The story
From being used as an alternative to delta-9-THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid principally found in cannabis and widely prohibited.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
alternative cannabinoid
Today it means: Any psychoactive cannabinoid that is synthetically or semisynthetically derived from delta-9-THC and is not naturally present in cannabis except in negligible amounts. Full definition →