I was just musing the other night while smelling my bag of ganj, which I LOVE to do every night, just smells so wonderful, why does it smell so amazingly enticing to us?

The buds we smoke being the flower of the plant, are we, humans, the pollinators of pot? Does cannabis have a natural (other than human) creature who does this role in the wild? Or does it use us for that? All I can find on the net is that it's a wind pollinator, that may have some minor part played by "some animals".

I find this interesting and I like feeling like we may have some natural/specifically evolved symbiosis role with these plant teachers' proliferation. While not necessary (wind pollination), I like entertaining the notion that somehow their smell, effect, attractiveness, usefulness of hemp, etc is geared towards humans interacting with them.



Please correct any errors as I'm not a cannabis expert. I know one plant sex pollinates the other. That hemp is one sex and buds we smoke come from the other.

Hello,

I can relate to what you are pointing to. It is clear our bodies were designed to partake in utilizing cannabis and hemp for those who choose to do so. The fragrance of cannabis is exactly as you describe it to be, 'enticing.' Or, 'primitive.' Or, 'familiar, natural smell.' As soon as you smell the plant or smoke, your cannabinoid receptors start to notice something peculiar and it feels right. It feels as though you are to seek out the smell and embrace it. Cigarettes smell awful for a reason, because our bodies were not designed to smoke conventional 'tobacco,' if you can even call it tobacco.

Ha ha, I can agree to humans being pollinators. Though, many insects, bees, birds and even grazing mammals are pollinators/herbivores to and of it. Yes, wind is a natural part of that cycle. The flower is edible and contains nutrients such as fatty acids, protein, fibre and many phytonutrients. It is only when the plant is burned that it converts and brings on the stoning, euphoric, philosophical and relaxing effects. The bud, when eaten, is a great source of nutrients and minerals as well
as detoxing the body and providing energy for humans. Both great sides of this wonderful plant ally!

Before cannabis was a land plant, its growth started off in many oceans as a oxygenating plant that filled waters with nutrients for animals and the environment. Over evolution, it made its way to the land and starting growing and animals would feed off this, yes. Many animals developed cannabinoids because of the plants early development, eventually leading to humans having these receptors. This is where the natural element comes from, truly.

It smells enticing to us because depending on the strain it is loaded with yummy smelling and tasting terpenes and flavinoids that are also found in other plants. These chemicals have a broad range of smells and positive effects on the body. Lemonene for example is said to boost respiratory health and fight inflammation and smells citrusy, think lemon haze or Jack Herer. There are dozens if not hundreds more which also explains how different types of cannabis can have such a broad range of smells.

Commercially produced cigarettes and real tobacco smell completely different in my opinion. Good mapacho made from nicotiana rustica smells like chocolate blueberries.

And rightfully so! Pure, real, unadulterated tobacco smells different and much more clearer. It tends to be much more smoother in effects, too. Commercially sold 'tobacco' gets people hooked whereas pure tobacco feels more natural and welcoming.

WOW! Thanks for the replies! The mind blowing replies. I guess that's the Nexus in a nut shell "Mind blowing posts and replies."

Did not know the evolution theory of cannabis. Thanks for that!

Never tried natural tobacco. I always thought commercially produced cigs smelled, before lit, like weird synthetic raisins. LOL I quite almost a decade ago, and now the smell of the smoke is nauseating to say the least. I always wondered how shaman could use it, forgot all about the horrible additive to non natural tobacco. Very interesting. Now i want to try it natural at least once!



House, oh the different olfactory sensations from the multitude of mary jane species is such a thing of molecular beauty! MMMMMM!

This is actually not the case. "Hemp" is a word used to refer to certain varieties of cannabis which have been bred to produce very low levels of THC, with the intention of cultivating them for industrial purposes (fibers, oils, seeds, etc.). You are correct that female cannabis plants produce the high-THC flowers that users seek, but "hemp" and "marijuana" are just words used to refer to different varieties of the plant, cultivated for different purpose.


Can you provide any sources to substantiate these claims?

Strains.

Yes.

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Endocannabinoids were being produced in oceans by soft-bodied organisms according to this geographical scale.

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According to a PubMed publication, endocannabinoids were seen as diverse in character, in a variety of organisms ranging from humans, sea life, fungi, chordates, eukaryotes and other creatures.



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16434153

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Documenting sea squirts and their role in the nervous and endocannabinoid system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH8RuQdaZWw

The presence of the endocannabinoid system 550 MYA doesn't mean that the cannabis plant itself was around then... flowers didn't even evolve until 200 MYA. Endocannabinoids developed along with macroscopic organisms during the cambrian explosion as a homeostatic regulatory mechanism for large-scale biological systems.

Michael Pollan deals with this issue in his book The Botany of Desire. Basically it suggests that apples, tulips, cannabis, and potatoes have domesticated us and tricked us into spreading them around the globe. It's a very interesting read and highly recommended.

It has also been made into a documentary, linked below for your viewing pleasure.

This notion is called a symbiotic relationship in ecological terms. The term applies to all species with which we, humans, actively pursue a relationship to help ourselves somehow. A species gives us something, we give the species something back.

The latter included cannabis (as per OP) and all plant, fungal and microbiological crops and domesticated animals, including even laboratory animals.

I'll check that out dreamer! Thanks.


Who you calling a symbiot?

I'm pretty sure you don't create receptors for things just because you eat them.

Why not?

Check the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, a receptor that very likely evolved to respond to enviromental xenotoxicants. But i agree that it sounds unnlikely that cannabinoid receptors evolved to detect phytocannabinoids. It is more likely that cannabinoid receptors evolved to serve the whole endogenous cannabinoid system.

Well, no, you don't create new receptors through plants, you activate receptors that already exist within the body. The endocannabinoid system plays a major role in biological processes including immune function, leukocyte production, liver enzymes, brain function and important protective mechanisms, not just simply for smoking/eating the plant and experiencing effects or benefits. And no, the cannabis plant(flower) itself did not exist millions of years ago, but other elements did that possibly played a role in evolving the endocannabinoid system as a whole. From micro to macro.

I do not see an official answer thus far, really. Only exciting traces and possible leads.

But how about receptors involved in detoxification (like the aryl hydrocarbon receptor as mentioned above)? Exposure to potentially toxic compounds from the environment has driven the evolution of receptors to deal with the toxic stress. It is far from unlikely that plant (and by extension environmental) chemicals drive the evolution of novel receptors. That isn't of course to specifically say that cannabinoid receptors in humans evolved due to species interacting with the cannabis plant.

But on the other hand it isn't unlikely that e.g. an insect that feeds off the cannabis plant might have evolved receptors to deal with potentially toxic loads of cannabinoids.

Mmmmm nothin like inhaling a big pocket of air that's been sitting in the ganja bag permeating.

I'm not sure but possibly ants distribute seeds, as they do with some acacias.
Those seeds are superfood

Interesting. Yes, agreed, organisms have evolved to respond to environmental stresses, this is adaptation, something our own organism does on a daily basis. The adaptive response is manifested as the induction of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes. AhR activation seems to be also important for immunological responses and inhibiting inflammation. Much of these sequences and processes resulted in the ability to bind ligands. AhR being apart of the DNA basic helix loop transcription/protein factor.

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Indeed the seeds are in fact superfoods! I eat them on a daily basis. Great for energy and overall nutrition and biological function.