How do cannabinoids stay lodged in the bodies fat cells?

[ektamine]

I was stoned a while ago, and I was pondering something which I always knew,
but never knew how.

How do cannabinoids and their respective metabolites stay lodged in the bodies
fat cells, before eventually being excreted through urine?


Logically it seems like:
Cannabis smoke > lungs > bloodstream > brain.

So is the absorption happening along the walls of the vascular system?


Please enlighten :D

 

[sekio]

Cell walls are made of fat, and there's fat and protiens that help make THC soluble in your blood so it distributes to pretty much all tissues in your body.

Your blood vessels go lots of places and THC doesn't get magically transported into your cells - it has to diffuse across the cell walls. Fat cells can be fairly massive compared to other cells in your body and as such they can "trap" THC inside them where it can't get to receptors.

 

[amapola]

So is the absorption happening along the walls of the vascular system?

At the capillaries.

cannabis smoke > lungs > bloodstream > heart > everywhere in your body including brain.