You Think You Know Cannabis? a Brief History
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You think you know Cannabis? A brief history Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. Cannabaceae is a small family of flowering plants. As now circumscribed, the family includes about 170 species grouped in about 11 genera, including Cannabis (hemp, marijuana), Humulus (hops) and Celtis (hackberries). Celtis is by far the largest genus, containing about 100 species. Cannabaceae is of the rose order (Rosales). Members of the family are erect or climbing plants with petal less flowers and dry, one-seeded fruits. Hemp (Cannabis) and hop (Humulus) are the only economically important species. Other than a shared evolutionary origin, members of the family have few common characteristics; some are trees (e.g. Celtis), others are herbaceous plants (e.g. Cannabis). Cannabis is predominantly dioecious, having imperfect flowers, with staminate "male" and pistillate "female" flowers usually occurring on separate plants. The fruits are produced by the female flowers only. At a very early period the Chinese recognized the Cannabis plant as dioecious, the (c. 3rd century BCE) Erya dictionary defined xi 枲 "male Cannabis" and fu 莩 (or ju 苴) "female Cannabis". Etymology The plant name Cannabis is derived originally from a Scythian or Thracian word, which loaned into Persian as kanab, then into Greek as κάνναβις (kánnabis) and subsequently into Latin as cannabis. The Germanic word that gives rise to English Hemp (Old English hænep, Common Germanic *hanapi-z) may be an early Germanic loan from the same source. Because Cannabis is not known to have been present in the Americas before Spanish contact, an indigenous native word is unlikely to be a source of the pseudonym Marijuana. Suggestions trace the possible origins of the word to Chinese ma ren hua (麻仁花, lit. 'Hemp seed flower'), possibly itself originating as a loan from an earlier Semitic root *mrj "hemp". Carbon dating has revealed that these plants may have been used for ritual/medicinal purposes in Xinjiang, China as early as 494 BCE. The Semitic root is also found in the Spanish word mejorana and in English marjoram ('oregano'), which could be related to the word marihuana. The original Mexican Spanish used forms with the letter ⟨h⟩. (Marihuana) This is also known in Mexico as "Chinese oregano". The use of the word "marihuana" in American English increased dramatically in the 1930s, when it was preferred as an exotic-sounding alternative name during debates on the drug's use. It has been suggested that in the United States the word was promoted by opponents of the drug, who wanted to stigmatize it with a "foreign-sounding name". According to American author and socialite Lizzie Post, the word "marijuana" is deprecated. "In the early 1900s, the term marijuana was purposely used to negatively associate it with the Latino community." energizeCBD Limited, Ramsbury House, Charnham Lane, Hungerford, Berkshire RG17 0EY energizeCBD.co.uk The word was codified into law and became part of common American English with the passing of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. For legal, research and statistical reference, "marijuana" generally refers to the dried leaves and flowering tops (herbal cannabis), with by-products such as hashish or hash oil being uniquely defined and regulated. Many legal references prefer the term "cannabis", for example in the Single Convention on Narcotic drugs. However, many laws and regulations often use the term "marihuana" or "marijuana", for example the Controlled Substances Act in the United States. In the US, hemp is classified by the federal government as cannabis containing no more than 0.3% THC by dry weight. This classification was established in the 2018 Farm Bill and was refined to include hemp sourced extracts, cannabinoids, and derivatives in the definition of hemp. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. C. ruderalis may be included within C. sativa; all three may be treated as subspecies of a single species, Cannabis sativa; or C. sativa may be accepted as a single undivided species. The genus is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from Central Asia, with some researchers also including upper South Asia in its origin. Cannabis ruderalis or C. sativa subsp. sativa var. Spontanea is native to Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. Cannabis strains are either pure or hybrid varieties of the plant genus Cannabis, encompassing the species C. sativa, C. indica, and C. ruderalis. There are several key differences between Cannabis indica and Cannabis sativa. These include height and stature, internodal length, leaf size and structure, flowers size, colour and density, flowering time, odour and effects. Indica plants tend to grow shorter and bushier than the sativa plants. Indica strains tend to have wide, short leaves with short wide blades, whereas sativa strains have long leaves with thin long blades. The female flowers of indica strains tend to be wide, dense and bulky, while sativa strains are likely to be long, sausage shaped flowers. On average, Cannabis indica has higher levels of THC compared to CBD, whereas Cannabis sativa has lower levels of THC to CBd. However, huge variability exists within either species. Selective breeding of cannabis plants has expanded and diversified as commercial and therapeutic markets develop. Some growers in the US succeeded in lowering the proportion of CBd to THC through selective crossbreeding programs, creating many hybrid varietals. energizeCBD Limited, Ramsbury House, Charnham Lane, Hungerford, Berkshire RG17 0EY energizeCBD.co.uk Varieties are developed to intensify specific characteristics of the plant, or to differentiate the strain for the purposes of marketing or to make it more effective in a particular way. Variety names are typically chosen by their growers, and often reflect properties of the plant such as colour, smell, or the origin of the variety. Cannabis strains commonly refer to those varieties with recreational and medicinal use. These varieties have been cultivated to contain a high percentage of cannabinoids. Several varieties of cannabis, commercially titled as hemp, have very low cannabinoid content, and are instead grown for their fibre and seed. A cannabinoid is one of a class of diverse chemical compounds that acts on cannabinoid receptors, which are part of the endocannabinoid system found in cells that alter neurotransmitter release in the brain. Ligands for these receptor proteins include the endocannabinoids produced naturally in the body by animals; phytocannabinoids, found in cannabis; and synthetic cannabinoids, manufactured artificially. There are at least 113 different cannabinoids isolated from cannabis, exhibiting varied effects. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a major constituent of the plant and accounts for up to 40% of the plant's total extract. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the phytocannabinoid which is the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis. With chemical name (−)-Trans-Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol, the term THC also refers to cannabinoid isomers. Like most pharmacologically-active secondary metabolites of plants, THC is a lipid found in cannabis, thought to be involved in the plant's self-defence, putatively against insect predation, ultraviolet light, and environmental stress. Cannabinol (CBN) is the other mildly psychoactive cannabinoid found only in trace amounts in Cannabis. Source [Wikipedia 2020] energizeCBD Limited, Ramsbury House, Charnham Lane, Hungerford, Berkshire RG17 0EY energizeCBD.co.uk .