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Dr. Cannabis

Glossary

Cannabinoid

A compound that acts on the endocannabinoid system. The term covers plant cannabinoids such as THC and CBD, the ones your body makes, and synthetic ones.

Three groups share the name. Phytocannabinoids come from the cannabis plant — THC, CBD, CBG, CBN and around a hundred others. Endocannabinoids are made by the body, principally anandamide and 2-AG. Synthetic cannabinoids are manufactured, and include the FDA-approved medicines dronabinol and nabilone.

Whether a cannabinoid is intoxicating depends on how it interacts with the CB1 receptor. THC binds it directly and is intoxicating; CBD does not and is not.

One terpene, beta-caryophyllene, is sometimes called a dietary cannabinoid because it is a selective CB2 agonist — which is why the boundary between "cannabinoid" and "terpene" is less tidy than it looks.

Also written as: cannabinoids, phytocannabinoid.

Related terms

Sources

  1. Gertsch J, Leonti M, Raduner S, et al. Beta-caryophyllene is a dietary cannabinoid. PNAS. 2008;105(26):9099-9104.(DOI 10.1073/pnas.0803601105)Accessed 2026-08-15.
  2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Regulation of Cannabis and Cannabis-Derived Products, Including Cannabidiol (CBD).Accessed 2026-08-15.