Does cannabis protect against the coronavirus? New research on cannabinoids including CBD

Author: Elena Experience expert (psychedelics and psychoactive & medicinal plants), blogger, passion for healthy food

Are you a stoner and have you heard the good news that cannabis may help prevent getting sick from the coronavirus? Before we smoke a joint together at 4.20 and celebrate that cannabis is the cure for corona, I must first examine in this blog whether this news about marijuana is not too good to be true. Does cannabis really protect against covid-19?

Smoking a joint against the coronavirus? 

I almost jumped in the air when I opened a reputable newspaper and saw the headline, "Study: components in cannabis may prevent corona infection."

What great news: smoking cannabis is the answer to not getting sick from corona!

The article states, "Components in cannabis may prevent the coronavirus from entering healthy cells, a laboratory study published in the Journal of Nature Products shows. Two compounds in hemp, CBGA and CBDA, may inhibit the virus, according to researchers at the University of Oregon."

In the study, the components from cannabis bound themselves to the protrusions of the virus' protein parts and the cannabinoids CBGA and CBDA blocked a compound the virus uses to infect people. 

The research was done in Oregon, America and led by American scientist Richard van Breemen. 

What are cannabinoids from cannabis and what do they do?

Science is unraveling the cannabis plant little by little. Cannabis has more than 100 different constituents, including cannabinoids. These are substances such as THC and CBD. There is still a lot of research being done into the effects of cannabinoids and their possible medicinal properties. 

The function of cannabinoids for the cannabis plant itself remains guesswork. Just like terpenes (aromatic constituents) they probably play a role that is important for the survival of the plant such as driving away attackers or attracting certain beneficial insects. 

THC is known to cause you to get stoned or high, but it can also help with a variety of ailments. THC is used as a medicine to relieve pain, counteract nausea (e.g. from chemotherapy) but also to treat depression, stress and sleeping problems. 

THC is the 'main' and most well-known cannabinoid, but the mainstream is now increasingly focusing on other interesting substances from cannabis, such as CBD, CBG and CBN.

What is CBD?

CBD, the non-psychoactive sister of THC, has promising medicinal properties that can have a positive impact on the body and mind. 

The market continues to evolve and different companies are doing their best to manufacture quality CBD products for different applications, such as CBD oil, CBD capsules, CBD tea and CBD candy. 

Cannabidiol does not give a stoned or high effect but works on a subtle level and can help your body with various problems. For example, CBD is widely used for people with physical pain, such as muscle pain from sports, but also joint pain and rheumatism. Furthermore CBD is used in people who suffer from epilepsy. 

CBD can also be used for stress and sleeping problems. Many user stories are positive and state that CBD can help to calm down body and mind. 

CBD has an anti-inflammatory effect and can help the body become healthier and experience less stress. 

When you smoke a joint with a lot of CBD, you get a more soothing high and are much less likely to experience unwanted side effects from the THC (such as paranoia and anxiety). 

Does CBD help against corona?

This study, led by scientists at the University of Chicago, suggests that CBD could be used to prevent infection with the corona virus. The study came about because patients suffering from epilepsy were given a strong dose of CBD and were much less likely to test positive for the corona virus than patients who were not given a drug containing CBD. 

The scientists assumed that CBD is able to block the coronavirus by acting on the immune system. In fact, CBD has an anti-inflammatory effect. 

They tested with human cells whether CBD can stop the coronavirus. The test showed that from a certain amount of CBD, the virus was no longer able to reproduce. The scientists were surprised that CBD is able to block the coronavirus from making copies of itself.

"We just wanted to know if CBD would influence the immune system to counteract the coronavirus in that way. No one expected CBD to be able to counter viral replication, but that's exactly what CBD does." 

Does it make sense to use CBD oil to protect yourself from the coronavirus? Of course, this research was done with a medicinal grade CBD extract.

While we are not allowed to make claims that CBD products work medicinally, these studies provide a promising look at the future of cannabinoids, including the medicinal use of CBD. 

Try CBD oil from the CBD Shop

Sirius sells a range of CBD products from reputable brands such as Jacob Hooy and Cibiday. 

CBD oil is available in different strengths, ranging from 2.75% CBD to as much as 25% CBD. Which strength suits you best depends entirely on your personal preference. CBD oil and capsules can easily and safely be taken daily. For personal advice you can call our customer service or send us an email. 

Do you get stoned from CBD weed?

Besides CBD oil, CBD capsules and CBD tea (and many other CBD products), you can also opt for CBD weed. 

Many stoners like to alternate a THC-rich joint with CBD weed. The effect of CBD weed can be soothing and pain relieving. Ideal for any time of day, without getting high. 

At Sirius, you'll find everything you need to grow your own CBD weed in our Growshop. So you can be sure that you have organic and healthy CBD weed at home. 

No stoner gets corona

After forwarding the newspaper article to all my stoner friends, I realized: none of them have had corona yet! So in my mind, the hypothesis was correct. Until a week ago, when someone close to me who smokes a lot of weed suddenly got sick from corona. 

The scientific research has been widely criticized as not being without conflict of interest. The organizers of the scientific research on cannabis and protection against corona would have an interest in giving cannabis a good name.

Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion, because weed can certainly get a better name as well. However, research should be as neutral as possible. Furthermore, it is also true that this particular study was only done with mice.

The testing of the possible medicinal content of cannabis and protection against corona has not yet been tested on humans. What is science waiting for? 

It is possible that in the future a drug could be developed that is effective and protective and also derived from cannabis.

So whether smoking a joint is effective against the corona virus is not at all certain. The research was done with CBGA and CBDA, which are cannabinoids in their "acid" form, i.e. not heated. Moreover, these substances were used orally and not smoked or vaporized. 

Smoking and the coronavirus

In other words, smoking a joint to protect yourself from corona is not necessarily a good idea.

Since the corona virus acts mainly on the respiratory tract and the lungs, it is important to protect your body here as best as possible. Smoking, of course, causes your lungs to weaken and you are more likely to have respiratory problems.

Of course I do not advise anyone not to enjoy a joint, because that is one of the pleasures of life. 

However, you can choose to replace your joint (especially if it is partly filled with tobacco) with a vaporizer.

Cannabis and scientific research on protection against corona

Hopefully, innovative scientists will be open to doing some decent research on the effects of certain cannabinoids and other constituents of cannabis and its possible protective effects against various diseases and disorders, including the corona virus. 

Hopefully, this research will be followed up and we will find out if the cannabinoids CBGA and CBDA actually play a protective role against corona. 

Protect yourself and other stoners: don't share a joint, bong, pipe or vape!

Since we are still in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, we urge all stoners to be careful when sharing headshop items such as a joint, bong or pipe.

While there is nothing more fun and bonding than enjoying cannabis together, it is currently unwise to share a joint and thus increase infection with the coronavirus. 

Even if you are not afraid of the corona virus, it may help others not, or less likely, to be exposed to corona. 

Plenty of Arizer: vaporizer with interchangeable mouthpieces is corona proof

If you still want to enjoy a tasty weed together, you can opt for the Arizer. This innovative vaporizer is not only rock solid, it is also adapted to the current corona situation. The vaporizer offers the possibility of using interchangeable mouthpieces. 

This way you can smoke together without mixing each other's saliva, thus increasing the chances of corona contamination. 

Elena Experience expert (psychedelics and psychoactive & medicinal plants), blogger, passion for healthy food

Elena studies Organic and Biodynamic agriculture because, besides psychedelics and psychoactive & medicinal plants, she also has a passion for healthy food. Learning about the endocannabinoid system, different cannabinoids and terpenes is super interesting.

More about Elena