Hemp, a relative of medical cannabis known for its strong fibers, has been woven by humans to make fabrics and other materials for over 8,000 years (Garrety, 1987). Hemp seeds and oils were first used in China for food 6,000 years ago, and the first recorded medical use of cannabis was noted approximately 4,900 years ago by Chinese Emperor Fu. He reported that “Ma”, the Chinese word for cannabis, was a popular herbal therapy. Historical evidence of medical cannabis indicates that its primary use was for disorders of the eye, inflammation, pain, and neurologic and psychiatric disorders (Abel, 1980). Medical use of cannabis was later documented in other regions of the world such as Egypt, India, and the Middle East. The Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides (AD 40-90) reported using cannabis as a treatment for "sexual longing" and earaches (Booth, 2005). In the following millennia the use of medical cannabis continued to expand worldwide. By the 1840s, physicians in the United States considered cannabis a standard therapy for several conditions including headaches and insomnia. “Extractum Cannabis” was ultimately added to the official United States pharmacopeia in 1850 as a potential treatment for “neuralgia, tetanus, typhus, cholera, rabies, dysentery, alcoholism, opiate addiction, anthrax, leprosy, incontinence, gout, convulsive disorders, tonsillitis, insanity, excessive menstrual bleeding, and uterine bleeding” (Convention, 1850).
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Hemp, a relative of medical cannabis known for its strong fibers, has been woven by humans to make fabrics and other materials for over 8,000 years
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Prohibition |
MEDICAL USES : ANTIQUity to modern day |
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Food and Drug Act, which aimed to "[prevent] the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines…” Cannabis indica (one of the two main cannabis plant varieties) was covered by this act, along with alcohol, opium, and morphine.
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The endocannabinoid system has been shown to be active in the hippocampus in the brain and seems to play a role in human memory, and further studies are being done on the potential short-term and long-term effects of cannabis use on memory. One of the concerns being discussed is that some studies show that long term use of cannabis may affect memory and intellect (Smith, 2015). Other studies have not supported this assumption, and further investigations are ongoing (Jackson, Isen, et al, 2016).
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