The entourage effect is a proposed mechanism by which cannabis compounds other than tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) act synergistically with it to modulate the overall psychoactive effects of the plant.
When we smoke or vaporize cannabis, our bodies take in hundreds of botanical compounds. Each one arrives with unique effects and benefits, and their behavior may change in the presence of other compounds, which becomes the entourage effect. These other compounds include other cannabinoids as well as terpenes, and flavonoids.
Dr. Raphael Mechoulam and Dr. Shimon Ben-Shabat are the two scientists credited with understanding what would later become known as the entourage effect. Dr. Mechoulam had previously discovered that the human body produces cannabinoids, which work with cannabinoid receptors in what we now refer to as the endocannabinoid system (ECS).