Smaller Couldn’t Be Bigger: CBD & Nanotechnology
By J Garnet
For centuries, people lived with the idea that bigger is better, a bigger house, a bigger boat, a bigger car. It appears that smaller is the new big, even when it comes to medicine. With the development of nanotechnology, it seems that electronics are not the only products that are getting smaller. Nanotechnology is now being used during medical treatments and surgical services and is even being used to make medicine more effective.
Nano is defined as one billionth of a part. It’s tiny; it’s smaller than tiny. Twenty nanometers is about a thousand times smaller than a human red blood cell. To put this into even more perspective, it is smaller than one billionth of a meter. The possibilities are almost limitless, and as more and more companies, and scientists are turning to the use of nanotechnology, smaller and more efficient products are being produced. Nanotechnology is a term that most people have probably heard of. Because of nanotechnology, many people today are living the science fiction of their youth. Wireless devices, flat screen TVs as large as a whole wall, having microscopic robots traveling through the bloodstream for diagnostic results, talking face to face with someone halfway around the world and printing three dimensional objects, even a whole house, are now becoming mainstream.
Writers with great imaginations have written books and movies that have astounded their audience with advanced, unbelievable technology. Those farfetched products and devices are not only real today, but some are even obsolete and old hat. It appears that society is living its own science fiction in the here and now. Even after standing in awe at the coolest and newest technology over the years, and believing that no one could top it, it’s still surprising and awe-striking when the newest advancement arrives. The latest marvel revealed is the use of nanotechnology in the fast-growing medicinal marijuana and CBD industry.
Because medicinal marijuana is becoming legal in more states each year and CBD which contains less than 0.3% THC is currently legal in Texas, it’s expected that some issues and inequities would surface. Dosing the medicine is one of the issues. There is no standardized way, and there are numerous methods for taking the medicine. Depending on what method is used to deliver the medicinal values of marijuana, edibles for example, can have a delay in absorption rate, meaning it’ll take longer for the drug to work because it needs to be digested first. The digestive process causes some of the medicinal value to be lost.
NanoSphere Health Sciences, Inc. is a company that has taken recent medical breakthroughs and combined it with the legal side of medicinal marijuana. David Sutton, the president and COO of the company has a mission, “To alleviate suffering and improve lives globally by redefining how medicinal, preventive and bioactive agents are delivered and experienced.” Over the last several years, NanoSphere Health Sciences has been living up to its mission statement.
The NanoSphere Delivery System uses nanotechnology to turn non-water-soluble substances into water soluble nanoparticles. Simply, the system “shrinks” particles without disturbing the integrity of the particle. When a compound is made so small that it is called a nano, the particles can be absorbed quicker because it can slip through areas of the body that it couldn’t before. The cannabinoids that are extracted from the marijuana and the hemp plants are oil-based. The adult human body is made up of 65% water. Oil and water don’t mix. The medicine from the cannabinoids is still absorbed into the body, but it takes time, dosing can be difficult, and again some of the medicine is lost.
Through nanotechnology, the cannabinoids can be shrunk to a size that changes them from a non-water-soluble particle to a water soluble one. This is where the medical breakthrough takes place. Some agents of the cannabinoid that could not be absorbed because of the size of the particles or because of the loss of integrity through digestion, is now able to be fully and instantly brought into the body’s circulatory system. This makes dosing the product easier because the amount of medicine being absorbed is standard and unwavering. The same dose of medicine is absorbed each time a nanocannabinoid is introduced into the body, and none of the medicine is lost.
The age of “smaller is better” is here and will most likely continue to shape the future in the medical field. Nanotechnology has made it possible for scientists to do more with less. As far as using this technology in the marijuana and CBD industry, it’s already happening, and a better, faster acting product is being made.
J Garnet, M.Ed., is a Teacher, Writer, Speaker and Healer in Tucson, AZ. Garnet is passionate about bringing plant-based medicine into the forefront of healthcare. Connect with him at [email protected], or at (520) 437-8855.
