Eighty years ago, the most active organic substances found in the Cannabis sativa (marijuana) plant, THC and CBD, were discovered. Twenty years later in 1965, the heyday of psychedelics, pot, free love and anti-war protests, Raphael Mechoulam, an Israeli organic chemist, managed to synthesize both molecules in his laboratory, initiating a frenzy of research into THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the most psychoactive element of the plant.
CBD (cannabidiol), which had no psychoactive effects, was basically ignored until a few small studies revealed its calming impact on anxiety and its anti-seizure effects in people suffering from epilepsy. Then the race to discover just how and why these substances influenced human physiology—and the mind—was on.
People have been using cannabis for thousands of years to treat everything from insomnia to gastrointestinal issues, arthritis to migraine. By the time the twentieth century rolled around, there were hundreds of medical patents filed on cannabis-based “cures” for gout, “female problems” and epilepsy,
