Scientists have begun examining tetrahydrocannabivarin, a little-known components of cannabis. Their preliminary findings suggest the chemical can inhibit some of the negative effects of cannabis’s main component.

Cannabis sativa produces more than 100 chemical compounds that act on cannabinoid receptors in the brain. Of these chemicals, which are known simply as cannabinoids, the most common are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) also naturally occurs in cannabis, but typically in very low quantities.

The drug was “well tolerated among the participants,” many of whom could not distinguish the THCV capsules from the placebo capsules, the researchers reported. Four out of the ten volunteers incorrectly guessed which week they had been given the THCV capsules.In a double-blind study, researchers from King’s College London administered 10mg of THCV or placebo capsules to ten healthy male volunteers for four days before injecting them with 1mg of THC on the fifth day. After...