Nabilone
Nabilone is not a terpene — it is a synthetic THC analog prescription drug, and this article corrects that misclassification.
Heads up: nabilone is not a terpene. It is a synthetic cannabinoid — a lab-made analog of THC — sold as a prescription antiemetic under the brand name Cesamet. It has no aroma, no boiling-point-as-fragrance, and is not produced by the cannabis plant. We are publishing this entry to correct the miscategorization and point you to the right pharmacology. If you came here looking for a terpene, you probably want myrcene, limonene, or pinene instead.
Why this article exists
Nabilone was submitted to our queue tagged as a terpene. It is not one. Terpenes are volatile hydrocarbons (and their oxygenated derivatives) biosynthesized by plants and some insects, built from isoprene units. Nabilone is a synthetic small-molecule pharmaceutical patented by Eli Lilly in the 1970s and approved by the US FDA in 1985 for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting [1][2]. It does not occur in cannabis or any other plant. We're writing this entry so the record is straight and so readers searching the term land on accurate information.
What nabilone actually is
Nabilone (C24H36O3) is a synthetic analog of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Structurally it belongs to the dibenzo[b,d]pyran family, the same scaffold as THC, with a modified side chain and a ketone at the C9 position [1][3]. Like THC, it is a partial agonist at the CB1 cannabinoid receptor, which is how it produces both its therapeutic and its psychoactive effects [3][4]. It is taken orally as a 1 mg capsule. Onset is roughly 60–90 minutes and the elimination half-life of the parent compound is about 2 hours, though active metabolites persist much longer [2].
Approved and studied uses
Nabilone is approved in the US, Canada, UK, and several other jurisdictions for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) refractory to conventional antiemetics [2]. A Cochrane review found cannabinoids including nabilone were more effective than placebo and comparable to older antiemetics like prochlorperazine for CINV, though side effects led many patients to prefer the comparator [5]. Strong evidence
Off-label and investigational uses with weaker evidence include:
- Chronic pain, particularly neuropathic and fibromyalgia pain — small RCTs show modest benefit Weak / limited [6].
- PTSD-related nightmares — a small placebo-controlled trial in Canadian military personnel showed reduction in nightmare frequency Weak / limited [7].
- Spasticity in multiple sclerosis — mixed results, generally inferior to nabiximols Weak / limited.
It is not approved for appetite stimulation; that indication belongs to its cousin dronabinol (synthetic THC, brand name Marinol).
Side effects and risks
Because nabilone is a CB1 agonist, it produces THC-like effects: drowsiness, dizziness, dry mouth, euphoria or dysphoria, ataxia, and orthostatic hypotension [2][4]. At supratherapeutic doses or in cannabis-naive patients it can cause anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations, and tachycardia. It is a Schedule II controlled substance in the US (Cesamet specifically), reflecting recognized abuse potential [1]. It should not be combined with alcohol, sedatives, or other CNS depressants without medical supervision.
How it differs from THC and from real terpenes
Compared with plant-derived THC, nabilone is more potent on a milligram basis, has more predictable oral bioavailability, and contains no other cannabinoids or terpenes [3]. It is a single defined molecule made in a factory, not a botanical extract.
Compared with actual cannabis terpenes — myrcene, limonene, β-caryophyllene, pinene, linalool — nabilone shares essentially nothing: terpenes are plant-made volatile aroma compounds, generally not psychoactive at dietary exposures, and are not scheduled drugs. If you want the terpene most often discussed alongside the cannabinoid system, look at β-caryophyllene, which is a dietary sesquiterpene and a CB2 receptor agonist [8] — that is a real plant compound with cannabinoid-receptor activity, unlike nabilone which is a pharmaceutical.
What we are *not* covering
We deliberately left the terpene-specific fields (aroma descriptors, boiling point as fragrance volatility, plant sources, dominant strains) blank or marked as not applicable. Filling them in would be fabrication. Nabilone has no aroma profile in the perfumery sense, is not found in any strain of cannabis, and cannot be "dominant" in a chemovar. If a vendor or website tells you otherwise, that is a red flag about the rest of their information.
Sources
- Government US Food and Drug Administration. Cesamet (nabilone) Capsules: Prescribing Information. Approved 1985, revised label.
- Peer-reviewed Ware MA, Daeninck P, Maida V. A review of nabilone in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management. 2008;4(1):99-107.
- Peer-reviewed Pertwee RG. The diverse CB1 and CB2 receptor pharmacology of three plant cannabinoids: Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin. British Journal of Pharmacology. 2008;153(2):199-215.
- Peer-reviewed Lemberger L, Rubin A, Wolen R, et al. Pharmacokinetics, metabolism and drug-abuse potential of nabilone. Cancer Treatment Reviews. 1982;9(Suppl B):17-23.
- Peer-reviewed Smith LA, Azariah F, Lavender VTC, Stoner NS, Bettiol S. Cannabinoids for nausea and vomiting in adults with cancer receiving chemotherapy. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2015;(11):CD009464.
- Peer-reviewed Skrabek RQ, Galimova L, Ethans K, Perry D. Nabilone for the treatment of pain in fibromyalgia. Journal of Pain. 2008;9(2):164-173.
- Peer-reviewed Jetly R, Heber A, Fraser G, Boisvert D. The efficacy of nabilone, a synthetic cannabinoid, in the treatment of PTSD-associated nightmares: A preliminary randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over design study. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2015;51:585-588.
- Peer-reviewed Gertsch J, Leonti M, Raduner S, et al. Beta-caryophyllene is a dietary cannabinoid. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2008;105(26):9099-9104.
How this page was made
Generation history
Drafting assistance and fact-check automation are used, with a human operator spot-checking on a weekly basis. See how articles are made.