The full understanding of the real therapeutic potential of cannabis preparations and of the dangers that their recreational use pose can only stem from the assessment of the chemical composition of such preparations and the knowledge of the pharmacology of their main components, the cannabinoids. Much in the same way cannabis is not just one plant, cannabinoids were not made all equal, and profound differences exist between the pharmacological properties of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC), the most abundant euphoric and psychotropic cannabinoid, and the other over one hundred natural products belonging to the same class of compounds. So far, only the bioactivity of Δ⁹-THC, the main component of marijuana, and a handful of cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD), the most abundant cannabinoid in industrial varieties of cannabis, has been thoroughly investigated. While pharmacological studies on Δ⁹-THC led to the discovery of cannabinoid receptors, endocannabinoids (eCBs) and the endocannabinoid (eCB) system, which underlie most of the effects of this compound in mammals, the mechanisms of action of CBD and other non-euphoric cannabinoids are much more complex and are based on several molecular targets, including, but not limited to, the proteins (receptors and enzymes) of the “expanded eCB system,” or “endocannabinoidome” (eCBome), and hence on their capability of modulating the actions or tissue concentrations of eCB-related lipid mediators. In this article, we discuss to what extent the pharmacology of cannabinoids, and of Δ⁹-THC and CBD in particular, can be explained by the existence of the eCB system and the eCBome.

对大麻制剂真正的治疗潜力及其娱乐用途构成的危险的充分了解只能来自对此类制剂的化学成分的评估以及对大麻制剂主要成分药理知识的了解。多相同的方式大麻不只是一种植物，大麻素没有作出全部相等，和Δ的药理学性质之间有巨大的差别⁹四氢大麻酚（Δ ⁹ -THC），最丰富的欣快和精神的大麻素，另属于同一类化合物的一百多种天然产物。到目前为止，只有Δ的生物活性⁹-THC是大麻的主要成分，并且已经对包括大麻素（CBD）在内的少数大麻素进行了彻底研究，CBD是大麻工业品种中含量最高的大麻素。而在Δ药理研究⁹-THC导致发现大麻素受体，内源性大麻素（eCBs）和内源性大麻素（eCB）系统，这是该化合物在哺乳动物中发挥大部分作用的基础，而CBD和其他非欣快性大麻素的作用机理则更为复杂并且基于多种分子靶标，包括但不限于“扩展的eCB系统”或“内源性大麻素组”（eCBome）的蛋白质（受体和酶），并因此取决于其调节作用或组织浓度的能力与eCB相关的脂质介体。在这篇文章中，我们在何种程度上讨论大麻素的药理学和Δ的⁹ -THC和CBD特别是，可以通过欧洲央行系统和eCBome的存在来解释。