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As one of the oldest and most useful plants on Earth, hemp
fibers have been used to make paper, rope, twine, and cloth, hemp seeds
are high in protein and can be eaten as a grain or manufactured into a tofu-like
nondairy cheese substitute, or pressed to make oil for paints and varnishes, its
can be eaten or smoked as a medicine as a mild sedative to ease pain or stress.
Cannabis
sativa also known as: hemp, marijuana, pot, ganja, hashish, and
numerous other names is an annual herb in the hemp family (Cannabaceae) which
can grow anywhere from 2-10 feet tall. It's hairy leaves are divided into
7 serrated leaflets which are often sticky with resin. Hashish is form by the
condensing of this resin. The plants are either male or female each flowing
forth it's perspective parts generally between the months of June through
September
Hemp was originally native to the Caucasus region of far eastern Europe, northern India, and Persia (Iran) but it is now cultivated in warm-to-temperate regions all over the world. Archaeologists have found 10,000-year-old pot shards imprinted with hemp fibers. The Chinese documented its medicinal values over 4,000 years ago; they used the seeds to treat pain, fever, ulcers, nausea, and many other ills. The Arabs started using the plant at least by the mid-1200s, and they in turn introduced it into Africa in the 1500s and 1600s. Europe discovered hemp incrementally, starting with Marco Polo's return from his journey to the East in 1297; later, Crusaders brought back stories and seeds from the Middle East. It was introduced to South America in 1545 by the Spaniards, and the British started growing hemp in Jamaica and the New England colonies in the early 1800s.
Tetrahydrocannabinols (THCs), which are found in hemp have documented medicinal value. Its leaves and sap have been universally used as a painkiller and sedative, and its roots were used by ancient herbalists to make salves for burns and other wounds. In 1965, scientists isolated THC and later discovered that the compound can lower pressure in the eyes of glaucoma patients and has thus far been an excellent drug for glaucoma treatment. They also discovered THC dilates bronchial tubes and can therefore benefit asthma sufferers. Later, they discovered that THC has antispasmodic properties that could possibly benefit people with epilepsy. And finally, THC has proven to give relief to patients undergoing chemotherapy by helping to alleviate the nausea they often suffer, and many AIDS and cancer patients have found it stimulates their appetite.
Though hemp is far less toxic than many of the other plants used in medical treatment, it continues to remain illegal to possess.
Female and Male Cannabis Plants Click Image for Larger View
