Nearly every inch of tissue, and nearly every organ in our body, contains endocannabinoid receptors. Some researchers go so far as to describe the endocannabinoid system as "the most ubiquitous signalling system within our body". We are more than our conscious experiences might lead us to believe; we are more than just a brain. The human experience is deeply embedded within a nervous system, that extends throughout the physical body, and all in ways that we cannot consciously perceive. This means that cannabis must alter our existence in subtle but profound ways, with or without our acknowledgement. Did cannabis evolve for us? Or did we evolve for cannabis? Does our body love cannabis? Or does cannabis love our body?
Got to be honest weed works better for me then any kind of pain meds that are man made & not grown from a seed & I get pain daily lol
"All I need is the air that I breathe" Kind of like asking which came first the chicken or the egg LOL I really have no idea why, I think it serves many functions, but I'm sure glad it works It's obvious God wanted to let me get baked, and so I will! And I will do it well LOL
I honestly think humans started using it from the very beginning which some say was thousands of years ago. Over the years the human body evolved and during that time developed a endocannabiniod system.
Endocannabinoid system ( ECS ) is 5 billion years old. the Sea Squirt created the system to maintain constant homeostasis of the cells used to form the organism. All Chordate life contains the physiological ECS that modulates intracellular messages and communication signals to inform cells of the exatracellular space ( the matrix) and how to maintain correct enzymes and bio-active lipid metabolism . As an example of how encompassing the ECS is and how important.. It is predicted that ECS manages 15,000 cannabinoid signals a second per cell @ 40 trillion all firing 900 k a minute! each CB signal touches the interior of the cell 7 times via the 7 trans membrane rector super family initiating Bi-phasic retrograde transmissions. cannabis is 40 to 50 million years old and development of the phytocannabinoids is still in progression for the plant till this day ( humans are helping the plant achieve greater expression than birds shitting seeds in the woods ETC) a big question, I'll leave it to you- why does cannabis create such carbon chain specific molecules that are bio-mimics to endogenous made cannabinoids?
Well the earliest fossils show modern humans existing about 200,000 years ago, so yep, it's been a long time. But still nothing in comparison to the evolution of plants and other animals, which also have endocannabinoid systems: The evolution of ECS has been going on for at least 600 million years (or up to 5 billion years, according to @Galaxy420), long before humans were roaming about, and even before the first flowers (Flowering plant - Wikipedia) were known to exist about 160 million years ago. So plants and animals spent lots of time co-existing before we evolved. All animals have an ECS, and cannabis also isn't the only plant to contain cannabimimetic compounds (Phytocannabinoids beyond the Cannabis plant – do they exist?). To me, at a very abstract level, it's a bit like asking: "why do we think that flowers look beautiful"? The way that I'm thinking about this right now... all plants will adapt in ways that enable them to be cultivated and to co-exist with their environments. In a sense, plants have been mimicking the needs of animals, while animals have been adapting to the capabilities of plants. Cannabis was one that happened to find the right structure for experimenting with bio-mimicry at this level. Crudely speaking, cannabis "wants" to be understood in this way by other animals, and "knows" that it has been succeeding. There are many gaps to fill in this train of thought. The rest of your post has some really cool info. Thanks for sharing. By the way, has anyone seen the movie Annihilation? Gives me some of these vibes.
I'll post more later with a few of my own thoughts on that one man , but for now... another great research article on cannabimimetics . https://www.sativaisticated.com/wp-...search-for-the-Endocannabinoid-System-ECS.pdf
So a question to your last paragraph. Are you saying Cannabis looks beautiful and appealing so that Animals like humans are attracted to it and then use it? That's an amazing theory and I like it a lot. I've always thought plants and animals with lots of color or that look a certain way are poisonous and are a warning sign not to mess with them? Either way its definitely intriguing that's for sure. I know some poisons are used as medicine by humans. But I do like the theory that Cannabis is trying to attract humans to discover it and then use it. If that theory is correct it brings a entire host of interesting questions up. Like the Universe and who created Cannabis for use to use? Among other thing.
The what, where, when and how sound interesting, but I'll overlook the "who" part, assuming no sentient being or godlike entity has been busily crafting human-focused Cannabis-related activity for billions of years.
@Sanez a few months later, hope you are still doing well. I've come to realize that phytocannabinoids created in cannabis serve as secondary metabolites for the plant... the phytos are not main metabolites but exist outside the plant on the surface in the trichomes and act to prevent oxidative damages and UV radiation prevention ETC... because they need heat decarboxylation to become active I'm not sure they are pest/animal deterrents as pests would not have any active effects from ingesting them . the same way we as humans use secondary metabolism to offset oxidative insults to cells so does the cannabis plant. another theory on phytocannabinopids I came up with... those tiny cannabinoid crystalline structures in a viscous medium ( the trichome) serve to look like spider eyes to insects! insects thinking of landing on the plant see all these reflections bouncing off the flowers and think they are spiders eyes ...
Both are evolutions of Nature, everything is interlinked. Many people seem to forget we are also Nature.