With the recent historical prohibition regarding the marijuana plant, most readers will be minimally aware of the long history of cannabis. For example, are you aware that the use of cannabis for both medicinal and recreational purposes dates back to at least 5000 years ago as described in Chinese medicine? It is also described in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Middle Eastern cultures.
Despite this, modern medical knowledge has been slow to accumulate. It was only in the mid 1980’s that the receptor cells for cannabinoids (marijuana chemicals) were discovered in the brain and immune cells. At this time scientists are still working to understand the complex ways in which the various components of medical marijuana induce and / or inhibit a multitude of observable effects on the human body.
One source indicates that the earliest work in western medicine was performed by William O’Shaughnessy, who defined the effects of Indian hemp on healthy animals and in human cases of rheumatism, hydrophobia, cholera, tetanus, and infantile convulsions. Despite being used for thousands of years, work continues in the hopes of unraveling and fully understanding the mechanistic roles of cannabis on human physiology.
