Cannabis and the Endocannabinoid System: a Primer

The medicinal use of cannabis is now legal in many industrialized countries, including Canada and most of Europe and the United States. This poses a series of scientific and public health challenges, which need to be urgently addressed. At the basis of progress in this area is gaining a solid understanding of how cannabis impacts human physiology and pathology. Prof. Piomelli, an authority in the field, will provide an outline of the pharmacology of cannabis, the cannabinoids and their endogenous counterparts in the human body. He will also describe drug classes that selectively interfere with endocannabinoid deactivation. The latter agents hold great promise for the treatment of human pathologies such as pain, addiction, anxiety and autism spectrum disorders.

Relator: Professor Daniele Piomelli.