Cannabis

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Sceletium tortuosum (Kanna)

Marihuana drinnen

Cannabis Cultivation

Mexican Sativa (Sensi)

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What is Cannabis?

Cannabis, a fast-growing bushy annual with dense sticky flowers, produces the psychoactive THC. The cannabis plant can be dried or otherwise processed to yield products containing large concentrations of compounds that have medicinal and psychoactive effects when ingested, usually by smoking or eating. It is the most widely used illegal psychoactive and has a long history of medicinal, recreational, and industrial use. Due to negative media attention regarding its psychoactive effects, as well as heavy lobbying from pharmaceutical companies, the possession, use, or sale of psychoactive cannabis products became illegal in most parts of the world during the early twentieth century, and remains that way today. The fibrous stalks of the plant are used to produce hemp clothing and rope.

History

Cannabis was well known to the Scythians, as well as by the Thracians/Dacians, whose shamans (the kapnobatai - "those who walk on smoke/clouds") used to burn cannabis flowers in order to induce trances. The cult of Dionysus, which is believed to have been originated in Thrace, has also been linked to the effects of cannabis smoke. The most famous users of cannabis though were the ancient Hindus. According to legend, Shiva, the destructive aspect of the Hindu trinity, told his disciples to use the hemp plant in all ways possible. Cannabis is also thought by some to be the ancient drug soma, mentioned in the Vedas as a sacred intoxicating hallucinogen, although a number of advocates for different psychoactive substances such as Amanita muscaria and Salvia divinorum make this claim as well.

Although cannabis has been used for its psychoactive effects since ancient times, it first became well known in the United States during the jazz music scene of the late 1920s and 30s. Louis Armstrong became one of its most prominent and life-long devotees. Cannabis use was also a prominent part of 1960s counterculture.

The word `marijuana' is a Mexican slang term which became popular in the late 1930's in America, during a series of media and government programs which we now refer to as the `Reefer Madness Movement.' It refers specifically to the medicine part of cannabis, which Mexican soldiers used to smoke.

Cannabis was made illegal in the U.S. in 1937 and has continued to be a popular recreational substance since that time. But today, an increasing number of countries and states provides some legal protection for patients who use marijuana with the consent or recommendation of a doctor.

Botanical

The genus Cannabis was formerly placed with nettles in the family Urticaceae or with mulberries in the family Moraceae, but is now considered along with hops (Humulus sp.) to belong to the family Cannabaceae. Whether the different strains of Cannabis constitute a single species (Cannabis sativa L.) or multiple species has been a contentious issue for well over two centuries.

Ernest Small conducted a taxonomic investigation of Cannabis and concluded that there is only a single species with two subspecies, sativa and indica, each divisible into a cultivated and a wild variety. According to this concept, C. sativa subsp. sativa was selected for traits that enhance fiber or seed production and has low levels of the psychoactive delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), whereas C. sativa subsp. indica was primarily selected for drug production and has relatively high levels of THC.

Cannabis plants do grow wild in many parts of the world, but the quality of wild specimens ('ditch-weed') is generally quite low. Most cannabis is cultivated intentionally and can be grown either indoors or out.

Chemistry

Of the approximately 400 different chemicals found in Cannabis, the main active ingredient is tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, THC). THC can degrade to CBL & CBN (other cannabinoids), which can make one feel sleepy and disoriented. Different marijuana products have different ratios of these and other cannabinoids. Depending on the ratio, the quality of the "high" will vary.

Effects

The primary effects sought by those using cannabis recreationally are euphoria, relaxation, and changes in perception. Effects vary depending on dosage, with effects at low doses including a sense of well-being, mild enhancement of senses (smell, taste, hearing), subtle changes in thought and expression, talkativeness, giggling, increased appreciation of music, increased appetite, and mild closed-eye visuals. At higher doses, visuals may become more prominent, sense of time is altered, attention span and memory are frequently affected, and thought processes and mental perception may be significantly altered.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the Cannabis sativa species tends to produce more of the cognitive or perceptual effects, while Cannabis indica tends to produce more of the physical effects.

Medical use

Marijuana (actually cannabis extract) was available as a medicine legally in this country until 1937, and was sold as a nerve tonic -- but mankind has been using cannabis medicines much longer than that. Marijuana appears in almost every known book of medicine written by ancient scholars and wise men. It is usually ranked among the top medicines, called `panaceas', a word which means `cure-all'. The list of diseases which cannabis can be used for includes: multiple sclerosis, cancer treatment, AIDS (and AIDS treatment), glaucoma, depression, epilepsy, migraine headaches, asthma, pruritis, sclerodoma, severe pain, and dystonia. This list does not even consider the other medicines which can be made out of marijuana -- these are just some of the illnesses for which people smoke or eat whole marijuana today.
There are over 60 chemicals in marijuana which may have medical uses. It is relatively easy to extract these into food or beverage, or into some sort of lotion, using butter, fat, oil, or alcohol. One chemical, cannabinol, may be useful to help people who cannot sleep. Another is taken from premature buds and is called cannabidiolic acid. It is a powerful disinfectant. Marijuana dissolved in rubbing alcohol helps people with the skin disease herpes control their sores, and a salve like this was one of the earliest medical uses for cannabis. The leaves were once used in bandages and a relaxing non-psychoactive herbal tea can be made from small cannabis stems.

The most well known use of marijuana today is to control nausea and vomiting. One of the most important things when treating cancer with chemotherapy or when treating AIDS with AZT or Foscavir, being able to eat well, makes the difference between life or death. Patients have found marijuana to be extremely effective in fighting nausea; in fact so many patients use it for this purpose even though it is illegal that they have formed `buyers clubs' to help them find a steady supply.

Marijuana is also useful for fighting two other very serious and wide-spread disabilities. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness, caused by uncontrollable eye pressure. Marijuana can control the eye pressure and keep glaucoma from causing blindness. Multiple Sclerosis is a disease where the body's immune system attacks nerve cells. Spasms and many other problems result from this. Marijuana not only helps stop these spasms, but it may also keep multiple sclerosis from getting worse.

Varieties

Hashish or 'hash' is made from various amounts of Cannabis flower and leaf fragments. The resin reservoirs of the trichomes (erroneously known as "pollen") are separated from the plant via various sieving methods, cold-water separations, or chemical extraction. The resulting concentrate is compressed into blocks of hashish which are easily stored and transported, without degrading the THC content due to oxidation. Pieces are then broken off, warmed up and smoked in bongs, pipes, joints, mixed with tobacco or used to prepare foods such as brownies, butter and cake.

Usage

The process most popularly used to ingest cannabis is smoking. The effects of cannabis begin almost immediately. When eaten the effects can take 1 to 2 hours to manifest, based primarily on how much food is in the stomach.
Cannabis dosage is fairly easy to manage. A good method for determining your dose is to smoke a small amount (1-2 "hits"), wait 5-15 minutes, repeat as desired. A single intake of smoke from a pipe, water pipe, or joint is generally called a hit. An average size hit from a pipe or water pipe weighs somewhere on the order of 1/20th of a gram. With reasonably high potency cannabis buds, a small number of hits is generally enough.

Cannabis is also eaten, it is most often used in cake or brownies, especially when it is in the form of hashish. The recommended method of eating marijuana is to saute it in butter or margarine over medium heat, then to strain the remaining solids out and use the butter to cook with. See Erowid for some receipes.

Warnings

Avoid Driving - While there has been little formal study into the effects of cannabis on driving, it is generally a good idea to avoid driving while under the influence of any psychoactive or intoxicating substance.

Because cannabis increases heart rate, it could potentially increase risks of heart problems in those at risk of heart disease.

Several studies have indicated that cannabis use (like many other strong psychoactives) can precipitate neuroses or psychoses in those who are already at risk. Studies have also shown that cannabis use does not appear to increase the risk of psychosis in otherwise healthy individuals.

Contraindications

Negative effects can include paranoia, dry mouth, respiratory problems and nervousness/racing heart. Other effects may be negative or inconvenient in certain settings or situations including reduced ability to concentrate, impaired memory, tiredness, and confusion. Side effects tend to increase with lifetime use: as users age, they often report the anxiety-producing and uncomfortable effects increase and the euphoria decreases.

Regular use of cannabis can lead to psychological habituation for some people making it difficult for them to quit. According to Erowid, studies have estimated that between 5 and 10% of those who try smoking cannabis will become daily users sometime during their life, but most of these smokers will have given up the habit by age 30 and few remain daily smokers after age 40. Most people do not experience signs of physical addiction, but with regular daily use use, mild to medium withdrawal symptoms usually occur for less than a week, but can extend for as long as 6 weeks.

The most common negative health impact of regular cannabis smoking are lung and throat problems including: coughing, increased frequency of throat and lung infections, and reduced lung capacity. There are concerns about possible long term carcinogenic (cancer causing) effects of cannabis smoking, but the results are still somewhat controversial. It can be safely said, however, that health risks increase with frequency and duration of smoking anything.

Combinations

Cannabis combines remarkably well with a wide variety of natural and synthetic psychedelics. It tends to decrease nausea caused by Ayahuasca, Amanita Muscaria and cacti. It's also known to intensify and lengthen mushroom trips.

Growing

See for some excellent books on the subject of growing your own cannabis.

Storage

THC breaks down over time and some tests have shown that in a year stored in a plastic bag, about half of the active Delta-9 THC degrades into other compounds. Most users report that aged cannabis becomes noticeably worse. The better it is stored, the longer it lasts. Plastic bags are very permeable to air and are not ideal storage containers. Well sealed glass jars or lab grade plastic jars with tight lids (not tupperware) stored either in the freezer or somewhere cool will preserve the quality of the cannabis better than storing it in thin plastic. Perhaps the concept of the glass jar you describe was originally to be a better storage container than what most people use: plastic sandwich baggies. Outside of the normal oxidation and degradation of buds, there is also the mold problem. Cannabis will mold like other plant materials and some portion of cannabis stored for a long period of time will mold. The drier and better sealed the plant material, the less likely it is to grow mold. Many stashes are lost to a fungus or mold which makes the cannabis unpleasant to smoke, may have toxic byproducts from the mold, and can cause severe allergic reactions in some people. The general consensus is not to smoke moldy bud. If it smells moldy or has obvious signs of growth: throw it away.