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classifiacation of drugs >>> cannabis >>>

Cannabis

Cannabis Products

In 18^th century the biologists Linei and Lamark argued over about how many types of the hemp there were. People used to call the European type Cannabis Sativa and the Indian type – Cannabis Indica, but modern science thinks of them as two different races of one and the same species and calls them as a whole Cannabis Sativa; which means in English “useful hemp”. People take fibers out of the hemp; those fibers are used for the production of ropes, textiles, paper etc. The seeds of the are rich in oil and proteins and they may serve as food; the domestic birds that are fed with hemp seeds live longer. Until the 30’s of 20^th century the hemp was thought to be one of the most prosperous crops and in the most developed countries there was an outgoing hemp industry, but now its breeding in large amounts is simply impossible because it’s strictly controlled.

The narcotic products, made from the hemp, are completely different, concerning their quality and the content of the its active components. The methods of cultivation, the soil and the climate are of great importance, for example in Russia the breeding of the hemp is allowed only in the northern parts of the country where it has no narcotic effects. The drug is made mainly from the female plants. When the plant has already blossomed, a gold-like sticky substance appears on the top of the flowers and the upper leafs which has a specific smell. The active components are found namely in that substance. There are also different hypothesizes that try to explain why the hemp has to synthesize canabinoids. Some say that it is because the plant has to prevent its gentle parts from being dried up, therefore the extraction of this so wanted resin is bigger in dry and hot areas. Others support the view that the resin is actually a product of the defense mechanism the plant against ultraviolet rays.

The cheapest drug, which is also the weakest, is made from the tops of the hemp. Typical sorts that grow in the wild environment or that are bred for their fibers contain small in percentage active substance – 0.2 –1%. This product is known in Europe and in the USA as marijuana (marihuana, pot, grass, dope, herb). In India it is called “bhang” (bang) and only the poor people use it. The ganja (dagga, kif, cive) is made from the blossomed tops and the flowers of the plants, which are product of a very long selective work, and it contains more from the active resin – about 6%. When this resin is scraped carefully from the top of the hemp, hashish (hasheesh, hash) is made, also called in India – charas. Hashish is 5 – 8 times stronger than normal marijuana. There are many legends about, how hashish is made, that are not true. According to one of them naked people run through a field with blossomed hemp and the resin sticks to their sweated bodies and then the resin is scraped from there. Actually the hashish is picked from the plant with the help of a lint, which is not very impressing but at least it is more hygienic. There is also another product named “dawamesc”, which is a result of the boiling of the leafs in water and oil; to the so-made black paste a lot of exotic spices are added, even Spanish flies. For the past few years the extraction of the so-called hashish oil (hash oil, red oil) has become very popular. This oil is ready when the tops of the hemp are boiled long enough in spirits. The cannabinoids, which are present in them, are extracted and depending on their concentration there may be amber-colored to dark red oil. The active substance in it is about 60% and therefore it is very convenient for illegal transportation as well as for further processing.

Cannabis may be taken in many forms. Marijuana is smoked without admixtures or may be mixed with tobacco; the cigarette made from  marijuana is called joint. Another form of marijuana, called AMP, has found its way to the market during the last 10 years. This is again a cigarette, soaked with formaline (used in the morgues for the conservation of anatomic preparations) and then this cigarette is dried up. This method has been developed probably by some “sick mind”, because the effects of the formaline are more than unpleasant. Earlier hashish was taken in mainly as part of the ingredients for cakes but lately in the East it has become popular method to be smoked as cigarettes, with a pipe or nargile. In some states in the USA it is even forbidden for people to have a nargile because it is mainly used for the smoking of hashish. The hashish oil may be used in two ways. The first one – a droplet of it is dropped on a cigarette, which is later smoked. Or according to the second – the droplet is dropped on a sheet of hot silver-paper and then the vapors are inhaled. In India there are many beverages that are made from cannabis.

When cannabis is smoked part of the active substance burn, but when it is taken in directly through the mouth its effectiveness is a little bit lower. Therefore both ways are considered to be equally efficient.