The Pharmacology of Cannabis
| DOI | 10.1177/000486586900200203 |
| Published date | 01 June 1969 |
| Date | 01 June 1969 |
| Author | G. A. Bentley |
The
Pharmacology
of
Cannabis
G.
A.BENTLEY*
THROUGHOUT history
man
has
used a variety of
drugs
to produce plea-
surable
mental
effects,
and
amongst
these
"satisfaction poisons"
prepara-
tions of
the
cannabis
plant
have a
most
respectable antiquity.
It
has
been
used in
China
for
at
least
3000 years,
and
in
India
and
the
Middle
East
also
there
are
reports
of
its
use for
many
centuries.
In
the
Odyssey, Homer
recounts how Helen of Troy, in order to
banish
sorrow from
her
guests,
slipped a
drug
into
the
drinking bowl,
and
it is
not
unlikely
that
this
was a
preparation
of cannabis.
In
Mohammedan
countries also
its
use
has
long
been widespread, largely because
the
Prophet
omitted
specifically to for-
bid
it
as he did alcohol.
The
"bhang"
that
the
Caliph
Haroun
al Raschid
in
the
Arabian Nights used to bemuse his drinking companions was
made
from cannabis,
and
the
notorious Assassin Sect used
it
as a
part
of
their
recruiting
technique,
thus
giving rise to
the
name
"hashish".
But
despite
its
widespread
and
prolonged usage
there
is still a
great
deal of
disagreement
about
the
dangers
of
this
drug.
For
example,
in
the
Ciba Symposium on
the
Chemistry
and
Pharmacology of
Hashish
(1965),
Joachimoglu
states
that
"hashish
is.
asocial evil
...
and
there
is no doubt
that
its
use is
detrimental
to
the
individual
and
to society",
and
he quotes
references claiming
that
its
use
can
lead
the
individual
into
a
criminal
way of life. Bloomquist (1967)
presents
asimilarly disapproving viewpoint,
saying of
the
drug
that
its
"potential
for personal
and
social
harm
is
fright-
erring".
Watt
(1965), on
the
other
hand,
suggests
that
many
of
the
evil
effects
attributed
to
cannabis
may
be
traced
to pre-existing personality
defects in
the
users,
and
that
misuse of
this
drug is a symptom
rather
than
acause of most of
its
alleged ill effects.
The
Wootton
Report
[see
Nature
(1968) Vol.
221
p.205-206] similarly is less ready to condemn
the
drug.
Differences of opinion also exist concerning
the
subjective effects of
the
drug, which is
not
.surprtsing in view of
the
statement
by Bloomquist
that
"the
psychological effects of
marihuana
are
as varied
as
the
range
of
human
personality". Therefore,
with
so
much
disagreement
amongst
the
experts,
it
is obviously necessary to reserve
judgment
to some
extent.
Marihuana
is obtained from
the
hemp
plant
cannabis
sativa
and
the
resin found on
the
female flowers is
the
richest source of
the
active
principle,
although
smaller
amounts
also occur in
the
leaves. These
are
dried
and
smoked,
often
mixed
with
tobacco,
and
the
resin, too,
may
be
smoked in a
similar
manner
or
taken
by
mouth
in various forms. For
example,
the
Cookbook of Alice B. Toklas,
currently
available in Melbourne,
contains
arecipe for
hashish
fudge,
and
in
Peter
Mayne's book,
The
Alleys
of Marrakesh,
there
is a description of
the
effects
the
author
experienced
*Associate Professor of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria.
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