The Scientist

The Scientist is a documentary sponsored and co-produced by the CANNA foundation. This documentary contains detailed scientific information about the first studies ever done with cannabis. Its content is based on experiences, findings and accounts told by Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, a prestigious Israeli professor that has won various prizes around the globe for his studies and investigative work into THC and CBD. Rafi Mechoulam won the Dr. Honoris Causa award in January 2006 thanks to advancements and discoveries he made after years of experience looking for answers to do with our beloved and prohibited plant.

The documentary narrates the Doctor’s first few years of life, from when he was born in Bulgaria until he moved to Jerusalem in 1966, where he began his journey with Cannabis Sativa. His main focus was on studying the chemical composition of marijuana plants, which was something of an enigma due to their bad reputation. Mechoulam’s objective was to isolate the active component in cannabis in its pure form so that he could study it. During those first few investigative years he had the help of his associate and friend, Yehiel Gaoni, with whom he deciphered and detailed all of the components contained in our favorite plant. Up until the mid-60s, to isolate and discover the contents in a given compound, many reactions had to be made in order to correctly separate and isolate each individual compound. They soon became quite interested in hash, which during the 70s and 80s had become quite popular due to its potency and medicinal value. They managed to get 5 kilograms worth of hash in order to further their investigation. Then, they realized that hash contains quite a low level of Cannabidiol, 8% at the most, which made a high production rate quite difficult. They managed to identify more than 10 components present in cannabis, including the main active ingredient that makes this magnificent plant so special. Said active ingredient was tested on monkeys and gave spectacular results, with almost every case resulting in success, proving that cannabis stimulates mental and physical relaxation. Having arrived at this conclusion, Doctor Rafi Mechoulam discovered what is now known as THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol, which causes the effects given by hash and marijuana.

Soon after, human testing begun, also supervised by Dr. Mechoulam, who asked his wife to prepare a cake which, after cutting into portions, was infused with 20mg of pure THC extract so as to see the effects it had on human beings. The experience was pleasing for most of the test subjects, giving them fits of uncontrollable laughter, profound conversations, and euphoria and, not as often, anxiety.

In the documentary they go on to explain the many, many uses that cannabis has had during ancient times. The Assyrians used it as a medicine, to stimulate the mind and for religious purposes. The Egyptians used marijuana for cures and as a medicinal calming substance. There is in fact no proof that the Greeks or Romans used marijuana, as it is believed that they were not aware of how it could be used. In India cannabis was connected to rituals and ceremonies, most of them designed to free the mind of fears and worries.

The documentary also confirms that cannabis has a myriad of uses when it comes to epilepsy, and it has been used to treat it for hundreds of years; Dr. Mechoulam then began to give pure Cannabidiol to patients with epilepsy, dosages of up to 200mg. It came as a surprise to some, but Cannabidiol helped the patients out massively, drastically reducing epileptic attacks which validated the time and effort that the professor and his team put into the investigation. More studies were done and the results were published, although unfortunately they were kept anonymous. 34 years later, this is still the only study ever done on the contents and beneficial uses of cannabis.

In the United States, doctor Howlett found a component in the brain that acts as a specific THC receptor, called CB1. This important discovery indicated that THC influences said receptor directly, and so people started asking questions like: How is it possible that our body contains specific receptors for a substance that’s smoked? Since that moment, the race to discover new components was on, and many companies decided to join this brand new period of cannabis discovery.

The discovery of this receptive component needed a name, so Professor Mechoulam and his team got to work and eventually, thanks to an associate of his, the name Anandamide was born.

Cannabis has been around for millennia, accompanying human beings since before we can even remember, whether it was for remedial uses or for spiritual and recreational activities. Thanks to this amazing documentary, you can learn more about prohibition and lack of interest by part of certain government organizations that won’t allow the studies done by Dr. Mechoulam to have the importance that they so deserve in society.

Translation: Ciara Murphy