Marijuana is a panacea, but mostly prohibited
Marijuana, Cannabis sativa (syn. Cannabis indica), is also known by many other names including cannabis, dope, ganja, hemp, pot, skunk (a particularly smelly and oil-rich variety), weed and so on. It’s likely that I could fill this post just with different names which have been used for the plant, as it unfortunately has suffered greatly from prohibition in many parts of the world, leading to hundreds if not thousands of different code words being invented to avoid attention from the authorities. It is not related to hemp agrimony.
Marijuana is a large hardy annual which is native to Asia and Europe. It reaches a height of at least 3 feet tall, up to 15 feet in Nepal, and has male and female plants, both of which are required if seeds are to be produced. There are several varieties, some of which are low in resin and grown mainly for the fibers which the males produce, and others which have been bred for females high in resin for recreational use. As it is the resinous extract which contains the medicinally active constituents, this is the type preferred for use in remedies. An interesting historical note: George Washington wrote about cultivating the females separately – was he collecting the resin? And if so, why?
Marijuana grows wild naturally in most parts of the world, including the UK, although most wild plants have been eliminated in the parts of the West where it is prohibited – though there’s an underground guerrilla movement which actively encourages or even propagates wild plants as well. Occasionally, otherwise law-abiding citizens have been caught out by a wild plant seeding itself (perhaps with the help of some joker) in their garden, unrecognized until the local police call round with an arrest warrant.
In case you are in that group of people who cannot recognize marijuana by sight and smell, check the picture shown here, which shows a young plant, before the flowers which enable distinction between the male and female forms have appeared. Rub the leaves and sniff the distinctive aroma, which should be easy to recall, even if you’ve only smelt it at outdoor music events. If you discover that you are unwittingly growing a plant which may not be cultivated in your country, or not without a licence which you don’t have, then the best thing to do is to uproot it and put it on the compost heap. Until it flowers, the resin which contains most of the medicinal value of the plant is in very short supply, so it’s not worth keeping unless you can allow it to reach this stage.
Although it’s been grown indoors by many users over the years, marijuana is definitely an outdoor plant, although new strains developed by hybridization in the Netherlands are frequently grown hydroponically, an expensive and difficult process. If you live in an area where marijuana is outlawed, my advice is not to grow it. Should you wish to use it medicinally, it’s almost ridiculously easy to obtain supplies despite all the efforts of the authorities, and a lot less risky. Most states come down far more heavily on growers than on people caught with “a bit of personal,” especially if it is for medicinal use.
Marijuana is sold in several different forms. You will probably not be offered cannabis oil; the most likely types you will find on sale are the dried flowering tops (called “green”, “grass” or “bush”) or resin (“hash” or “solids”). Because the plant is mostly sold illegally, it is also sometimes offered in opiated form (Thai sticks, temple balls), which is not what you want for medicine, and is in any case much more expensive because of its relative rarity. You might also be offered something called Spice, which is a synthetic drug which has similar effects recreationally to cannabis, but is not suitable for medicinal purposes. Go for bush if you can get it, or resin otherwise. According to http://www.safeaccessnow.net the average dose is 8g medical marijuana (“cured, mature female flowers of high-potency strains of cannabis”) per day. This works out to 2 ounces a week, which seems a bit high to me.
It’s difficult to give instructions on how to make a standard infusion, as due to its underground status it is very variable in strength. However, it seems that the majority of grass offered nowadays (if the UK Government is correct) is skunk or “superskunk”, an extremely potent variety. It’s easy to recognize, as it has an almost overpowering aroma even when wrapped in several layers of material. If this is what you have, you need only use a teaspoonful to a US cup (240ml, 8 fl oz) boiling water, allowing it to stand for a minimum of 15 minutes, before straining for use. If the potency of the herb doesn’t leap out and grab you by the nostrils, increase the quantity used. Sweeten with honey if you don’t like the taste. The dose would be 1-3 cups a day, less on work days.
Hash is more difficult to use, and is probably best ground up and added to food in small, measured quantities. Be very sparing with this until you are familiar with the correct quantities (again, different batches are likely to be of different strengths; in general the stronger types are stickier). The effects will take some time to occur, but will last for quite a while.
Marijuana has so many uses it reads like a whole cupboard full of remedies. The most important of these, however are as a treatment for anorexia nervosa, a treatment helpful to multiple sclerosis patients both to relax spasms in muscles and to relieve a constant unproductive urge to urinate, and as an appetite stimulant for AIDS patients. It’s also used to treat glaucoma, as a tonic which combats nausea in chemotherapy patients and helps them to remain positive and eat properly, and is extremely effective as a treatment for alcoholics who wish to give up the drink. It’s also antibacterial, expels parasites from the gut, reduces fevers, treats cancer, acts as a painkiller and has well known sedative and sleep-inducing effects. Before it was banned in 1951 (in the US) it was often used in tincture form as a cough medicine.
As growing it is illegal in most parts of the world, I’m not going to give any details here, although I’m sure it’s pretty easy to find information about this elsewhere on the net. If you are going to grow it, organic is the best way, closely followed by hydroponics, either of which should avoid contamination of the active constituents. To find out more about growing marijuana, visit the Gardenzone.
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