MOLECULE

Cannabinol

Cannabinol (CBN), belongs to the class of organic compounds known as dibenzopyrans. These are organic heterocyclic compounds with a structure containing a dibenzopyran moiety, made up of two benzene rings fused to a central pyran ring. Cannabinol is the best known and most abundant member of the cannabinoid subclass of cannabis compounds known as cannabinols or CBNs. Cannabinol is psychoactive, although in a lesser degree as THC and related compounds. CBN is most likely a degradation product of tetrahydrocannabinoic acid (THCA) or of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). CBN can also be obtained through the decarboxilation of cannabinolic acid (CBNA), another product of the degradation of THCA (PMID: 1140243). Independently of the routes by which CBN is produced, it is found in higher quantities in Cannabis products that have been stored over an extended period of time or that have been exposed to sunlight or heat (PMID: 26870049). CBN is mildly psychoactive (PMID: 1221432) and acts as a partial agonist of the CB1 and CB2 receptors, with a higher affinity for the CB2 receptors (PMID: 11020293). In both cases the affinity of CBN to these receptors is lower than that of THC (PMID: 9667767). The legal status of CBN is uncertain, as it is not included in the United Nations’ Convention on Psychotropic Substances. However, it could still be considered as an analogue of THC in some states of the United States of America, leaving open the possibility of penal prosecution. The main pharmacological characteristics of Cannabinol are sedative, antibiotic, anticonvulsant and anti-inflammatory (PMID: 6991645). Cannabinol (CBN) is also found in cannabis smoke and is volatilized during the combustion of cannabis (https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-947-9_2).