate axon terminals in the hippocampus.
While having THC on board and acting in the brain does reduce GABA release from the subset of pre-synaptic terminals that do contain CB1 receptors, this is not nearly as universal of an effect as something that targets GABA receptors. To make this more clear, yes, there are a LOT of CB1 receptors, and they are spread around many parts of the brain. But not all GABA terminals contain CB1 receptors, and not every instance of GABA release is suppressed by THC. This is in contrast to the situation with sleep drugs that target GABA(A) receptors, which are pretty much universally present at GABA synapses.
One thing I know is that weed has started inducing terrible paranoia in me after I quit benzodiazepines. Lately I even got CEVs about demons after smoking very similar to what I was experiencing during first 2 months of benzodiazepine withdrawal. I started controlling the paranoia after weed in a similar manner as I've learnt to control benzodiazepine withdrawal derealisation to an extent, but I never was paranoid after weed before I quit BZDs. If it hadn't been for weed, I probably wouldn't have made it through methadone withdrawal. So it used to be an anxiolytic for me, now it's an anxiogenic. :/