HISTORY OF CANNABIS
Cannabis dates back to as far as the third thousands years BC and even as far as archeological evidence. Hemp was one of the earliest plant to be cultivated, Japan had since been cultivating the plant even before the Neolithic plant, they used the plant for food and psychoactive material.
The Islamic community were the first to pose a restriction on the plant as far as 14th century, it took another five century for some colonial countries to begin to restrict the use of the plant.
In the beginning of the 21st century most nation changed the approach towards the usage of the plant, in 2001, Canada legalized the use of the plant for medical purpose, Uruguay then legalized recreational cannabis in 2015, Canada finally legalize recreational cannabis in the year 2018.
WHAT IS CANNABIS
The beauty of the plant would not allow it to be given a definition, because it would just be as a limitation to the plant. Regardless of this truth, it is still sensible to lay hold on some definition;
According to Dr Debra Rose Wilson, cannabis refers to a group of three plantwith psychoactive properties known as cannabis sativa cannabis indica and cannabis ruderalis. Cannabis comes from a plant and is considered natural, it has both positive and negative effect. Cannabis is diecious that is it has both male and female plant separately, it could also be hermaphroditic.
SPECIES OF CANNABIS
*Cannabis sativa
*Cannabis indica
*Cannabis ruderalis
Cannabis sativa:
is the highest grown cannabis plant, they grow tall and tin with narrow leaves with lightly green colour , it takes a longer time to grow unlike cannabis indica. They have lower CBD and higher THC contents.
Cannabis indica :
Indica are stout, broad leaf plant, it’s strain is used mainly for medical purpose because of its ratio of CBD to THC. It has lower THC content compared to Sativa.
Cannabis ruderalis:
This species, though widely debated as to whether or not is a sub-specie of cannabis it is greatly loved because of its unique trait and it’s physical appearance.
CANNABIS AND IT’S CANNABINOIDS
Cannabinoids are the chemical content of the cannabis plant that determines it’s highing power. There are several cannabinoids in every cannabis plant but THC and CBD are the most prevalent.
Source
THC (tetrahydrocannabinol): it is the main psychoactive substance found in cannabis plant. It can also be referred to ass dronabinol. THC is the active ingredient in the cannabis plant that mkes one “high” when consumed
SourceCBD: it is the second most dominant active ingredient in the plant, and it doesn’t intoxicate. Cannabis with the high content of it are usually used for medication.
Other cannabinoids include
- CBC(cannabichromene) and
- CBN(cannabinol) which forms out of THC when it undergoes oxidation.
FORMS OF PSYCHOACTIVE CANNABIS
- marijuana: it is the dried form of the plant and it is the least active form, it is smoked in rolled cigarette or in pipe.
- hashish (hash): it is usually in the form of small blocks, it is the cannabis resin and the THC content in it is higher than that of marijuana. It is smoke when added to tobacco
- hash oil: it is a thick oily liquid with golden brown to black color, it is extracted from cannabis. It is usually spread on the cigarette tip to be smoked. It’s THC content is the highest.
References
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