Greetings, Fine Fettle Fam! Welcome again to the Fettle Flier! If this is your first time receiving the Fettle Flier, this is where you’ll get the scoop on upcoming events and promotions, learn more about cannabis, and preview some of this week’s new and returning products.
Fine Fettle Willimantic's First Anniversary!
June marks the first anniversary of Fine Fettle's flagship dispensary in Willimantic! All of us here would like to thank you for giving us a shot and helping us to grow throughout this past year. We would be nowhere without our Fine Fettle Fam, so to show our appreciation we'll be doing a special raffle for our Willimantic patients (don't worry Newington patients, you'll have your turn in a few months!). Details will be made public as soon as they're finalized, so keep your eyes peeled for updates!
Cannabinoid Up-and-comer: CBN
Whether you’re a first-time reader or a Fettle Flier aficionado, you likely already know at least a little about tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), the two most prevalent cannabinoids found in cannabis. Today, we’ll be talking about the lesser-known cannabinol, or CBN, and some of its potential therapeutic applications.
CBN results from the natural degradation of tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA—most popular for its status as the precursor to THC). When given enough time and exposure to the air, THCA oxidizes and becomes cannabinolic acid (CBNA). Subject CBNA to heat or UV light, and—voilà—you’ve got CBN!1
If you were already familiar with CBN prior to reading this article, you’ve probably heard that it has an inherent sedative effect. While a single widely-shared study initially made this claim, its methodology has since been called into question, and further studies have failed to reproduce similar results.2,3 That’s not to say that CBN won’t ultimately prove to be useful for insomnia and other sleep disorders: As a solo act it might fall flat, but at least one study observed enhanced drowsiness in subjects who took both THC and CBN when compared to those who took THC alone.3 This harmony between cannabis’s many chemical constituents, known as the “entourage effect,” underlies many of cannabis’s prospective medical benefits.4 So far, no studies have commented on the comparative sedative effects of CBN and listening to my stepbrother’s fishing stories.
Depending on who you ask, CBN is either non-intoxicating or mildly intoxicating. This means that consuming CBN on its own is unlikely to produce the euphoria or delirium that’s often associated with THC consumption. However, when taken together, CBN can increase THC’s euphoric effects.3
While CBN research is still in its preliminary stages, this cannabinoid is being studied for a variety of therapeutic applications beyond catching some Z’s. In one study, CBN significantly slowed disease progression in animal models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), hinting at CBN’s neuroprotective potential.5 Another study witnessed increased feeding in animal models following CBN administration, indicating its potential as an appetite stimulant.6 This finding is especially significant for those patients who currently rely on THC for appetite stimulation, but would prefer to achieve a similar benefit without THC’s intoxicating effects. The results of a third study suggest that CBN’s anti-inflammatory effects could benefit patients studying from inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis.7
You don’t have to leave your cannabis out in the sun for a week to test the effects of CBN for yourself. Thanks to CT Pharma’s new CBN tablets and Curaleaf’s CBN chocolate chip cookie, you can evaluate this cannabinoid’s potential after a quick trip to your local Fine Fettle dispensary.
Order Online: Newington or Willimantic.
Do you have questions, comments, or concerns about the Fettle Flier? Do you have suggestions for content you’d like to see in future issues? Let's talk about them; you can reach me at skelly@finefettle.com. Please contact your dispensary directly if you have general questions. If you haven't done so already, be sure to leave Fine Fettle a review on Google, Yelp, or Facebook! Take care!
- Thomas, B. F., & ElSohly, M. A. (n.d.). The Analytical Chemistry of Cannabis: Quality Assessment, Assurance, and Regulation of Medicinal Marijuana and Cannabinoid Preparations (1st ed.). Elsevier.
- (2017, October 31). Retrieved from https://www.steephill.com/blogs/34/Cannabinol-(CBD):-A-Sleeping-Synergy
- Karniol, I. G., Shirakawa, I., Takahashi, R. N., Knobel, E., & Musty, R. E. (1975). Effects of delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabinol in Man. Pharmacology, 13(6), 502–512. doi: 10.1159/000136944
- Ben-Shabat, S., Fride, E., Sheskin, T., Tamiri, T., Rhee, M.-H., Vogel, Z., … Mechoulam, R. (1998). An entourage effect: inactive endogenous fatty acid glycerol esters enhance 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol cannabinoid activity. European Journal of Pharmacology, 353(1), 23–31. doi: 10.1016/s0014-2999(98)00392-6
- Weydt, P., Hong, S., Witting, A., Möller, T., Stella, N., & Kliot, M. (2005). Cannabinol Delays Symptom Onset in SOD1 (G93A) Transgenic Mice Without Affecting Survival. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Other Motor Neuron Disorders, 6(3), 182–184. doi: 10.1080/14660820510030149
- Farrimond, J. A., Whalley, B. J., & Williams, C. M. (2012). Cannabinol and Cannabidiol Exert Opposing Effects on Rat Feeding Patterns. Psychopharmacology, 223(1), 117–129. doi: 10.1007/s00213-012-2697-x
- Zurier, R. B., & Burstein, S. H. (2016). Cannabinoids, Inflammation, and Fibrosis. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 30(11), 3682–3689. Retrieved from https://www.fasebj.org/doi/full/10.1096/fj.201600646r