CLASSIFICATION OF CANNABIS is disputed by botanists. They disagree about the
family to which it belongs and also about the number of species.
The plant is sometimes placed in the fig or mulberry family
(Moraceae) or the nettle family (Urticaceae), but it is now
usually separated, together with the hop plant (Humulus),
into a distinct family: Cannabaceae.
It has been widely thought that there is one
species, Cannabis sativa, which, partly as a result of selection
by man, has developed many "races" or
"varieties," for better fiber, for more oil content, or
for stronger narcotic content. Selection for narcotic activity
has been especially notable in such areas as India, where
intoxicating properties have had religious significance..
Environment also has probably influenced this biologically
changeable species, especially for fiber excellence and narcotic
activity. Current research indicates that there may be other
species: C. indica and C. ruderalis. All Cannabis
is native to central Asia.
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TA (pronounced DA). Literally this means an adult man, and by extension may signify great or tall.
MA. It represents a fiber plant, literally a clump of plants, growing near a dwelling. Hence, the two symbols together mean "the tall fiber plant,'' which everywhere in China signifies cannabis.
METHODS OF USING CANNABIS vary.
In the New World, marihuana (maconha in Brazil) is
smoked - the dried, crushed flowering tips or leaves, often
mixed with tobacco in cigarettes, or "reefers."
Hasheesh, the resin from the female plant, is eaten or smoked,
often in water pipes, by millions in Moslem countries of northern
Africa and western Asia. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the resin
is commonly smoked. Asiatic Indians regularly employ three
preparations narcotically: bhang consists of plants thst are
gathered green, dried, and made into a drink with water or milk
or into a candy (majun) with sugar and spices; charas, normally
smoked or eaten with spices, is pure resin; ganjah, usually
smoked with tobacco, consists of resin-rich dried tops from the
female plant. Many of these unusually potent preparations may be
derived from C. indica.
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NARCOTIC USE OF CANNABIS has grown in popularity in the past 40 years as the plant has spread to nearly all parts of the globe. The narcotic use of cannabis in the United States dates from the 1920's and seems to have started in New Orleans and vicinity. Increase in the plant's use as an inebriant in Western countries, especially in urban centers, has led to major problems and dilemmas for European and American authorities. There is a sharp division of opinion as to whether the widespread narcotic use of cannabis is a vice that must be stamped out or is an innocuous habit that should be permitted legally. The subject is debated hotly, usually with limited knowledge. We do not yet have the medical, social, legal, and moral information on which to base a sound judgment. As one writer has said, the marihuana problem needs "more light and less heat." Controlled, scientifically valid experiments with cannabis, involving large numbers of individuals, have not as yet been made.
EFFECTS OF CANNABIS,
even more than of other hallucinogens, are highly variable from
person to person and from one plant strain to another. This
variability comes mainly from the unstable character of some of
the constituents. Over a period of time, for example, the
inactive cannabidiolic acid converts to active
tetrahydrocannabinols and eventually to inactive cannabinol, such
chemical changes usually taking place more rapidly in tropical
than in cooler climates. Material from plants of different ages
may thus vary in narcotic effect.
The principal narcotic effect is euphoria. The plant
is sometimes not classified as hallucinogenic, and it is true
that its characteristics are not typically psychotomimetic.
Everything from a mild sense of ease and well-being to fantastic
dreams and visual and auditory hallucinations are reported.
Beautiful sights, wonderful music, and aberrations of sound often
entrance the mind; bizarre adventures to fill a century take
place in a matter of minutes.
Soon after taking the drug, a subject may find
himself in a dreamy state of altered consciousness. Normal
thought is interrupted, and ideas are sometimes plentiful though
confused. A feeling of exaltation and inner joy may alternate,
even dangerously, with feelings of depression, moodiness,
uncontrollable fear of death, and panic. Perception of time is
almost invariably altered. An exaggeration of sound, out of all
relation to the real force of the sound emitted, may be
accompanied by a curiously hypnotic sense of rhythm. Although the
occasional vivid visual hallucinations may have sexual coloring,
the often-reported aphrodisiac properties of the drug have not
been substantiated. Ofcourse everything is Very individual and
most unpleasent effects appear only on unexperienced users:)
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In many parts of Asia the use of cannabis preparations is both socially and legally
acceptable.
In predominantly Moslem countries, Cannabis is usually smoked in water
pipes sometimes called hookahs.
The illustration shows an Afghani using one of the many kinds of water pipes seen in Asia.
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Market forms of cannabis include finely ground or "manicured" marihuana, ''reefers'' (smaller than commercial tobacco cigarettes), pure hasheesh, and compressed kilo bricks
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Whether cannabis should be classified primarily as a stimulant or
depressant or both has never been determined. The drug's
activities beyond the central nervous system seem to be
secondary. They consist of a rise in pulse rate and blood
pressure, tremor, vertigo, difficulty in muscular coordination,
increased tactile sensitivity, and dilation of the pupils.
Although cannabis is definitely not addictive, psychological
dependence may often result from continual use of the drug.
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Cannabis (sativa/indica), also called Kif, Bhang, or Charas, is one of the
oldest cultivated plants. It is also one of the most widely
spread weeds, having escaped cultivation, appearing as an
adventitious plant everywhere, except in the polar regions and
the wet, forested tropics.
Cannabis is the source of hemp fiber, an edible
fruit, an industrial oil, a medicine, and a narcotic. Despite its
great age and its economic importance, the plant is still poorly
understood, characterized more by what we do not know about it
than by what we know.
Cannabis is a rank, weedy annual that is extremely
variable and may attain a height of 18 feet. Flourishing best in
disturbed, nitrogen-rich soils near human habitations, it has
been called a "camp follower," going with man into new
areas.
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There has been some confusion all over about differences of Indica and Sativa plants.
Here are a few rules of thumb:
Fat Leaves and Short Bush = INDICA
Thin Leaves and Tall Bush = SATIVA
Indica....higher CBD than THC equals heavier, sleepy type of high. Yield is usually higher than Sativa, and shorter growing season. Better for indoor growing, because they don't get as tall.
Sativa....higher THC than CBD equals cerebral, soaring type of high, more energetic Yield is usually lower than Indica, but is very potent.
eg: Thai Sativa grow taller and have a longer flowering period, so they are better suited for outdoors.Sativa's typically take longer to germinate and flower, and they grow more gangly then indica breeds.Sativa needs more sunlight and longer time for multiple harvests.Indica grows in even in colder climates where the summer is shorter.Ofcourse you can take everything in your own hands if you r growing indoor or in glasshouse.
Hemp field in Afghanistan, showing partly harvested crop of the
short, conical Cannabis indica grown there.
courtesy of http://dmt.hit.bg