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Summary
On episode 290 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Leonard Leinow, who has spent over three decades growing and studying medical cannabis and wrote the book CBD: A Patient’s Guide to Medicinal Cannabis, Healing Without the High.
Leonard breaks down what CBD actually is, how it differs from THC, and why the two work better together than alone, the entourage effect, along with the science of the body’s own endocannabinoid system.
The conversation covers delivery methods, dosing, and the medicinal claims Leonard has seen firsthand, from sleep and inflammation to diabetes, Alzheimer’s prevention, and helping people reduce opioid use.
Links
- https://synergycbd.com
Key Takeaways
- CBD and THC are two of over 110 cannabinoids in the cannabis plant. THC is the one that produces a high; CBD does not, even in large doses. Raw plant compounds like THCA convert to their active forms (THC, in this case) only once heated, a process called decarboxylation.
- How you take it changes whether it gets you high, not just what you take. Smoking or oral ingestion sends THC into the bloodstream and brain and can be psychoactive, but Leonard says topical salves and suppositories don’t reach the bloodstream the same way, so even high doses of THC applied that way won’t get someone high.
- The entourage effect is why Leonard favors whole-plant, balanced products. He describes CBD as balancing out THC’s psychoactivity when taken together, and considers CBD an anti-stress compound that helps cells relax, working alongside THC rather than as a simple substitute for it.
- Leonard credits CBD with a wide range of benefits, from appetite and blood sugar to brain health. He points to appetite suppression that supports weight loss, reported improvement in blood sugar balance for diabetes, and research suggesting CBD taken before onset may help prevent Alzheimer’s, alongside general anti-inflammatory and sleep benefits.
- Delivery method determines onset speed and how long the effect lasts. Smoking or vaporizing takes effect in about 30 seconds and lasts two to three hours; oral tinctures or capsules take 30 to 45 minutes to kick in but last six to eight hours; topical salves only penetrate about an inch into the skin for localized joint pain; patches provide continuous dosing over several hours.
- Dosing should start low and be titrated up slowly. Leonard’s book includes weight-based charts for micro, standard, and macro dosing depending on the condition, and he stresses that with cannabis, more is not automatically better; if a dose stops working, try less, switch strains, or take a few days off entirely.
- CBD showed strong results helping chronic pain patients reduce opioid use. Leonard cites Dr. Michael Moskowitz’s pain clinic data showing 81.4 percent of patients (largely difficult, treatment-resistant cases) saw pain reduction and were able to cut back their opioid intake using cannabis and CBD.
- The body has its own endocannabinoid system that CBD and THC interact with directly. Leonard explains this system, discovered roughly 30 years ago, regulates the body’s other systems; when it’s out of balance, inflammation and disease follow, and cannabinoids work to restore that balance rather than treating any single disease directly.
- Legality and drug testing depend heavily on your state. Pure CBD without THC generally won’t trigger a failed drug test in states where it’s legal, but Leinow is careful not to make blanket promises, and notes cannabinoids can be detectable in the body for up to 30 days depending on the type of test used.
“No one has ever died in the written history of 5,000 years on the use of this herb.”
Leonard Leinow