'During my 33 years researching the agricultural, medicinal, nutritional, industrial and social aspects of the cannabis plant (also known as marijuana, hemp or marihuana), I’ve long recognised that cannabis is the most useful plant species ever known,' says Michael Straumietis, founder and owner of Advanced Nutrients.
Until various governments and international treaties outlawed cannabis in the early 1900s, cannabis medicines were completely legal and widely accepted in many cultures
With the legalisation of recreational and medical cannabis in the US states of Colorado and Washington, and a loosening of the country’s federal opposition to cannabis cultivation and scientific research, more people are recognising that cannabis is a unique nutraceutical that offers an unprecedented range of usefulness.
This amazing plant has 'co-evolved' with humans. Botanical historians tell us that cannabis originated in Central Asia, the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush mountains and in East Asia. As our species developed agriculture and other industries, 8,000–10,000 years ago, people discovered that cannabis seeds are rich in nutritional oil, that cannabis stalks are a useful fibre source and that cannabis flowers contain unique compounds (cannabinoids) that provide a variety of medical, recreational and spiritual effects.
A potted history
Until various governments and international treaties outlawed cannabis in the early 1900s, cannabis medicines were completely legal and widely accepted in many cultures. For example, Nicholas Culpeper’s 17th century book, 'The Complete Herbal', published in Europe in 1653, describes cannabis as an antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and analgesic. In the 1800s in North America, cannabis tinctures and other cannabis medicines and intoxicants were popular.
Written documentation from 19th century doctors, herbalists and pharmacologists describe cannabis as a 'food medicine' or inhaled medicine that 'cured or alleviated' the symptoms of headache, fatigue, painful menstruation, convulsion, nausea, appetite loss, tension, depression and other maladies.
Cannabis prohibition, instituted in the early 1900s, blunted scientific cannabis research until just a few years ago, but enough research has been done to convince many doctors and scientists that cannabis is a powerfully effective and safe medicine.
Cannabis is the only plant to produce cannabinoids, and many cannabinoids appear to have medical efficacy. These include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG) and cannabichromene (CBC). The cannabis plant produces at least 100 cannabinoids and approximately 120 terpenoids. Preliminary research shows that these compounds may have medical effects when administered in isolation or in combined ratios and amounts. My hydroponic nutrients company, Advanced Nutrients, has a team of scientists that focus almost exclusively on cannabis medicine and cannabis agriculture. They’ve long told me about the medical potential of CBD, stating that it doesn’t get people 'high', but is said to have profound medical effects, including eliminating spasms and seizures.
Medical cannabis has now been highlighted by doctors in the mainstream media, such as CNN’s medical expert, Dr Sanjay Gupta. He recently publicly apologised for years of denying that cannabis is a safe and effective medicine. Gupta then went on to document the parents of children with severe spasmodic-convulsive disorders who move to Colorado and 'save their children’s lives' by using high-CBD legal Colorado cannabis.
Cannabis is a particularly intriguing nutraceutical because it has so many routes of administration
UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals grows tens of thousands of specially bred cannabis plants, extracts cannabinoids and other natural materials, and uses those materials to create a nebulised pharmaceutical drug called Sativex that the company says provides unique symptomatic relief for neuropathic pain and spasticity from multiple sclerosis. Similarly, Advanced Nutrients scientists create hydroponic nutrients that increase the in-plant production of CBD and other cannabinoids. The company provides expertise and material support to women with severely ill children so they can grow legal cannabis to alleviate their children’s symptoms.
Eat, smoke or vaporise
Cannabis is a particularly intriguing nutraceutical because it has so many routes of administration. It can be inhaled as a smoke (generated by combusted plant material) or as a vapour; vaporisation greatly reduces the potential for respiratory damage derived from heat, particulates and other combustion byproducts. Whole cannabis flowers can be processed into concentrated extracts.
Some extraction processes use solvents such as butane, carbon dioxide (CO2) or alcohol to separate the cannabinoids and terpenoids from the plant material. Solvent extracts may contain as much as 99% pure cannabinoids. Cannabis concentrates are also created by washing whole cannabis flowers in ice water, by drying and shaking cannabis flowers over a sieve or screen, and/or by putting whole cannabis into heated food-grade oils or butter. Whole cannabis and cannabis extracts can be smoked, vaporised or eaten.
Cannabis can be made into edible medicinal foods or oils; it’s also used to make alcohol-based or oil-based tinctures that are either ingested orally and/or applied topically, or administered via orifices that contain mucous membranes. When ingested orally, cannabis seeds and cannabis seed oil (known as hempseed oil or hemp oil), provide an extremely favourable percentage of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats. Polyunsaturated oil pressed from cannabis seeds has a high content of essential fatty acids. Hemp seeds also provide potassium, magnesium, sulfur, zinc, iron, carotene, calcium and phosphorus.
Although this article doesn’t make formal health claims relating to cannabis as a medicine to cure and/or alleviate symptoms of specific diseases or other ailments, there is a catalogue of increasingly credible scientific research indicating that cannabis may have many medical and nutraceutical uses with a relatively low risk of negative side-effects. These applications include:
- antitumour
- anti-inflammatory
- analgesic
- antispasmodic and anticonvulsant
- diuretic
- antiemetic
- appetite enhancer
- anticancer
- antibacterial
- virucidal
- antidepressant
- sleep aid
- cardiovascular aid
- neuroprotective and neurorestorative to combat brain trauma and stroke
I’ve included citations from peer-reviewed journals that are representative of the hundreds of credible studies showing that cannabis is a powerful, safe, unparalleled natural nutraceutical with a vast range of uses. Anyone interested in cannabis as a nutraceutical should read the book 'Cannabis: Evolution and Ethnobotany', published by University of California Press.
Bibliography
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G. Esposito, et al., 'Cannabidiol in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Brief Overview', Phytother. Res. 27(5), 633–636 (2013).
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Michael Straumietis is founder and owner of Advanced Nutrients, a leading international hydroponic nutrients company that creates agricultural products specifically designed for legal cannabis growers. Straumietis is an acknowledged public expert in cannabis agriculture, social and legal issues, and cannabis cultivation.
