Oddly, here is the rare case where decades of marketing have been actively directed at discouraging the use of a helpful common herb. An herb that has been utilized by various societies, over thousands of years, and that naturally contains medicinal, and other helpful psycho-active properties. And most curiously in this case, the marketing efforts were instead used to direct people’s attention to other synthetically produced, expensive drugs that try to approximate the same effects that this very herb elicits.

Not only were many generations of humans directed towards those expensive synthetic drugs – a great portion of the $5 BILLION annual budget of the War on Drugs (as declared by President Nixon) was directed towards the total eradication of multiple species of helpful, free medicinal plants (they were just especially hard on marijuana). Yet, Cannabis has been so helpful to the world that the word CANVAS is derived from the fabric produced by its woven hemp fibers – a crop that was grown by many early societies throughout Eurasia, and also by many early US presidents.

As to its other uses – In a book written over 2,300 years ago, Herodotus, a Greek historian, mentions one tribe (out of many hundreds) that is about to help the Greeks fight off a Persian invasion. In The Histories, Book 1, section 202 he relates:

“Now the Araxes (River) is said by some to be larger, and by others to be smaller than the Ister (Danube River). They say that there are many islands in it about equal in size to Lesbos, and in them people dwell who feed in the summer upon roots of all kinds which they dig up; and certain fruits from trees, which have been discovered by them for food, they store up, it is said, in the season when they are ripe, and feed upon them in winter. Moreover it is said that other trees have been discovered by them which yield fruit of such a kind that when they have assembled together in companies in the same place and lighted a fire, they sit round in a circle and throw some of it into the fire, and they smell the fruit which is thrown on as it burns, and are intoxicated by the scent as the Hellenes are with wine, and when more of the fruit is thrown on they become more intoxicated, until at last they rise up to dance and begin to sing. This is said to be their life-style.”

So,… what is the true history of Cannabis? And what are its medicinal qualities?

The most reasonable explanation I have found for its background is at a website called:

http://www.livescience.com/48337-marijuana-history-how-cannabis-travelled-world.html

The essentials being that Cannabis was first ‘cultivated’ in Asia nearly 12,000 years ago and spread very slowly throughout the rest of the world – Not making it to the Americans until hundreds of years after Columbus arrived. Hemp and Indica strains dominated at first, but Sativa strains later appeared in Southeast Asia – and then much, much later in South America. Here is a map from the livescience site:

So… does Cannabis really have medicinal qualities?

Some of the latest research, shown recently on CNN in a special series (called Weed) narrated by Neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta is brilliantly produced. YouTube videos of 1-3 are below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJafxCqrfSo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2qFDb8LExo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arPQIa4Y4Pw

They show, amongst other things, that Cannabis produces chemicals called CBD’s that have the ability to help protect the nervous system from epileptic seizures. It shows the research being done in Israel to help Holocaust victims sleep without the nightmares of the past. The series shows the abilities of the psychoactive side of the herb to help veterans live with better control of their PTSD issues.  But as the livescience site relates, it was used medicinally even earlier:

Both hemp and psychoactive marijuana were used widely in ancient China. The first record of the drug’s medicinal use dates to 4000 B.C. where the herb was used as an anesthetic during surgery.

And, new topical pain creams and lotions, containing a 1:1 THC to CBD ratio, seem to be quite helpful in providing temporary relief from chronic pain in joints and tendons.

But…

Marijuana is not for the young, they are still learning reality. It is best not to confuse them with states of altered-consciousness until their brains have matured. I am not sure as to what age that maturity might occur, but quite a bit of research has settled near the age of 25ish.

And whereas some people might report that it taps their creative spirit, or enhances their tactile or mental perception for a few hours, no one claims that it is a performance-enhancing drug.

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Also, to fully disclose my interest in the subject – I have recently left fifteen years of retirement to take a job in the “budding” new Cannabis industry in Colorado. I am employed as a Budtender, and the conversations I have daily with the Multitudes that have been smoking (in the “closet”) for years, is both amazing and enlightening. I wish you all could be so lucky!