Tetrahydrocannabinol acid
Occurrence: The primary pro-active ingredient in Cannabis. What we all smoke/cook to get high. Once cooked, it is D9-THC.
Psychoactive: No - You cannot just eat a nug to get high. You must smoke or cook it. This is the reason it is not illegal, and why the loophole exists.
Effects: Weed. What determines the specific high defers to Cannabinoids, Terpenes, and their contribution to the Entourage Effect.
Potency: Depends on dosage as well as the Entourage Effect.
Discovery: 1964 - Only after CBN and CBD, was this first 100% isolated and proven to exist.
Notes:
THCa, Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid is the primary cannabinoid in Cannabis, It is also the most sought-after.
THCa is the form of THC found on the plant. This form is inactive, meaning you cannot eat the raw plant and get high. It is only when exposed to heat (such as smoking) that THCa converts into Delta-9 THC.
It should be noted that there are wide misconceptions about THCa. THCa is NOT: Synthetic, derivative, a gmo-product, unnatural, etc. THCa is how all smokers have gotten high since the dawn of smoking cannabis to get high. Namely, the conversion of THCa to Delta-9 when smoked, that is.
This process is known as decarboxylation.
THCa itself, if ingested raw and not intended for psychoactive effects, has some benefits for the body. Most of these fall into the line of anti-inflammatory effects.
THCa is found alongside its sister chemical CBDa.
THCa is currently federally legal due to an oversight in which politicians made the active form illegal. The active form does not occur on plants in amounts excess of trace. Therefore, weed is technically accidentally federally legal.
THCa is consumed in many forms, be it smoked as Cannabis (see Types of the Cannabis Plant), or concentrates, such as Rosin or Disposables.