We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing rhrough. National Research Council. 2011. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love ....and the we return home. ~Abadi~ CANNABIS: CANNABIS SATIVA
Biology
Cannabis sativa (including industrial h**p and cannabis herb or ma*****na) is a dioecious (having male and female parts in separate plants) annual dicot with distinctly palmate leaves (Figure 3-1). It is frequently found alongside cultivated fields because of the high
soil nitrogen content and in disturbed soil. Depending on the cultivar and growing conditions, the number of leaflets per leaf can range from three to 13, and the leaflets are up to 10 cm long. The first pair of leaves (bottom, in opposite arrangement) and the last pair of leaves (top, in alternate arrangement) usually have only one leaflet each. The height of a mature plant can range from 1 to 5 m, depending on environmental and genetic factors. Male plants are more visibly flowered and are usually taller than female plants; the male flowers have five anthers to disperse pollen and five yellowish tepals. Hanging nearly 30 cm long, the inflorescence of male flowers are multibranched loose clusters (UNODC 2006). The pollen from male flowers is released, and the male plant dies soon after (UNODC 2006). Female plants have smaller leaves, and the flowers are more tightly
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packed than flowers on the male plants. Flowering is induced by lengthening dark periods to 11-13 hours to simulate the end of summer and the beginning of autumn (UNODC 2006). Throughout human history, cannabis has been used for textiles, paper, medicine, and food (Abel 1980). It was originally native to central Asia and historically was cultivated in China, the rest of Asia, and Europe. It has become more widespread, growing in temperate, tropical, and subarctic climates (Duke 1983). Most botanists consider cannabis as a single species, Cannabis sativa, but some (see McPartland and West 1999) consider C. sativa as one of three species in the Cannabaceae family that is used to produce ma*****na. Cultivars of C.sativa that grow more than 6 m in height produce a durable fiber called h**p. The production of h**p predates written history and is thought to have begun in China. Early Chinese texts indicate that h**p was cultivated to make cloth, the stalks were used as fuel, and the seeds were used for oil and food. In the present report, cannabis refers to the plant species, h**p refers to industrial h**p, and ma*****na refers to the psychotropic drug (recreational or medical). FIGURE 3-1 Cannabis sativa. Source: Richard A. Howard Image Collection, courtesy of Smithsonian Institution. Page 49
By the 16th century, h**p was being cultivated and widely used in Europe for the fiber and for the seeds, which were cooked with grains and eaten. During the 16th and 17th centuries, h**p production made its way to North America and South America. In the United States, h**p production provided weaving fiber for New England Puritans but could not displace the flax already in use. Cultivation spread to Kentucky and other states but did not take a strong hold, particularly as cotton production increased in the South. The Ma*****na Tax Act of 1937 required all h**p producers to register with the U.S. Department of the Treasury Department; h**p production since then has been negligible in the United States. Over 400 compounds are found in cannabis, 60 of which are peculiar to cannabis and are called cannabinoids (Turner et al. 1980; UNODC 2006). Cannabinoids exist in the form of carboxylic acids that readily decarboxylate when heated (De Zeeuw et al. 1972; Kimura and Okamoto 1970), in alkaline environments (Grlic and Andrec 1961; Masoud and Doorenboos 1973), and over time (Masoud and Doorenboos 1973; Turner et al. 1973). Ä-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main cannabinoid that produces the psychoactive effects of cannabis-based products (UNODC 2006). Cannabis produces a variety of secondary metabolic compounds, including flavonoids (Gellert et al. 1974; Paris et al. 1975), alkanes (Adams and Jones 1973; De Zeeuw et al. 1973; Mobarak et al. 1974a, 1974b), and nitrogenous compounds (Hanus 1975a, 1975b). Terpenes add to the characteristic odor of cannabis (Hood et al. 1973) and are abundant in the plant (Hanus 1975a; Hendricks et al. 1975) and in some of its preparations (such as hashish). Ecological factors and heredity are thought to contribute heavily to the production of these compounds (Fetterman et al. 1971; Small and Beckstead 1973).
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