Cannabis sativa is an annual herbaceous flowering plant, first classified in 1753. Cannabis sativa is cultivated for industrial fiber, seed oil, food, medicine, as a recreation drug, and for religious and spiritual purposes. Indigenous to Eastern Asia, the plant now has a cosmopolitan distribution due to widespread cultivation. It has been cultivated throughout recorded history.
Description and Characteristics
- Cannabis sativa is an annual herbaceous flowering plant.
- First classified by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.
- Indigenous to Eastern Asia, now cultivated worldwide.
- Used for industrial fiber, seed oil, food, medicine, recreation, and spiritual purposes.
- Female plants produce seeds, while male plants die after shedding pollen.
- THC is the main psychoactive compound in Cannabis.
- Contains over 500 compounds, including at least 113 cannabinoids.
- Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid.
- Different Cannabis varieties have varying effects on humans due to chemical composition.
- Aroma is from volatile terpenes and sesquiterpenes.
Cultivation Techniques
- Requires 16-18 hours of light in vegetative growth phase.
- Flowering occurs with at least 12 hours of darkness.
- Female plants are grown separately for psychoactive cannabinoids.
- Optimum pH in soil is 6.3-6.8; in hydroponics, it’s 5.2-5.8.
- Tissue culture is used for cloning, while seed production is common.
Various Uses of Cannabis sativa
- Industrial fiber source.
- Seed oil production.
- Food ingredient.
- Medicinal purposes.
- Recreational and spiritual use.
- Cannabis sativa seeds used for hempseed oil for cooking, lamps, lacquers, or paints.
- Seeds used as caged-bird feed for nutrients.
- Flowers, fruits, leaves, stems, and seeds contain cannabinoids for recreational, medicinal, spiritual use.
- Preparations like marijuana, hashish consumed by smoking, vaporizing, oral ingestion.
- Traditional medicinal uses in India as hallucinogenic, hypnotic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory agent.
Legal Status and Regulations
- Legal history in the U.S.
- Varied legality worldwide.
- Medical cannabis regulations.
- Recreational cannabis laws.
- Impact on the criminal justice system.
Additional Information and Resources
- See also: Cannabis portal, Cannabis indica, Cannabis ruderalis, Cannabis strains, Difference between C. indica and C. sativa.
- References: The Cannabis Breeders Bible by Greg Green, The Conservation of Artifacts Made from Plant Materials by Florian ML, Kronkright DP, Norton RE, Plant Taxonomy (2nd ed.) by Sharma OP, Influence of Environment on Sexual Expression in Hemp by Schaffner JH, Essential oils of different cultivars of Cannabis sativa L. and their antimicrobial activity by Novak J, Zitterl-Eglseer K, Deans SG, Franz CM.
- External links: Wikimedia Commons media related to Cannabis sativa, Legal history in the United States related to cannabis, Major legal reforms in cannabis laws worldwide, Treaty law: Rescheduling of cannabis in 2020, NatureServe information on Cannabis sativa.
Cannabis sativa Data Sources
| Reference | URL |
|---|---|
| Glossary | https:/glossary/cannabis-sativa |
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_sativa |
| Wikidata | https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26726 |
| Knowledge Graph | https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/03zbj_ |
| DBPedia | http://dbpedia.org/resource/Cannabis_sativa |
| Product Ontology | http://www.productontology.org/id/Cannabis_sativa |