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Medicalcannabis

What is the story behind Medicinal cannabis?

Sep. 18, 2023 by SOMAÍ

What is the story behind medical cannabis?

Cannabis has actually been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times. In fact, the first record of its application in medicine comes from Pen-ts’ao ching, the world’s oldest pharmacopoeia, around 2700 BC.  Although cannabis was illegalised in most countries and its therapeutic use in mainstream medicine ceased in the first half of the 20th century, a renewed global interest in its medicinal applications has been dramatically increasing over the past 20 years following the discovery of the active component tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as naturally occurring cannabinoids and the endocannabinoid system.  This fuelled investigations that demonstrated that cannabis does, in fact, have a direct effect on the body, with over 3,000 cannabis-related scientific articles published in 2021 alone.

All this research has advanced our understanding of the cannabis plant and encouraged the identification of many more active components that have prospective therapeutic effects across a range of conditions.