History and the Plant
Marijuana (cannabis) is among the most widely used of all psychoactive drugs. Despite the fact that its possession and use is illegal in many countries, cannabis is used regularly by as many as 20 million people in the United States and Europe and by millions more in other areas of the world. Thousands of patients with AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and a variety of other disabling diseases use marijuana in the firm belief that it makes their symptoms better, despite the relative paucity of medical evidence to substantiate this claim. This chapter reviews the long history of cannabis in human societies and its vilification and control in the 20th century. The plants Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica are described, as are the various cannabis products derived from the plants and the more modern forms of concentrates.