This is the botanical name for the HEMP plant that originated in Asia. It is the basis of the hemp industry as well as the source of the widely used intoxicant TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL (THC), the active agent in MARIJUANA, HASHISH, GANJA, and BHANG.

History

The use of Cannabis sativa has been recorded for thousands of years, beginning in Asia. It was known to the ancient Greeks and later to the Arabs, who, during their spread of Islam from the seventh to the fifteenth centuries, also spread its use across the Levant and North Africa. Some 200-300 million people are estimated to use Cannabis in some form worldwide. Thus, it is not only one of the oldest known but also one of the most widely used mind-altering drugs.

Since the 1960s, the rise in its use in the United States has been enormous and associated with the youth...