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Cannabis sativa also known as hemp or marijuana, is an herbaceous species with psychoactive properties.
It’s an annual plant originary from the Himalaya range, in Asia. It is used to produce textiles
like rope or clothes, and food, and also used as a psychoactive substance.
This last use makes it one of the few plants which
is banned to grow in many countries. "Marijuana" is a generic word given to the female reproduction organs
of the plant, and the "haxix” is the pressed pollen of the flower, which contains higher
concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol also known as THC.
The plant contains about 60 cannabinoids, being the more active delta-9-THC.
This plant is being studied as a medicinal plant for the treatment of glaucoma, asthma, cancer, migraine, insomnia
nausea and vomiting in cancer produced by chemotherapy, multiple sclerosis,
and neurogenic pain.
The oldest Cannabis found related to humans dates from 2700 years ago,
and was found in a tomb of a Caucasoid mummy, a shaman, in western China.
It is uncertain that cannabis was used in this area as food or for clothing, and it's believed that was cultivated
and used with therapeutic reasons. Some seeds were also found in Nepal and Siberia,
between 2200 and 2500 years.
It is a psychoactive substance that is usually consumed by smoking,
although it can be ingested, but in this case increases much the probability of suffering panic.
Short-term and low dose consumption usually produces feelings of wellbeing and calm, also an increase of hunger,
eager to talk and euphoria. But it also leads to ocular congestion and problems in complex mental processes,
and alterations of the temporal and sensory perception. When the effects disappear the person gets into a state
of drowsiness and sometimes in depression.
If the dose is very high, its harmful effects increase, leading to a state of mental confusion,
drowsiness and can cause great panic situations.
In long-term consumption appears state of demotivation with damaged memory and reduced concentration skills.
Besides, this has harmful effects on the lung, which are worse than those from tobacco.
The smoke from the dried leaves of this plant reduce the number of small branches of the lungs,
which are responsable from the oxygen transport into blod and detoxification,
and this is why cannabis smokers tend to have more phlegm, cough and a feeling that they cannot breath probably.
It also can affect male and female reproductive systems, and THC can
go through the placental barrier, so it can be risk during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
In people with mental diseases or emocinal instability, these symptoms
can be worse.
In our recent history, the defenders of the consumption of Cannabis have made a strong campaign
for its virtues, and although it is true that the plant is studied and sometimes used
because of it's medicinal properties, it is a drug and its consequences,
which are often forgotten for it’s defenders, must be taken into account.