Concerning Kif, a Cannabis Sativa L. Preparation Smoked in the Rif Mountains of Northern Morocco
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Journal of Ethnopharmacology 81 (2002) 403Á/406 www.elsevier.com/locate/jethpharm Short communication Concerning kif, a Cannabis sativa L. preparation smoked in the Rif mountains of northern Morocco Abderrahmane Merzouki a,b,*, Joaquı´n Molero Mesa b a Laboratoire d’Ethnobotanique, Faculte´ des Sciences, Universite´ AbdelmaleK Essaˆadi, Te´touan, Morocco b Bota´nica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain Received 10 December 2001; received in revised form 8 April 2002; accepted 15 April 2002 Abstract The aim of the present paper is to present information about a kif preparation smoked by the Moroccan population. Results are considered as an advance of our actual investigations undertaken in the Rif zone to observe an improvement in night vision after smoking kif [Ethan et al., 2002. International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) meeting, in preparation]. # 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. Keywords: Moroccan ethnobotany; Kif; Cannabis; Rif mountains 1. Introduction initial decree, followed by a second one on 24 April 1954 that prohibited its production and the consumption A Moroccan proverb says that the kif is like fire: ‘It (Merzouki, 2001). scalds little and burns a lot’. The most probable hypothesis concerning cannabis in At the present time, the area of cultivation of Morocco would be its introduction by the Arab Cannabis sativa L. in the Rif Mountains of Northern conquerors, who spread the Islamic faith, at the end of Morocco approximates 100 000 ha, although in the the 7th century. We believe that its cultivation was 1970s this area was concentrated in 100 km2 in the practiced during the golden epoch of the Islamic KetamaÁ/ChaouenÁ/Targuist triangle (Mikuriya, 1967). civilization in Andalucia between 11th and 15th cen- There is no precise date as to the introduction of turies, which was followed by its dissemination in North cannabis in Morocco. The historian Al-Bakri (11th Africa with the settlement of Arab and Jewish popula- century) did not indicate its presence in the Maghreb. tions who escaped from Andalucia during the re- Neither Al-Maqrizi, nor Ibn Al-Baytar (13th century) conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Catholic kings. mention its existence in Morocco, but they extensively described it in Egypt. It is certain that its consumption was quite diffuse among the Moroccan population in 2. Methodology the 1800s for, by the end of the 19th century, the Sultan Moulay Al-Hassan issued very strict laws to combat the Research concerning cannabis crops in the Rif region trade in the drug. During the period of the protectorate (northern Morocco) has been undertaken since 1991. Many aspects were studied: taxonomy, biology and (1926Á/1956), its sale was officially legalized under the monopoly of the tobacco grower, ‘Re´gie des tabacs’ that ethnobotany of Rifian cannabis (Merzouki et al., prepared the kif, in its companies in Tangier and 1994a,b; Merzouki and Molero Mesa, 1995; Merzouki Kenitra, and commercialized it. This situation lasted et al., 1996a,b,c; Merzouki and Molero Mesa, 1997, 1999; Merzouki et al., 2000a; Merzouki, 2001). until 1953, the date that sale of kif was prohibited by an Selected regions in the Rif (Bouhmed, Zoumi, Chef- chaouen, Bab Taza, Bab Berred, Jebha and Ketama) * Corresponding author. Fax: /34-95-824-3912 were investigated. Local populations were interviewed E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Merzouki). about kif preparation and consumption. Ethnobotanical 0378-8741/02/$ - see front matter # 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. PII: S 0 3 7 8 - 8 7 4 1 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 1 1 9 - 8 404 A. Merzouki, J.M. Mesa / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 81 (2002) 403Á/406 methodology applied in the Rif has been reported in local varieties of tobacco are found in Morocco in the previous studies (Merzouki et al., 1997, 1999, 2000b). areas of cultivation: Ghawara, Wad Nuˆn, Chtuˆka, Three hundred informants classified by age classes Ghzawa, Ktamiya. The Moroccan historian, Al-Oufrani were interviewed. (Bellakhdar, 1997), indicates that tobacco cultivation was introduced in Morocco in the 16th century, shortly after the conquest of the Sudan by the Sultan Saaˆdi Al- Mansour in 1591. Leaves of N. rustica are powdered to 3. Results and discussion prepare tobacco snuff, Tanfiha, or cut for chewing tobacco, Achamma, whose use continues to the present Kif was and continued to be the traditional manner of time in Algeria and eastern Morocco, as does its mixture smoking psychotropic cannabis, until the 1970s. Kif is with cannabis in kif preparation. prepared from the female flowering tops, which are The second phase of the preparation of kif consists of harvested at seed maturity, dried, and conserved in the preparation of tobacco. The petiolate leaves of N. plastic bags (Fig. 1). rustica are dried in the shade and kept in plastic bags to Preparation of the kif is an exacting labor, always undertaken by men of advanced age and experience. It maintain their humidity (Fig. 3), before being crushed in consists of carefully cleaning the branches of the plant, a manner similar to the cannabis. Previously, each separating the leaves and bracts from the shafts. The tobacco leaf was rubbed by hand, ‘to give it heat’, it is material is finely cut with a knife and sifted, recovering said. The proportion of tobacco added for kif prepara- vegetable material of approximately 1 mm diameter. tion is one third (2/3 crushed cannabis and 1/3 tobacco). From time to time during the cutting activity, the knife The kif is gathered into leather bags, and its quality is is cleaned, removing the resin that adheres to it. confirmed by groups of three or four persons. This ritual According to the experienced men, this resin is con- is carried out at dusk while drinking Moorish tea sidered toxic. Once this cutting phase of cannabis (infusion of green tea with mint). The experienced material is completed, the preparation of tobacco that maintain that the tea is necessary to alleviate the throat is added to the cannabis proceeds. Cannabis leaves are dryness caused by kif smoking. Smoking is undertaken never smoked alone. It is said that without tobacco, kif with characteristic pipes called sebsi, made from a thin is Messouss, or insipid (it lacks salt). They maintain that wooden cane of traditional manufacture, of 20Á/40 cm cannabis consumed without tobacco causes cerebral length, and small terracotta bowl, called chkaf. The damage, leading to dementia and madness. wood used to manufacture the sebsi derives from The ‘salt’ of the kif preparation is the Tabba beldi, Jasminum fruticans L., Nerium oleander L. or Viburnum wild tobacco from Nicotiana rustica (Fig. 2), originating tinus L. in Andean South America. It is grown in a very The consumption of kif (Fig. 3) follows a rigid ritual. restricted area (dozens of square meters) because its The first smoker fills the pipe and lights it, taking an cultivation is as persecuted as that of cannabis. Different inhalation, and with a rapid hand movement, passes the Fig. 1. Hemp cultivation in Rif mountains and dried plant tops. A. Merzouki, J.M. Mesa / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 81 (2002) 403Á/406 405 Fig. 2. Tobacco cultivation in the Rif mountains. Fig. 3. Smoking the kif preparation. sebsi to his neighbor to smoke it completely (between medicinal potentialities of the hemp has made reference three and four inhalations), and remove the ash. Having to the added effects produced by the chemical compo- carried out this procedure, the empty pipe is returned to nents of N. rustica. the first person, who repeats the operation with the second smoker. This confirmation ritual is practiced daily by kif smokers. In the small groups of consumers, Acknowledgements each one takes out a bag of kif and their sebsi, the concept being to prove to all the quality of the kif and We are grateful to Dr Ethan Russo for English the sebsi of each individual. corrections and to all Rifian informants. Among the population of the Rif, the most appre- ciated form of cannabis consumption is that of kif. The other beneficial uses cited by Rif informants as medicine References refer solely to kif preparations, and never to hashish (cannabis resin) (Merzouki and Molero Mesa, 1999; Bellakhdar, J., 1997. La pharmacope´e traditionnelle Marocaine, Le Merzouki et al., 1999). To date no scientific work on the Fennec & Ibis press (Eds.), France, p. 764. 406 A. Merzouki, J.M. Mesa / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 81 (2002) 403Á/406 Ethan, B.R., Merzouki, A., Molero Mesa, J., Frey, K., 2002. Does Merzouki, A., Casares Porcel, M., Molero Mesa, J. 1996a. Etudes cannabis improve night vision? An objective assessment of visual morphologique des ake´nes de quelques ‘espe`ces’ du genre threshold and dark adaptometry in Kif smokers in the Rif region of Cannabis: approche taxonomique. Archives of Geobiology 2 (1), northern Morocco, International Cannabinoid Research Society 65Á/72. (ICRS) meeting, July 2002. Merzouki, A., Casares Porcel, M., Molero Mesa, J. 1996b. Etude Merzouki, A., 2001. El cultivo del ca´n˜amo (Cannabis sativa L.) en el morphologique des ake`nes de ‘4 varie´te´s climatiques’ du Cannabis Rif, Norte de Marruecos: Taxonomı´a, Biologı´a y Etnobota´nica. du Rif (Nord du Maroc). Ars Pharmaceutica 37 (2), 239Á/251. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Granada. Merzouki, A., Temsamani M’rabet, R., Molero Mesa, J. 1996c. Merzouki, A., Molero Mesa, J. 1995. Chemical phenotypes in Diffe´renciation du sexe chez le Cannabis dioı¨que a` partir des Moroccan hemp (Cannabis sativa L.). Reviews Mar. Pharmacy caracte´ristiques morphocine´tiques pre´coces. Archives of Geobiol- 11 (1), 25Á/32. ogy 2 (2), 165Á/169. Merzouki, A., Molero Mesa, J. 1997. Fatty acid composition of Merzouki, A., Edderfoufi, F., El Aallali, A., Molero Mesa, J.