Cannabis

Cannabis, or hemp, is an annual herbaceous plant that was originally native to Central Asia. Today it is found in all temperate to tropical zones worldwide, sometimes cultivated, but also wild. Cultivated hemp was first used as a useful plant in China around 2800 B.C. The oldest hemp product still in existence is a small textile fragment from a tomb from the so-called Chou Dynasty (from 1122 to around 249 B.C.). A common classification of the cannabis plant can be made depending on the plant morphology:

• Indica-type cannabis varieties with lower growth height and broader leaves
• and
• Sativa-type cannabis strains, which grow taller and have narrower leaves.

Indica plants mature faster than sativa types under similar growing conditions. They also tend to have a slightly different smell, which is an indication of a different terpene composition, as the smell of cannabis plants is based on their essential oil composition.

The leaves of the hemp plant have a characteristic morphology. They are large, toothed, lanceolate and covered with glands and hairs on both sides. The plant's glands secrete a resin that consists mainly of cannabinoids and essential oils , as well as high-polymer phenols, terpenes and waxes.

The flowers of the hemp plant are small and inconspicuous, have the form of umbels or panicles and are located at the base of the upper leaves. Male flowers consist of 5 hanging stamens and just as many greenish bracts. Female flowers have a reduced perianth. Dried petals are consumed as hashish , extracts from the resin of the flowers as marijuana. The flowering, dried shoot tips of the female plants are used medicinally (cannabis flowers - Cannabis flos, see also Cannabis sativae indicae summitates et resina); the spicy and pungent odor is produced during drying. Cannabis flowers for medicinal purposes mainly come from high-performance varieties that are grown in greenhouses.

The fruit of the hemp plant is called a"nut". It contains a seed that is used to produce oil(hemp seed oil). Hemp seed oil can be used as an edible oil. The oil is also used in cosmetics(Cannabis sativa seed oil (INCI)).

The cannabis plant contains numerous ingredients, including some of great medical relevance. At present, around 60 different cannabinoids have been analyzed. Well over a hundred are suspected. The most widely represented and best researched are:

• Cannabidiol(CBD -non-psychoactive)
• Cannabinol (CBN-non-psychoactive)
• Cannabigerol (CCG-non-psychoactive)
• Cannabidivarin (CBDV-non-psychoactive)
• Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC - psychotropically active).

The long fibers (up to 55 cm) of the stalks of cultivated hemp are also used to make ropes, ropes, nets, twine and yarns.

Hemp has been used in China for thousands of years as a remedy against malaria and rheumatic diseases. From the Middle Ages until modern times, hemp was used to make medicinal products, especially against pain. In Europe, hemp and flax were important fibre plants for a long time, with applications in paper production (the Gutenberg Bible was printed on hemp paper), in handicrafts and in seafaring (hemp ropes, hemp fabrics, ship sails, etc.). Hemp seed was also used as animal feed.

Hemp seed oil: cold- or hot-pressed non-psychotropic fatty oil from the seeds of cannabis. Used as an edible oil and as a well-tolerated skin care oil. Hemp seeds contain only insignificant amounts of psychotropically active tetrahydrocannabinol.

Nabiximols: alcoholic cannabis extract as a sublingual spray is approved in Germany on the basis of the BTM for the treatment of severe spasticity in multiple sclerosis.

Hemp oil: hemp seed oil is to be distinguished from the essential oil of hemp (hemp oil), which is distilled from the leaves and flowers of hemp and has a psychotropic effect.
Marihuana ( grass): dried and crushed resinous flower clusters and small leaves of the female plant close to the flower.

Hashish: resin of the flower petals

Hashish oil: psychotropic effect; is distilled from the resin of the flower petals

Cannabis tea: For this preparation, cannabis flowers are placed in boiling water and kept boiling for 15 minutes. The proportion of the psychotropically active delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is only approx. 5%.

Indications for use (DAC): Nausea and vomiting accompanying chemotherapy, anorexia, cachexia in HIV patients, chronic pain, spastic paralysis, movement disorders, asthma and glaucoma; generalized epilepsy, depression and withdrawal symptoms.

Cannabis allergy.

Hemp fibers and dusts cannot be broken down by humans due to the glycosidic bond. Intense inhalation of these dusts can lead to accumulation in the lungs and the clinical picture of byssinosis.

Prolonged consumption of cannabis products can lead to Raynaud's syndrome. The maximum variant is a so-called cannabis arteritis with possible necrosis of the distal extremities.

The pharmacological effects of cannabis are caused by its ingredients, the cannabinoids (mainly delta -9-tetrahydrocannabinol=THC; cannabidiol=CBD).

Marijuana: In Germany, cannabis is the most commonly consumed illegal drug. Note: Cannabis abuse should be considered in young people with vasculitic ulcers of the distal extremity!

Cannabis flowers are subject to the Narcotics Act!

1. Bakirci N et al. (2007) Natural history and risk factors of early respiratory responses to exposure to cotton dust in newly exposed workers. J Occup Environ. Med 49:853-861
2. Ebo DG et al. (2013) New food allergies in a European non-Mediterranean region: is Cannabis sativa to blame? Int Arch Allergy Immunol 161:220-228 Epub 2013 Mar 15. PubMed PMID: 23549061.
3. https://arzneipflanzenlexikon.info/hemp.php

4. Blaschek W (2015) Wichtl-Teedrogens and phytopharmaceuticals. A handbook for practice. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft Munich. S 140-143