Learn about Medical Cannibis

[Grassman]

HALF BAKED SCIENCE: A PRIMER ON MEDICINAL CANNABIS
By Ryan N. Philippe

Cannabis (marijuana) is among the most widely used of all psychoactive drugs. Despite the fact that its possession and use is illegal in most countries, cannabis is used regularly by as many as 25 million people in North America and Europe and by millions more in other parts of the world. There has been renewed interest in the potential medical uses of cannabis (Cannabis sativa) in recent years, with voters in several areas of Canada strongly supporting such a move. Opinion polls suggest similarly strong popular support for the reintroduction of medical cannabis in the USA, the UK, and many European countries. Expert reviews of medical and scientific evidence on this topic carried out on both sides of the Atlantic in the past few years have encouraged further clinical and scientific research [1-3]. This paper seeks to give a brief review of the scientific facts, ranging from the botany of the cannabis plant and the biochemistry of the receptors it binds, to the potential uses of the plant for medicinal purposes.

I will update this page....Hope you guys say to yourselves "I didn't know that"

[Grassman]

of medical and scientific evidence on this topic carried out on both sides of the Atlantic in the past few years have encouraged further clinical and scientific research [1-3]. This paper seeks to give a brief review of the scientific facts, ranging from the botany of the cannabis plant and the biochemistry of the receptors it binds, to the potential uses of the plant for medicinal purposes.

The Plant
Cannabis is one of the very oldest of economic plants, providing fiber, edible seed, and drug resin. The plant likely originated in Central Asia or near the Altai or the Tian Shan mountains. It was first cultivated in China, followed shortly by cultivation in India [4]. Human selection for various uses and natural selection pressures imposed by diverse climates has resulted in a wide variety of growth forms and chemical compositions. Innovative classical breeding techniques have been used to improve drug cannabis, resulting in many cannabinoid-rich cultivars suitable for medical use. The production of cannabinoids is unique to Cannabis, and cultivars with specific chemical profiles are being developed for diverse potential pharmaceutical uses. Cannabis is an annual plant, propagated from seed or vegetative cuttings, and it grows vigorously in open sunny environments as part of its natural life cycle. In light, well-drained soil with ample nutrients and water, the plant will reach up to 5 metres in height in a four- to six-month growth season. Feral Cannabis populations are frequently found in association with human habitation. Agricultural lands, roadsides, exposed riverbanks, meadows, and disturbed lands are ideal habitats for wild and feral Cannabis, as they provide adequate sunlight [4].

Seeds usually germinate in three to seven days. During the first two to three months of growth, juvenile plants respond to increasing day length with more vigorous vegetative growth and new leaf development. Later in the season (after the summer solstice), shorter days (actually, longer nights, if you consider how the photoperiodic effect is monitored) induce flowering and complete the life cycle. Cannabis begins to flower when exposed to short day lengths of 12 to 14 hours or less (long nights of 10 to 12 hours or more) depending on its latitude of origin. However, a single evening of interrupted darkness can disrupt flowering and delay maturation. If an individual plant is not crowded by its neighbours, as in the case of crops intended for seed or drug production, flower-bearing limbs will grow from small buds located at the base of the leaf petioles originating from nodes along the main stalk [4].

Cannabis is normally a dioecious plant, with male and female flowers developing on separate plants. The sexes of Cannabis are anatomically indistinguishable until they begin flowering. However, Mandolino and Ranalli report success using RAPD analysis to identify male-specific DNA markers, to separate out the two sexes before fertilization can occur [5]. The development of male and female plants varies greatly. The male flowers hang in loose clusters along a relatively leafless upright branch. In contrast, the female plant has very crowded clusters of individual flowers at the base of each leaf along a branch. Male Cannabis flowers require air currents to carry pollen grains to the female flowers, which results in fertilization and subsequent formation. The male plants finish shedding pollen and die before the seeds in the female plants ripen 4-8 weeks after being fertilized. The singleseed in each female flower ripens in 3-8 weeks and will either be harvested by humans, eaten by birds or rodents, or it will drop to the ground. A large female plant can produce over one kilogram of seed. This completes the natural four to six month life cycle. If birds or rodents do not consume the seeds, they may germinate the following spring. Cannabis seeds are a balanced source of essential fatty acids, and easily digestible protein. They are usable as human food or animal feed. These essential fatty acids have also been shown to have many important physiological roles and hemp seed oil is a valuable nutraceutical [6].

Much of the Cannabis presently used for medical purposes is grown indoors under artificial lights. Metal halide and sodium vapour light systems are most often set up in attics, bedrooms, or basements. Most modern indoor growers produce vegetatively propagated crops, meaning they are grown from cuttings rather than form seeds. Only female drug Cannabis plants are economically valuable and garden space is often limited. In addition, the legal systems of many nations penalize growers of large quantities of cannabis with harsher penalties. Therefore, under artificial growing conditions, crops are reproduced vegetatively by planting root cuttings of only female plants, or by transplanting and inducing flowering almost immediately. Cuttings taken from one plant are genetically identical copies of a single plant and they should all respond in the same way to environmental inputs. Given that environmental influences are constant, the clones will yield a uniform crop of nearly identical seedless females. Under ideal conditions, yields of dried floral clusters can reach 1,200 grams per square meter per year if three to five crops are grown per year [4].

The psychoactive component of cannabis, D9-THC (D9-tetrahydrocannabinol), is produced in resin glands that adorn the surface of Cannabis leaves. When resin gland development commences, the medically important cannabinoids and the associated aromatic terpenoids begin to appear. Solitary resin glands most often form at the tips of slender stalks which form as extensions of the plant surface. The cluster of one- or two-dozen head cells atop each stalk secrete aromatic terpenoid-containing resin with a very high percentage of cannabinoids (> 80%), which collects under a thin waxy membrane surrounding the secretory head cells [7]. The secreted resin component is, in large part, segregated from the secretory cells. This isolates the resin from the atmosphere as well as membrane-bound enzyme systems within the secretory cells, possibly protecting the terpenoids and cannabinoids from oxidative degradation and enzymatic change. Resin glands containing cannabinoids and terpenoids may have an adaptive significance for the Cannabis plant as defense against environmental challenges, including insect attack or drought [8]. However, Cannabis crops are still subject to infestation by a wide variety of pests, particularly under greenhouse or grow-operation conditions. The intoxicating effects of this Cannabis resin have increased cannabis consumption by humans, as well as encouraged its domestication, thus dramatically widening the distribution of the plant.

[Grassman]

Cant cops figurwe out medical cannibis from the bad guys.?

[californiaDana]

I sure wish you could read all my old post, was so much info on how much each county could grow etc.

Dana