Marijuana & CBD

Explore Marijuana & CBD

WHAT IS CANNABIS?

Cannabis refers to a group of three plants with psychoactive properties, known as Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. When the flowers of these plants are harvested and dried, you’re left with one of the most common drugs in the world.

The most common names for the drug are marijuana, pot and weed. However, it has adopted a variety of names around the world including: Anashca, Banji, Bhang, Blunt, Bud, Cannabis, Cannabis sativa, Charas, Dope, Esrar, Gaga, Ganga, Grass, Haschisch, Hash, Hashish, Herbe, Huo Ma Ren, Joint, Kif, Marie-Jeanne, Mariguana, Marihuana, Marijuana Médicale, Mary Jane, Medical Marijuana, Pot, Sawi, Sinsemilla and Weed.

Components of Cannabis - Cannabis is made up of more than 120 components, known as cannabinoids. The main psychoactive (mind-altering) chemical in marijuana, responsible for the intoxicating effects that people seek, is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The chemical is found in resin produced by the leaves and buds primarily of the female cannabis plant. The plant contains more than 500 other chemicals, including more than 100 compounds that are chemically related to THC, called cannabinoids. Experts aren’t sure what each cannabinoid does, but they have a good understanding of two of them: tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Each has its own effects and uses:

THC - This is the main psychoactive compound in cannabis. THC is responsible for the “high” that most people associate with cannabis.

CBD - This is a psychoactive cannabinoid, yet it’s non-intoxicating and non-euphoric, meaning it won’t get you “high.” It’s often used to help reduce inflammation and pain. It is increasingly being used for nausea, migraines, seizures, and anxiety.

You can find cannabis products that contain just CBD, just THC, or a combination of both. The dried flower that most people associate with cannabis contains both cannabinoids, though certain strains may have much more of one than the other. There are three main forms of psychoactive cannabis harvested from the plants: marijuana, hashish and hash oil.

Marijuana - the dried leaves and flowers of the plant, are the most common and least potent form of cannabis. Marijuana consists of the dried flowers, fruits, leaves and stems of the female Cannabis plant. This is the most widely consumed form,containing 3% to 20% THC,with reports of up to 33% THC. Stronger forms of marijuana include sinsemilla (from specially tended female plants).

Hashish is dried cannabis resin, usually in the form of a small block. The concentration of THC in hashish is higher than in marijuana and produces stronger effects on the user. Hashish (also spelled hasheesh, hashisha, or simply hash) is a concentrated resin cake or ball produced from pressed kief, the detached trichomes and fine material that falls off cannabis fruits, flowers and leaves or from scraping the resin from the surface of the plants and rolling it into balls. It varies in color from black to golden brown depending upon the purity and variety of plant it was obtained from. It can be consumed orally or smoked, and is also vaporized, or 'vaped'.

Hash oil is a thick, oily liquid typically golden brown or black in colour, which is also extracted from the plant and is the strongest form of cannabis. Other resins can be formed into a waxy butter, or hard amberlike shatter which are increasingly popular among recreational and medical users.

Cannabis has various mental and physical effects, which include euphoria (the "high" or "stoned" feeling), altered states of mind and sense of time, increased awareness of sensation, increased libido, difficulty concentrating, impaired short-term memory and body movement, relaxation and an increased appetite. Onset of effects is felt within minutes when smoked, and about 30 to 60 minutes when cooked and eaten. The effects last for two to six hours, depending on the amount used. At high doses, mental effects can include anxiety, delusions, hallucinations and paranoia.

WHERE DOES CANNABIS COME FROM?

Ancient history - Cannabis is indigenous to Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent with its uses for fabric and rope dating back to the Neolithic age in China and Japan. While cannabis plants have been grown since at least the 3rd millennium BC, evidence suggests that it was being smoked for psychoactive effects in ritual ceremonies at least 2,500 years ago in the Pamir Mountains, in what is today western China close to Tajikistan and Afghanistan. This custom eventually spread throughout western Eurasia during the Indo-European migrations. Some research suggests that the ancient Indo-Iranian drug soma, mentioned in the Vedas, sometimes contained cannabis.

Cannabis was also known to the ancient Assyrians, who discovered its psychoactive properties through the Iranians. Using it in religious ceremonies, they called it qunubu (meaning "way to produce smoke"), a likely origin of the modern word "cannabis". Cannabis has held sacred status in several religions and has served as an entheogen – a chemical substance used in religious, shamanic, or spiritual contexts – in the Indian subcontinent since the Vedic period dating back to approximately 1500 BCE, but perhaps as far back as 2000 BCE. There are also several references in Greek mythology to a powerful drug that eliminated anguish and sorrow.

It was also used by Muslims in various Sufi orders as early as the Mamluk period and smoking pipes with traces of cannabis were uncovered in Ethiopia and carbon-dated to around AD 1320

Modern history - Following his travel throughout North Africa and the Middle East between 1836-1840, French physician Jacques-Joseph Moreau wrote on the psychological effects of cannabis use. In 1842, Irish physician William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, who had studied the drug while working as a medical officer in Bengal with the East India Company, brought a quantity of cannabis with him on his return to Britain, provoking renewed interest in cannabis to the West.

As a result of the psychoactive effects, cannabis was criminalized in various countries beginning around the same time in the 19th century. The colonial government of Mauritius banned cannabis in 1840 over concerns on its effect on Indian indentured workers and the same prohibition occurred in Singapore in 1870. In the United States, the first restrictions on sale of cannabis occurred in 1906 and Canada criminalized cannabis in The Opium and Narcotic Drug Act of 1923.

In 1925, a compromise was made at an international conference in The Hague that had previously banned exportation of "Indian hemp" to countries that had prohibited its use. The compromise required importing countries to issue certificates approving the importation and stating that the shipment was required "exclusively for medical or scientific purposes". It also required parties to exercise effective control to prevent the illicit international traffic in Indian hemp and especially in the resin. In the United States in 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act was passed, and prohibited the production of hemp in addition to the use of cannabis.

In 1972, the Dutch government divided drugs into varying categories of danger, with cannabis being in the lesser category. Accordingly, possession of 30 grams or less was made a misdemeanor and cannabis became available for recreational use in coffee shops in 1976. Uruguay legalized recreational cannabis in December 2013, making it the first country in the modern era to legalize cannabis.

In 2018 recreational use of cannabis was legalized in Canada and other countries appear poised to legalize or decriminalize the use of cannabis for both medical and recreational use. As of 2020, there are 15 states and the District of Columbia in the United States that have approved recreational use, while almost all States allow for some form of medical usage. CBD is also legal in all 50 States, although cannabis remains illegal at the Federal Level.

A United Nations report stated that cannabis was the world's most widely produced, trafficked, and consumed drug in the world with an estimated 250 million users globally by the end of 2020.

HOW DO YOU USE CANNABIS?

Cannabis is mostly used recreationally or as a medicinal drug, although it may also be used for spiritual purposes. It is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world, though it is now legal in some jurisdictions in the United States and nationwide throughout Canada.

Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporizing, cooking with food, or as an extract. Some people smoke marijuana in hand-rolled cigarettes (joints); in pipes, water pipes (bongs), or in blunts (rolled in cigar wraps). Marijuana can also be used to brew tea and it is frequently mixed into foods (edibles) including brownies, cookies, and candies. Hashish is typically added to tobacco and smoked or baked and eaten in foods such as hash cookies. Hash oil is spread on the tip of a joint or spread onto the rolling paper of a joint and then smoked.

Vaporizers are increasingly used to consume marijuana. Vaporisers heat cannabis to temperatures that release its active ingredients while minimising the toxins associated with burning the plant material. Many users believe that vaporizing is a safer way to consume cannabis.

THC in cannabis is absorbed into the bloodstream through the walls of the lungs (if smoked), or through the walls of the stomach and intestines (if eaten). The bloodstream carries the THC to the brain, producing the “high” effects. Drugs inhaled get into the bloodstream quicker than those eaten meaning that the effects of cannabis when smoked occur more rapidly than when eaten.

WHY SHOULD I USE CANNABIS?

Cannabis has long been identified as an entheogen: a plant that can expand one’s consciousness and assist in spiritual growth. Hindu sadhus, Zoroastrians, and Rastafarians honor cannabis as a sacred tool and as an aid to meditation. In Ayurveda, one of the world’s oldest holistic healing systems, cannabis is understood as a divine healing plant connected with Lord Shiva.

All over the globe, cannabis is being combined with practices such as yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. These cannabis-based spiritual practices and communities honor the plant for providing a gateway to the divine through connection with the self, others, and the Earth. Setting a clear intention before smoking or consuming is vital. Ingesting cannabis is also often accompanied by a ceremony or ritual, enwreathing the plant with the divine.

The short-term effects of cannabis will vary based on your method of consumption. If you smoke cannabis, you’ll feel the effects within minutes, but if you orally ingest cannabis in a capsule or food, it may be several hours before you feel anything.

Medical Effects - While cannabis is usually consumed for its relaxing and calming effects, cannabis has been used for medical purposes for many centuries and has been reported to be useful to help conditions such as: