Father of THC
The most famous cannabis clinician in the world has left us, due to natural causes.. Dr. Raphael Mechoulam had been looked at as the Father of THC and a pioneer of cannabis research. Mechoulam discovered and isolated tetrahydrocannabinol in 1963. He and his team went on to study the structure of Cannabidiol - or, as we know it now, CBD.
Nearly forty years ago, Dr. Mechoulam said if cannabis were legalized, it could replace up to 20% of all pharmaceutical drugs. He was way before his time. “Most of the human and scientific knowledge about cannabis was accumulated thanks to Professor Mechoulam. He paved the way for groundbreaking studies and initiated scientific cooperation between researchers around the world,” said Hebrew University President Asher Cohen. “Mechoulam was a sharp-minded and charismatic pioneer. This is a sad dayfor the academic community and for the university. I send my sincere condolences to his family.”
He had a lifelong passion for chemistry
Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1930, Mechoulam went to school for chemical engineering. In 1945, he moved with his family to Israel, where he studied chemistry. After getting top nods in his schooling, fast forward to 1994 when he was elected a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences. Up to his last days, Mechoulam was the head of the Hebrew University’s Multidisciplinary Center for Cannabinoid Research. That’s the biggest cannabis research centre in the area and of the few in the world that conducts research on cannabinoids, endocannabinoids, and medical cannabis. Just last year, the researcher discovered cannabidiolic acid as a far more potent compound than CBD or THC. “We badly need new drugs in several diseases and some of the drugs that are available, may be pretty good but they ultimately cause side effects,” he said, “We have two groups of compounds today that need to have a replacement: these are steroids and opioids. We believe that cannabis carries the ability to introduce replacements to these families.”
Dr. Mechoulam’s chef-d'oeuvre
- 1999-2000: President, International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS).
- 2001: Honorary Doctorate from Ohio State University.
- 2003-2005: Chairman of the Board, International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (IACM).
- 2006: Honorary Doctorate from Complutense University.
- 2011: NIDA Discovery Award.
- 2012: EMET Prize in Exact Sciences – Chemistry.
- 2016: Lifetime Achievement Award – CannMed
