Unexpectedly, a weed produces a chemical almost identical to the THC of cannabis.

Hepatic is not much to look at. These species of low ground plants crawl quite discreetly, covering their hand-like fronds on rocks and logs. But there is a secret side to some of these mossy herbs. In a report released yesterday (October 24) in Science Advances, researchers have revealed that some members of the genus Radula of the liver genus – there are about 9,000 hepatic species; Radula comprises some 200 to 300 species – contains a chemical compound that relieves pain, much like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) found in marijuana. Unlike THC, however, perrotetinene, as its name suggests, does not give you a psychoactive effect. Perotetinene has a similar molecular structure to THC, which allows the two compounds to bind easily to the cannabinoid receptors of the brain. Once they are there, the compounds stop the flow of pain signals to the brain and lessen their effects, thus relieving pain and inflammation. Assuming that perrotetinene acts in the same way on the human brain as on the mouse, the main object of this recent study. In the past, it was easy for scientists to literally neglect the liver. "Nobody really notices [liverworts] Douglas Kinghorn, a phytochemist at Ohio State University-Columbus, told ScienceNews. "Sometimes plants contain important medicinal compounds from unexpected sources." But that does not mean that you should start scouring your garden looking for any promising moss. The study only identified three hepatic species – Radula perrottetii, Radula marginata and Radula laxiramea – known to produce the compound, and even then in minute amounts. (R. marginata, which is endemic in New Zealand and Tasmania, is sometimes sold online as a "high legal" – although, as the study notes, "the online community reporting high legalities confirms and refutes anecdotes about cannabism – in short, it may not work.) Still, scientists are optimistic about the synthetic version of the chemical produced by replicating its molecular structure in a laboratory – even if it's long , far from being commercially available.
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