A Brief History of Medical Cannabis

When most people think of the origins of medical cannabis, or even just think about cannabis in general the most common place for the mind to travel is the Sixties, Woodstock, a time for the hippies. However, the cannabis plant has actually been intertwined in almost every aspect of human history. Used by humankind not just for medical purposes, but for clothing, rope, building materials and even fuel. Enormous books have been written on how the plant can be found in our history providing a plethora of information far too vast to tackle at once. For now; a brief history of medical cannabis.

As medicine the plant has been used by many cultures for well over 3,500 years. It has been speculated to have been used for therapeutic purposes long even before that. China, India, much of the Middle East, parts of Africa, and even Europe before the Roman Catholic era all hosted medical cannabis for thousands of years. The facts are that humankind has understood the powerful potential cannabis has for medicine for periods of time longer then almost every other aspect of current medical technology. Knowledge that is now being supported by more and more contemporary science.

It is now known that cannabis can be used to treat a wide variety of illnesses. Cannabis is most widely known for the treatment of glaucoma, but that is only the tip of the ice berg. The scientific community now knows that the plant can be used to treat nausea, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, arthritis, and interestingly enough: asthma. It can even be used as an analgesic to some degree, treating but not limited to headaches and back pain. Scientific research supports the plants use as a sleep aid, appetite aid, and stress reliever. There is even a rapidly growing body of evidence to support cannabis use in treatment of many mental disorders, such as Bipolar disorder, ADHD, OCD, and many other anxiety or depression related disorders.

Interestingly enough tinctures and tonics derived from cannabis were among the most used medicines of the United States, rather all of the Americas until the turn of the 20th century. So with all the staggering positive evidence to the medical uses of cannabis, and its long ties to human culture as medicine, why is it not more common place in our present day medical culture? Medical cannabis in the 20th century was merely the victim of a larger plot against the plant and all of its uses. As stated before cannabis has been used for a variety of goods other then medicine. A large part of its uses were for paper and textiles. As the industrial revolution bore on in North America the discovery of petro-chemicals opened up new ways to make paper, textiles, and medicines. Competition in capitalism may often be good for the consumer, but it tends to drive down corporate profits. So naturally it comes as no surprise that the people in control of these new technologies would want to put an end to cannabis. In the 1930's for the profit of the emerging petro-chemical industries, and sold to the nation with bigotry and fear, cannabis became illegal before the century made its halfway mark.

From the time that cannabis was made illegal to present day a campaign against the plant has been waged in the minds of the country. Whether by completely false advertising to the psychotropic effects of the plant or the blatant intimidation felt by users due to the “Drug War,” an entire generation is fairly lost to the enormous medical potential of cannabis. Luckily this is all changing. In 1988 a DEA judge ruled that cannabis has medical value. (Duh, but at least this shows the courts are getting the idea.) Presently there are thirteen states that allow the medical use of cannabis. Fifteen more will be voting on some type of medical cannabis legalization in the near future.

More research is done every day proving more and more ways in which cannabis can help heal. Right now spreading positive awareness of the very real ways cannabis has helped improve peoples health is the best medicine that we can give back to the planet!