Lately cannabidiol (CBD) has been hogging the therapeutic limelight; it’s an anti-inflammatory, an anti-tumor, and it helps inhibit psychotic behavior. THC, the psychoactive chemical most prized in the recreational community, has been deemed to have less potential for therapeutic use, in part due to the side effects that accompany dosage. For this reason, much clinical research has shifted toward CBD and away from THC. However, THC’s psychedelic, mindset-altering activity is exactly what lends it therapeutic benefits in situations involving memory and fear consolidation. Fear memory consolidation occurs after a painful memory is acquired, and is the process through which that memory is stabilized in the brain. Although not all aspects are understood, we know that the consolidation process involves strengthening synapses the brain deems useful and paring down synapses the brain deems less useful. Aside from this process, memories are also converted from being dependent on the short-term memory region of the brain to being independent of this region and placed in a longer-term storage area. However, memories are also capable of being re-consolidated and forming new associations. To put all of this into practical terms, someone suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) stemming from military service may initially suffer injury while hearing an unrelated stimulus, such as a warning siren. The brain may then associate the pain and injury with that sound. Unfortunately, as the individual returns to normal society and hears similar sounds, such as ambulance sirens, those memories and fears may resurface, causing additional pain, aggression, and…
