What Are Cannabinoids?
Interestingly, cannabinoids are a group of compounds present in the cannabis plant, which also occur naturally in the nervous and immune systems of humans and animals. For clarity’s sake, some scientists in the field prefer to call the cannabinoids found in natural plant compounds phytocannabinoids and those found in natural animal compounds endocannabinoids.

What Do Cannabinoids Do?
In the human body, these naturally occurring chemicals help control mental and physical processes. In the cannabis plant, they are the compounds responsible for extracting and distributing THC's unique physiological properties.

The natural cannabinoids produced in our bodies bind with specifically designed nervous-system receptors (not coincidentally named cannabinoid receptors) which are responsible for regulating our nervous-system responses such as: mood, appetite, pain sensation, inflammation response and memory. Because of the way THC affects the nervous system, there are numerous medical and health benefits to cooking with cannabis - it can be used to reduce pain, stimulate appetite and reduce anxiety. When combined with the phytocannabinoids in marijuana, our cannabinoid receptors are affected.

In other words, the cannabinoid receptors found naturally in our bodies (CB1 and CB2, if you want to get technical) are recognized and targeted by the cannabinoids in cooked marijuana. When properly extracted, the cannabinoids bind, and THC’s psychoactive effects are brought out. (We like to think this makes a pretty good case for cooking with cannabis. Our bodies are already prepared!)