Cannabis

1. Cannabis

2.  Scientific Name: Cannabis sativa
 Family: Cannabaceae
 Hemp, Kanjavu chedi, True hemp/ Soft hemp
 Cannabis – “a way to produce smoke”

3.  Well known narcotic in medicine
 Used as hypnotic and sedative – known as drug of
addiction
 Good source of fibre, oil, narcotics

4. Botany
 Annual, dioecious, flowering herb
 Female plant : Luxurient growth
: Darker leaves
: Inflorescence – axillary spike
 Male plant : Narrow leaves
: Inflorescence – axillary or terminal
 Angular stem
 Leaves – palmate, serrate margins
 Fruit - achene

5.  Native to temperate Asia
 Naturally seen in the northern part of Kashmir &
Himalayas
 Illegally cultivated in hills of Kerala, W.B

6. Propagation
 Seed
Sown in June- July
 Stem cuttings

7. Important products
 Fibre
 Oil
 Narcotics

8. Fiber
 Good source of fiber
 Male plants are preferred
 Plants harvested when flowering starts
 Hemp fiber – strong and durable – production of twine

9. Oil
 Pressing seeds
 As substitute for linseed oil in paints, varnishes etc.

10. Drugs
 In British and Indian pharmacopeia
 Female plant – rich in resin content
 Resin more in flowering and fruiting tops
 Ganja
 Bhang
 Charas : (Hashish)

11.  Ganja
Top leaves and unfertilized flower of young female
plant
Dried and used
Smoking
Higher amount of narcotic material
Ganja – 15-25% resin

12.  Bhang
Large green leaves and flowering shoots - male or the
female plants
Not used for smoking
Beverages
Consumed with spice, sugar etc.
Bhang – low resin content

13.  Charas : (Hashish)
Resin - from the top leaves and unfertilized flower of
young female plant
The leaves and flowers are rubbed in the hands
Beating the closed bag with material on hard surface
It is consumed by being heated in a pipe (hookah)

14. Harvesting
 Dec- Jan
 When lower leaves falls and tip of flower stalk turn
yellow
 Material heaped and kept under pressure – chemical
changes
 Heap spread & process continued upto 4 days

15. Yield
 350 kg/ha

16. Chemical composition
 Cannabinoids - cannabinol, tetrahydrocannabinol,
tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, cannabidiol, β-
caryophyllene, and cannabigerol
 Cannabinol - powerful narcotic action -active
constituent of drug

17. Uses
 Nausea, vomiting, weight loss
 Treatment of allergies, inflammation, infection, epilepsy,
depression, bipolar disorders, anxiety disorder etc.
 Sedative
 Treat glaucoma – decrease intraocular pressure
 Folk remedy for cold, stomach pain, constipation etc.
 Seed – antihelmintic, bird mixtures, oil extraction
Medical cannabis in edible form

18. Negative effect
 Cannabis smoke - damage DNA and increase the
risk of cancer
 Cancer causing chemicals in cannabis smoke - 50%
higher than in tobacco smoke