"Marijuana binds the same receptors as opiates"

[olivianewtonjohn]

Anyone ever heard this before? I cant find anything on it online. I thought perhaps it binds cannabinoids upstream which activate opioid receptor downstream (only way I could see that statement being true). If incorrect anyone know if this is a common misconception or something? Odd to have a "drug know it all" who has lots of knowledge on pharmaceuticals yet be so wrong on this, this wasnt stated in a judgmental manner more a matter of fact. We're currently not speaking otherwise id ask (unrelated).

 

[herbivore21]

Anyone ever heard this before? I cant find anything on it online. I thought perhaps it binds cannabinoids upstream which activate opioid receptor downstream (only way I could see that statement being true). If incorrect anyone know if this is a common misconception or something? Odd to have a "drug know it all" who has lots of knowledge on pharmaceuticals yet be so wrong on this, this wasnt stated in a judgmental manner more a matter of fact. We're currently not speaking otherwise id ask (unrelated).

It'd be good to have a specific receptor/s mentioned so we can get a better idea of the claim you describe

What are normally described as 'opioid receptors' are not a receptor site that I have ever heard of being a site for binding with cannabis actives. I have heard of at least one study (with rats) that have observed cannabinoids binding with cannabinoid receptors which caused downregulation of opioid receptors (that is, it reduces the number of opioid receptors present to bind with opioids if they were introduced into the body), that is not an interaction of cannabinoids binding with opioid receptors - quite the opposite in a way!

 

[looney2nz]

While I'm aware of the studies that show it lowering the amount of opiates needed, I'm unaware of any actually showing it acting on the opiate receptor directly. Unless I'm completely blotto, it's the 'wrong shaped key'.

 

[MinnBobber]

Cannabis binds to our ECS receptors. Opiods bind to certain named receptors, which I'm not sure if they are in the ECS system???
"Opioids exert their pharmacological actions through three opioid receptors, mu, delta and kappa..."
Anyone know if those are ECS receptors??

Opiod receptors include controlling your primal brain life functions like breathing etc. that's why an opiod overdose can easily kill you. MJ does not bind to those basic life function brain receptors and that's why it is virtually impossible to OD on cannabis.

Opiods and cannabis clearly bind to different receptors BUT it's also possible that they MIGHT bind to some of the same receptors..... inquiring minds want to know

 

[C No Ego]

Anyone ever heard this before? I cant find anything on it online. I thought perhaps it binds cannabinoids upstream which activate opioid receptor downstream (only way I could see that statement being true). If incorrect anyone know if this is a common misconception or something? Odd to have a "drug know it all" who has lots of knowledge on pharmaceuticals yet be so wrong on this, this wasnt stated in a judgmental manner more a matter of fact. We're currently not speaking otherwise id ask (unrelated).

currently reading ncbi article on pain and cannabinoids... again, I can never seem to get through one, lol

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/

edit.. any article on analgesia and cannabinoids will mention opioid receptors too usually...

 

[olivianewtonjohn]

From PhD in molecular bio (who studies MJ for a living):

"Percocet work on opioids receptors and THC works on CB1 a neurological receptor and CBD works on CB2 an immunologic receptor. She is blatantly wrong, without a sliver of accuracy. Even if they shared similarly morphology in receptor structure, which afaik they don't, their localization and different stimuli and signaling pathways are completely independent of each other. There is no way they act on the same receptor, she is wrong."

I was 99% sure but couldnt believe a "know it all" could make such a moronic mistake. It was actually shocking and I wanted to make sure I didnt miss something lol

 

[C No Ego]

Cannabis binds to our ECS receptors. Opiods bind to certain named receptors, which I'm not sure if they are in the ECS system???
"Opioids exert their pharmacological actions through three opioid receptors, mu, delta and kappa..."
Anyone know if those are ECS receptors??

Opiod receptors include controlling your primal brain life functions like breathing etc. that's why an opiod overdose can easily kill you. MJ does not bind to those basic life function brain receptors and that's why it is virtually impossible to OD on cannabis.

Opiods and cannabis clearly bind to different receptors BUT it's also possible that they MIGHT bind to some of the same receptors..... inquiring minds want to know

we've mapped with somewhat certainty the cb-1 ,cb-2 receptors... and found 88 or more active cannabinoids in cannabis that most likely activate immediate cb receptor response...after prohibition / in a few years, it will be cb-23 receptor was activated by thc delta 6000 from the planet cannabivoid Varine

 

[herbivore21]

Guys, the one I mentioned above seems to be possibly the only link to the medical literature that the OP could have heard from their source:

Cannabinoid receptors seem to also feature at sites where opioid receptors are found in rats (I do not know about this in humans, but it is proposed as a possibility in the literature that I have read). IIRC, opioids are frequently found at these same sites and it seems that cannabinoid activity in the neighborhood causes a reduction in the number of opioid receptors in those regions. It actually is described as a direct effect on the opioid receptor in the study that I read, however it is not the cannabinoid binding with the opioid receptor. One proposed explanation relates to cannabinoids affecting essential proteins relating to the opioid receptors which leads to the reduction in available receptor sites.

Cannabinoids do bind with the CB1 and CB2 receptors (as well as 5ht1a - a serotonin receptor! - in the case of CBD!!!), they do not to my knowledge bind with opioid receptors, but do exercise another influence on those receptors.