Forbidden herbs? The effects of cannabis were a controversial topic 250 years ago (Press Release) (original) (raw)
Cannabis Britannica: A History of the Present
ephemera, 2006
© ephemera 2006 ISSN 1473-2866 www. ephemeraweb. org volume 6 (2): 205-214 205 ephemera theory & politics in organization reviews Cannabis Britannica: A History of the Present Beatriz Acevedo J. Mills (2003) Cannabis Britannica: Empire, Trade and Prohibition, Oxford: ...
Medical Cannabis: Toward a New Policy and Health Model for an Ancient Medicine
Frontiers in Public Health, 2022
Cannabis has been grown and exploited by mankind for its therapeutic properties since ancient times (1). Although a growing number of countries have approved cannabis-based products for medical use, high-quality evidence for cannabis itself (understood in this article as the unprocessed flowering tops of the plant) in this context is lacking, and only a few jurisdictions to date have approved the medical use of cannabis, mostly as magistral preparations. The reason for this lies in the large variation in cannabis material as a plant. Real-world data on the medical use of cannabis could be of benefit to patients worldwide, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and researchers. In this article, we discuss these points and propose that the collection of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) could be a cornerstone of a medical cannabis policy.
NYAMENEBA'S 'HERBS OF LIFE': ABOLITION & THE LIMITS OF LEGALIZATION
NYAMENEBA'S 'HERBS OF LIFE': ABOLITION & THE LIMITS OF LEGALIZATION, 2025
This paper critiques the dominant legal discourse on cannabis in Ghana, focusing on the inadequacies of legalization as a framework and the deeper colonial origins of prohibition. Through an analysis of domestic jurisprudence -including the landmark Nyameneba case -and the Ghanaian state's adherence to international drug treaties, the paper reveals how the ganja community has often been misrecognized or ignored in legal reforms. Drawing on the abolitionist principle of cultural self-determination, the paper argues that the state must abandon prohibition entirely and recognize cannabis as an ordinary agricultural product, governed not by criminal law but by the norms of its indigenous users. Unlike the state, the marijuana culture has long been at odds with the rigid application of international drug control treaties. Yet, in the absence of a robust abolitionist discourse, both pro-cannabis advocates and courts in Ghana have historically deferred to prohibitionist logic. In Amartey v. State (1964), Munkaila v. The Republic (1996), Kamil v. The Republic (2010), and Ellis Tamakloe v. The Republic (2010), defendants typically acknowledged the herb's illegality, focusing their defense on factual disputes about possession or awareness, rather than questioning the legitimacy of prohibition itself.
A Homelie Herbe: Medicinal Cannabis in Early England
Cannabis is often regarded as a substance alien to British culture until the 1960s, at which supposed point of introduction it functioned as a marker of subversion. In fact cannabis was used as a medicinal herb by the Anglo-Saxons, and highly valued during the Tudor and Stuart periods. It remained in the British Materia medica through the 18th and 19th centuries, being well regarded by orthodox doctors. However, the type of cannabis grown in England was probably less rich in psychotropic cannabinoids than plants grown in the East.
HIGH POINTS: AN HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CANNABIS* BARNEY WARF
High Points, 2014
Cannabis, including hemp and its psychoactive counterpart, has a long but largely overlooked historical geography. Situating the topic within varied perspectives such as world-systems theory, Foucauldian biopolitics, and the moral economy of drugs, this paper charts its diffusion over several millennia, noting the contingent and uneven ways in which it was enveloped within varying social and political circumstances. Following a brief theorization, it explores the plant's early uses in East and South Asia, its shift to the Middle East, and resultant popularity in the Arab world and Africa. Next, it turns to its expansion under colonialism, including deliberate cultivation by Portuguese and British authorities in the New World as part of the construction of a pacified labor force. The fifth section offers an overview of cannabis's contested history in the United States, in which a series of early 20 th-century moral panics led to its demonization; later, the drug enjoyed gradual liberalization.
History of Cannabis and Its Preparations in Saga, Science, and Sobriquet
Chemistry & Biodiversity, 2007
Cannabis sativa L. is possibly one of the oldest plants cultivated by man, but has remained a source of controversy throughout its history. Whether pariah or panacea, this most versatile botanical has provided a mirror to medicine and has pointed the way in the last two decades toward a host of medical challenges from analgesia to weight loss through the discovery of its myriad biochemical attributes and the endocannabinoid system wherein many of its components operate. This study surveys the history of cannabis, its genetics and preparations. A review of cannabis usage in Ancient Egypt will serve as an archetype, while examining first mentions from various Old World cultures and their pertinence for contemporary scientific investigation. Cannabis historians of the past have provided promising clues to potential treatments for a wide array of currently puzzling medical syndromes including chronic pain, spasticity, cancer, seizure disorders, nausea, anorexia, and infectious disease that remain challenges for 21st century medicine. Information gleaned from the history of cannabis administration in its various forms may provide useful points of departure for research into novel delivery techniques and standardization of cannabis-based medicines that will allow their prescription for treatment of these intractable medical conditions. Contents 2. The Ticklish Matter of Taxonomy.-Cannabis is a unique dioecious annual plant, generally placed in the Cannabaceae family (occasionally rendered, Cannabidaceae) along with hops, Humulus spp. However, it has also been assigned at various times to the Moraceae or Urticaceae. Recently, it has been suggested that cannabis should properly belong in the Celtidaceae on the basis of chloroplast restriction site maps [24], and chloroplast mat K gene sequences [25]. While the generic nomenclature of cannabis is less controversial, the species classification is quite so. The name Cannabis sativa, or cultivated cannabis, was probably first employed by Fuchs in his herbal of 1542 accompanied by a splendid illustration of European hemp [26], thus pre-dating the monotypic assignation of Linneaus in his Species Plantarum [27] by some 211 years. Soon thereafter, Lamarck described Cannabis indica, a short, psychoactive upstart from the Indian subcontinent, as morphologically distinct [28], and a lasting consensus on the issue has never been regained. Two basic camps remain, favoring single or multiple species. The former group has been championed by Ernest Small [29] and others, with more recent support on morphological grounds [30], and from research into short tandem repeat DNA markers of cannabis that failed to clearly differentiate fiber and drug strains [31]. A polytypic treatment of cannabis was advanced by Schultes et al. [32] and Anderson [33] a generation ago based on morphological attributes. These botanists described three putative species, Cannabis sativa L. (tall, branched plants for fiber, seed or psychoactive use), Cannabis indica Lam. (short, broad-leafed plants from Afghanistan with equal complements of THC and CBD utilized to produce hashish), and Cannabis ruderalis Jan. (short, unbranched roadside plants usually weak in cannabinoids; Fig. 2, a-c, plant examples). The taxonomic debate over the number of cannabis species even led to judicial disputes, as court cases involving cannabis in the USA were occasionally challenged on the basis of imprecise legislative language prohibiting solely Cannabis sativa. The multi-species concept has recently gained credibility based on systematic chemotaxonomic work by Karl Hillig with Paul Mahlberg. They conducted a genetic analysis of 157 cannabis accessions of known geographic origin. A principal component analysis of allozyme frequencies at 17 gene loci revealed two major groupings [34]. A sativa gene pool included East European ruderal (roadside) accessions, as well as hemp fiber and seed landraces from Europe and Central Asia. The indica gene pool included Far Eastern fiber and seed landraces, narrow-leaflet drug strains from Southern Asia, Africa and South America, wide-leaflet drug strains from Afghanistan and Pakistan, and feral populations from Nepal and India. Ruderal accessions (Cannabis ruderalis) from Central Asia formed a putative third gene pool. A geographic map based on the results depicted an epicenter of origin for C. sativa in current Kazakhstan, and one for C. indica in the Western Himalayas. Hillig concluded that the number and frequency of allozyme mutations in both gene pools was indicative of an ancient split between sativa and indica that may pre-date human intervention. Not surprisingly, the greatest evidence for narrowing of the gene pool was observed in drug strains, particularly the narrow-leaflet indica strains. This may be partly due to a restriction in the number of pollinators in these strains since staminate plants are often culled during cultivation to maximize THC production (vide infra). This process has accelerated notably in the last 30 years with selective breeding pressure.
HIgh Points: The Historical Geography of Cannabis
Cannabis, including hemp and its psychoactive counterpart, has a long but largely overlooked historical geography. Situating the topic within varied perspectives such as world-systems theory, Foucauldian biopolitics, and the moral economy of drugs, this paper charts its diffusion over several millennia, noting the contingent and uneven ways in which it was enveloped within varying social and political circumstances. Following a brief theorization, it explores the plant's early uses in East and South Asia, its shift to the Middle East, and resultant popularity in the Arab world and Africa. Next, it turns to its expansion under colonialism, including deliberate cultivation by Portuguese and British authorities in the New World as part of the construction of a pacified labor force. The fifth section offers an overview of cannabis's contested history in the United States, in which a series of early 20 th -century moral panics led to its demonization; later, the drug enjoyed gradual liberalization.
History of cannabis as a medicine: a review
Revista Brasileira De Psiquiatria, 2006
Cannabis as a medicine was used before the Christian era in Asia, mainly in India. The introduction of cannabis in the Western medicine occurred in the midst of the 19th century, reaching the climax in the last decade of that century, with the availability and usage of cannabis extracts or tinctures. In the first decades of the 20th century, the Western medical use of cannabis significantly decreased largely due to difficulties to obtain consistent results from batches of plant material of different potencies. The identification of the chemical structure of cannabis components and the possibility of obtaining its pure constituents were related to a significant increase in scientific interest in such plant, since 1965. This interest was renewed in the 1990's with the description of cannabinoid receptors and the identification of an endogenous cannabinoid system in the brain. A new and more consistent cycle of the use of cannabis derivatives as medication begins, since treatment effectiveness and safety started to be scientifically proven.
HIGH POINTS: AN HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CANNABIS
Cannabis, including hemp and its psychoactive counterpart, has a long but largely overlooked historical geography. Situating the topic within varied perspectives such as world-systems theory, Foucauldian biopolitics, and the moral economy of drugs, this paper charts its diffusion over several millennia, noting the contingent and uneven ways in which it was enveloped within varying social and political circumstances. Following a brief theorization, it explores the plant's early uses in East and South Asia, its shift to the Middle East, and resultant popularity in the Arab world and Africa. Next, it turns to its expansion under colonialism, including deliberate cultivation by Portuguese and British authorities in the New World as part of the construction of a pacified labor force. The fifth section offers an overview of cannabis's contested history in the United States, in which a series of early 20 th-century moral panics led to its demonization; later, the drug enjoyed gradual liberalization.
Natures, Cultures and Bodies of Cannabis
Drawing from the Actor-Network-Theory of John Law and Bruno Latour, this chapter departs from ‘common-sense’ accounts of the ontological identity of drugs such as cannabis to explore the myriad relations in which cannabis is enacted. Alert to the ontological contingency of cannabis, the chapter exposes the heterogeneity of the drug, its divergent natures, cultures and materialities. I argue that cannabis should not be regarded as a stable, singular entity, given the diversity of relations, practices, semiotic registers and political squabbles in which the drug is produced as an object of knowledge and practice. The ‘object-materialities’ at work in the production of cannabis effectively distribute the drug across the three ontological registers commonly used to differentiate psychoactive substances: medicine, non-drug and drug. Cannabis is constituted as medicine in debates regarding ‘medical marijuana’, as a non-drug in cultures and practices indicative of the normalisation of cannabis, and finally as a drug in statutes prohibiting ‘cannabis’ use, and the biomedical research which legitimizes this prohibition. I close by assessing some of the policy and research implications of this divergence, offering an approach to cannabis more accommodating of its ontological proliferations.
2013
To find clearheaded scientific perspective on cannabis use through the prevailing thick smokescreen requires recognizing just what sort of smoke obscures our bet-ter understanding. In the United States, in large part, the smokescreen is made up of culture war-charged political rhetoric and obstructionism from those in posi-tions of authority setting up a prejudi-cial ideological framing for cannabis use. National leaders throughout the twentieth century have taken opportunities afforded by high office or its pursuit to pub-licly opine on the dangers of cannabis, such as when then-Presidential candidate
RASTAFARI SACRAMENTAL USE THE LIMITS OF LEGALIZATION
RASTAFARI SACRAMENTAL USE THE LIMITS OF LEGALIZATION, 2025
The concept of legalization-particularly with respect to Rastafari sacramental use-remains conceptually unstable and politically limiting. This paper interrogates the historical and legal trajectories of cannabis prohibition, especially within the framework of international treaties and regional legalization efforts in the Caribbean and South Africa. It explores the limitations of legalization for "sacramental use," and critiques the proliferation of faulty terminology that sustains the prohibitionist paradigm. Drawing on legal documents, activist commentary, and scholarly critiques, the paper argues that selective legalization has failed to dismantle the structures of prohibition and instead reinforces them under a new guise.
Cannabis discourses in contemporary Sweden: Continuity and change
The aim of this thesis is to study how cannabis is constructed in contemporary Sweden, which policy responses are promoted as rational, and how international cannabis trends are received in this context. The four papers are the result of analyzing empirical material from three different sub-studies: 1) a qualitative study of online discussions about cannabis and drug policy, 2) a qualitative and comparative study of print media articles from 2002 and 2012, and 3) a qualitative study of oral presentations from cannabis information symposia. All papers are based on a social constructionist approach. A point of departure is that attitudes and regulations on cannabis have changed in large parts of the Western world. In Sweden, however, strict prohibition of cannabis is still central in the national drug laws. Some of the main findings can thus be gathered in discussions on continuity and change. In Swedish online discussions, there seems to be a strong desire to change the national cannabis policy in line with international developments. This discussion propagates alternative views on cannabis, in which comparisons to alcohol become vital and more liberal cannabis policies become logical. These discussions are also characterized by continuity, as many arguments for liberal cannabis policies seem to be based on traditional social democratic values and prohibitionist " scaremongering " arguments. Continuity is also what seems to characterize traditional print media, where cannabis is generally portrayed as a potent and illegal drug producing social problems. However, this arena also shows signs of change, as the material from 2012 includes stories on cannabis as an economic asset as well as a recreational substance. Both traditional print media and cannabis information symposia focus on youth consumers, who are seen as particularly vulnerable to cannabis effects. Such constructions seem important for protecting prohibition from international influences and for a continuous discourse centered on the dangers of cannabis. It is concluded that cannabis appears to be able to represent almost anything. As such it can be " used " for any purpose to promote a whole set of ideas related to policy often based on what is considered as scientific evidence. Depending on the context, it thus seems possible that cannabis is medicinal, recreational, harmful, and addictive. If so, and if all of these constructions are in some way " real, " then it is suggested that cannabis necessitates a much more tailored and nuanced response than that which prohibition can offer.
Life, Liberty, (and the Pursuit of Happiness): Medical Marijuana Regulation in Historical Context
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2018
Colloquium. He is also grateful to Allen St.-Pierre of NORML and Steph Sherer of ASA for providing their insights and access to their archives. The author is a part-time Of Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP. This article does not reflect the views of the firm or its clients. FOOD AND DRUG LAW JOURNAL V OL. 74 marijuana once but "didn't inhale." During his first four years in office, President Clinton had been no defender of pot. He had signed the 1994 Crime Bill and overseen a consequent surge in marijuana arrests. 9 His Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had spurned requests to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to make it more readily available for research and medical use. Clinton's Department of Health and Human Services had refused to revive a compassionate-use Investigational New Drug program for marijuana cigarettes that the George H. W. Bush administration had discontinued in 1992. 10 Clinton's drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, had even flown to California to campaign against Proposition 215. He had warned that the measure was a "stalking horse for [full] legalization" and had condemned the use of "Cheech and Chong logic to guide our thinking about medicine." 11 At 8:00, Peron announced that the polls were officially closed and immediately, in his own words, "lit up a big fat joint." 12 He puffed away for the news cameras with a broad smile. The crowd followed his example, and soon smoke was pouring out of the CBC's open windows, along with drumbeats and triumphant whoops. This festive use of marijuana was unusual for the many celebrants who ordinarily smoked it to relieve the symptoms of serious diseases, such as AIDS and cancer. But the throng also included at least some people like Phil Harris, who told a journalist, "I get high because-gosh-life kind of sucks." 13 By 11:00 p.m., it was clear that Proposition 215 would pass. The revelry continued into the early hours of Wednesday morning. The final tally would show that 55.6 percent of California voters voted "yes." 14 The initiative's passage (along with that of a similar measure in Arizona the same day) triggered a wave of state medical marijuana legalization laws that, by 2019, would encompass 33 states and the District of Columbia. Following the election, newspapers around the country published AP photographs of Peron gleefully toking at the victory party. These images outraged Proposition 215's opponents. A letter to the editor published in the San Bernardino County Sun raged: "The joy on [Peron's] face . . . and the absence of any mention of disease . . . send a harmful message to youth about this dangerous drug. What was passed on the premise of aiding people who painfully suffer from a chronic disease . . . now appears to be a license allowing people to smoke marijuana for pleasure." 15 Then, on November 19, the New York Times quoted Peron opining: "I believe all marijuana use is medical-except for kids." 16 His logic: because stress relief is a 9