Myrcene

Myrcene is one of the most common natural scents in hemp, and it is also found in hops, lemongrass and citrus fruit. It is a terpene, not a cannabinoid: in the laboratory it does not bind to the CB1 and CB2 receptors and does not change how THC acts on them. Sedative effects have been observed in mice at high doses; they have not been studied in humans.

• CB1No measured activity

  No hyperpolarisation; responses to Δ9-THC and CP55,940 unchanged

  Santiago et al. 2019, Cannabis Cannabinoid Res (new tab) · membrane potential (FLIPR), AtT20 cells expressing human CB1; alone from 300 pM to 30 µM, and at 100 nM or 10 µM combined with Δ9-THC (10 µM)

• CB2No measured activity

  No hyperpolarisation; responses to Δ9-THC and CP55,940 unchanged

  Santiago et al. 2019, Cannabis Cannabinoid Res (new tab) · membrane potential (FLIPR), AtT20 cells expressing human CB2; alone from 300 pM to 30 µM, and at 100 nM or 10 µM combined with Δ9-THC (10 µM)

• CB1No measured activity

  No radioligand displacement and no effect on cAMP, alone or with Δ9-THC or 2-AG

  Finlay et al. 2020, Front Pharmacol (new tab) · [3H]CP55,940 displacement on HEK cell membranes and cAMP (CAMYEL BRET), human CB1; 10 µM

• CB2No measured activity

  No radioligand displacement and no effect on cAMP, alone or with Δ9-THC or 2-AG

  Finlay et al. 2020, Front Pharmacol (new tab) · [3H]CP55,940 displacement on HEK cell membranes and cAMP (CAMYEL BRET), human CB2; 10 µM

• CB1No measured activity

  No Gi activation; responses to CP55,940, 2-AG and anandamide unchanged

  Alayoubi et al. 2025, Pain (new tab) · Gαi1 and Gαo protein activation (TRUPATH BRET), HEK293T cells expressing human CB1; 10 µM

• TRPV1Agonist

  Activation at micromolar concentrations (high-amplitude currents at 150 µM); no EC50 reported

  Jansen et al. 2019, Channels (Austin) (new tab) · calcium flux and patch-clamp currents, HEK cells with inducible expression of human or rat TRPV1; response inhibited by capsazepine

• CYP2B1Inhibitor

  Ki = 140 nM · rat

  De-Oliveira et al. 1997, Toxicol Lett (new tab) · pentoxyresorufin-O-depentylase (PROD) activity, liver microsomes from phenobarbital-treated rats; competitive inhibition (IC50 = 0.14 µM)

Sources: Myrcene, PubChem (HSDB), Limonene, NIST Chemistry WebBook, β-Caryophyllene, PubChem (JECFA), Linalool, PubChem (CRC Handbook), α-Pinene, PubChem (HSDB).

Myrcene (β-myrcene) is an acyclic monoterpene, one of the most abundant terpenes in cannabis; it is a terpene, not a cannabinoid. Three in vitro studies measured no direct activity at human CB1 and CB2 receptors, neither binding, nor activation, nor modulation of the response to Δ9-THC (Santiago 2019; Finlay 2020; Alayoubi 2025): these results do not support the hypothesis of an 'entourage effect' acting through these receptors. In animals it has shown antinociceptive effects in mice (Rao 1990; Alayoubi 2025) and in rats (Lorenzetti 1991; McDougall 2022), sometimes blocked by cannabinoid antagonists, as well as sedative and muscle-relaxant effects in mice at 100 and 200 mg/kg intraperitoneally, with a roughly 2.6-fold prolongation of barbiturate-induced sleep at 200 mg/kg (do Vale 2002). In vitro it also activates the TRPV1 channel (Jansen 2019). No study of its pharmacokinetics in humans had been published according to the National Toxicology Program (NTP 2010), and a 2021 review notes that human studies are lacking (Surendran 2021). Given by gavage at high doses for two years, it induced kidney tumours in male rats and liver tumours in male mice (NTP 2010); the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified it in Group 2B, and in 2018 the FDA removed synthetic myrcene from the list of authorised flavourings under the Delaney Clause, while judging it unlikely to induce tumours in humans at current exposure levels.

European Union

Myrcene is on the Union list of flavouring substances (Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008, established by Implementing Regulation (EU) No 872/2012) under number FL 01.008, for all categories of flavoured foods; footnote 4 required additional scientific data by 31 December 2013, and the Commission's portal states that these data have been submitted and that the EFSA evaluation remains to be completed. ECHA lists no harmonised classification under the CLP Regulation for it. It appears in no schedule of the 1961 and 1971 United Nations conventions (INCB Yellow List, 65th edition, 2026; Green List, 36th edition, 2025).

France

Not classified as a narcotic or as a psychotropic substance in France: myrcene appears neither in the ANSM consolidated list of narcotics (updated 26/06/2026), which compiles the order of 22 February 1990 and the Agency's decisions, nor in the consolidated list of psychotropic substances (17/02/2026). An acyclic monoterpene without a cannabinoid skeleton, it does not fall within the generic class of the benzo[c]chromene nucleus (ANSM decisions of 2024). Used as a flavouring, it is governed by EU food law.

Sources: EUR-Lex, UNODC, CND, ANSM, IUPHAR/BPS, ChEBI, EUDA. Our method.

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