Cultivation of Cannabis

A total of 82 countries explicitly reported the illicit cultivation of cannabis on their territory over the 1995-200 period. In addition, Member States identified 134 source countries for the production of cannabis. Moreover, 146 countries reported seizing cannabis plants over the 1995-2005 period, which is an indirect indicator for the existence of cannabis plant production in a country, as cannabis plants are usually not trafficked across borders (only the end-products are). Combining these data suggests that cannabis production is taking place in at least 172 countries and territories. 

Godwin, H. Pollen-analytic evidence for the cultivation of cannabis in England. Review ofPalaeobotany and Paynology, 1967, 4, 71-80. Godwin, H. The ancient cultivation of hemp. Antiquity, 1967, 41, 42-49. 

In 1942, only five years after the Marihuana Tax Act outiawed all cultivation of cannabis, the United States was embroiled in World War II and found itself cut off from Asian sources of cheap hemp fiber. The country s warships needed a lot of hemp for rope, however, so the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was ignored while the federal government went into the business of growing hemp on large farms throughout the Midwest and the South. 

The plant Cannabis sativa produces the psychoactive diug A9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Recreationally, THC is consumed in form of marijuana (dried flowers and leaves) or hashish (resin). The cultivation and possession of Cannabis for recreational use is not... 

Just like all herbal medicinal preparations, C. sativa should be standardized if extracts or whole plant material are to be used for medicinal purposes. Basic requirements are that all detectable constituents should be known, but also a sustainable quahty control system must be established to achieve the same quahty over all batches. For industrial use of cannabis, standardization could also be necessary to equahze the quality of the product. However, it must be stated that cultivation for this purposes is mostly performed outdoors. Outdoor growth makes standardization of the product difficult due to the environmental changes. For this reason the Dutch medicinal C. sativa is grown under strictly controllable conditions, and therefore indoors, by the company Bedrocan. At this company clones are used for breeding to maintain high standards for quantity and quality. After a strictly selective breeding procedure a plant fine has been estabhshed fulfilhng all criteria as a herb for medicinal use. 

In California, outdoor cultivation of coca is possible only around San Diego, if there. Trujillo Coca would probably do well there under irrigation and intensive care. Elsewhere, forget it. I do not subscribe to growing it commercially indoors and doubt if the produce would be worthwhile. Greenhouse and apartment grown leaf is very inferior in flavor and potency. Fresh air and sunshine are in order (as with Cannabis). 

Ultimately, the cultivation, sale, and possession of cannabis is illegal at present in most places. Individuals who use it for whatever purpose in most areas carry the risk of arrest and prosecution. From the perspective of addictiveness, it seems inconsistent that cannabis use is prohibited, while the use of alcohol and nicotine are permitted. Apart from arguments about the recreational use of cannabis, resistance to its medical application is even more inconsistent. For example, the opioids carry some risk for dependence, but with medical supervision they are useful medications and their abuse is minimal (Joranson et al. 2000). Whether use of cannabis is to be permitted and for which purposes (medical or recreational) remains to be collectively decided by society and the legislators it appoints. 

Cannabis sativa L. (hemp) is a dioecious annual flowering plant. Marihuana is the Spanish name for the dried leaves and female flowering tops of the hemp plant. Hashish is the resin which originates from these female flowering tops. The hemp s natural homeland is most likely in the regions north of Afghanistan and the Altai mountains of southern Siberia (Russia). It is not clear when and where cultivation of hemp Cannabis sativa L.) started. It seems most likely that the cultivation of hemp may have originated in northeastern Asia (north and north-east China and southeastern Siberia). 

Most of the world s drug markets start with the farmer. Unlike other crops, however, the cultivation of opium poppy, coca leaf and cannabis take place under threat of eradication, and so the location and the number of hectares tilled vary substantially from year to year. UNODC, in cooperation with the relevant national authorities, conducts drug crop monitoring surveys in all of the worlds major opium poppy and coca producing countries. Changes in the number and location of hectares under cultivation, as well as crop yields, can thus be tracked with some precision. 

As discussed in last year s World Drug Report, it is impossible to accurately estimate the location and total number of hectares under cannabis, because it is grown in at least 172 countries, often in small plots by the users themselves. The one country where reliable estimates are available is Morocco, the source of about 70 per cent of the hashish consumed in Europe. UNODC and the Government of Morocco have been monitoring large-scale hashish production since 2003. Based on these surveys, cannabis cultivation in Morocco has declined in recent years, from a peak of 134,000 hectares in 2003 to just 76,400 hectares in 2005. Outside Morocco, there have been few national or regional studies of the extent of cannabis cultivation. 

The production of cannabis resin (also known as hashish) is concentrated in North Africa (Morocco) and in the South-West Asia/Middle East region, particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan. UNODC surveys conducted in collaboration with the Moroccan authorities revealed a fall in the area of cannabis resin cultivation in that country in recent years, from a peak of 134,000 ha in 2003 to 76,400 ha in 2005. Resin production declined even more strongly, from 3,070 mt in 2003 to 1,070 mt by 2005. Most of this production is consumed in Europe. 

In Morocco, UNODC surveys, conducted in collaboration with the authorities, revealed a fall in the area of cannabis resin cultivation from a peak of 134,000 ha in... 

The pervasiveness of cannabis persists. Between 1995-2005, 82 countries provided UNODC with cannabis cultivation or production estimates. Unfortunately, reporting on cannabis cultivation is complex and resource intensive for a number of reasons and many countries do not have the capacity or resources ot make estimations. Consequently, UNODC also analyses seizure reports which sometimes identify the source of cannabis trafficked in a country. On this basis, 134 pro-... 

The estimate of area under cultivation for cannabis herb includes some, but not all, wild cannabis. Were there any practical way to measure wild cannabis this figure would be much higher. 

The decline of cannabis production in North America was mainly due to lower cannabis production levels in Mexico, which reflect the strong eradication efforts made in that country. Mexico has been extremely efficient in eradicating cannabis, having eradicated some 85 per cent of the area under cultivation. The net area under cultivation thus declined by 23 per cent in 2005 (from 7,500 to 5,800 ha) with a further decline reported... 

The next most frequently mentioned countries were Afghanistan/Pakistan, accounting for 8 per cent of such mentions. Overwhelmingly, cannabis cultivation in these countries is for the production of cannabis resin. UNODC s estimates suggest that the area under... 

Archeological records chronicle the ancient association of man with the plant genus Cannabis, of the plant family Cannabaceae. The use of cannabis fibers for the production of hemp has been dated to 4000 b.c. using carbon-14 methods. Seeds and pollen of the plant have been found in tombs, their leaves painted on funerary urns. The plant has been so well cultivated that a wild variant no longer exists. 

For centuries of American history, use of the cannabis plant as an intoxicant was rare. In fact, Kentucky pioneers cultivated tons of hemp without a single reference to its intoxicating properties. People probably didn t know of the use of cannabis as an intoxicant. Entries from George Washington s diary in 1765 show that he personally planted and harvested cannabis for both fiber and medicinal purposes. 

Cannabis indica Lamarck, classified by Lamarck in 1783, is a shorter plant that s more densely branched. Seldom over eight feet tall, it has short, brittle fibers and thus is not very useful for fiber but generally contains the greatest amount by weight of Cannabis resin. Until recently, it s cultivation has been mainly restricted to India, Persia and the Arab countries, where its leaves are often made into a milkshake and its resin is pressed into hashish. 

The history of the use and identification of Cannabis sativa L. is long and complex. It is one of the oldest cultivated plants, used for the production of oil from the seeds, and fibre from the stems for rope and fabrics, and has long been used as a psychoactive drug due to the presence of cannabinoids in the resins produced by the plant. Indeed, there is evidence of cannabis use from Neolithic burial sites. The name Cannabis sativa was first used in Linnaeus Genera Plantarum in 1753, but since that publication there has been considerable debate about the number of species and varieties that exist - this has been recently summarized succinctly by Gigliano [1]. The debate has centred on (i) the characteristics of the fruit, and (ii) meiosis and pollen fertility. It is now generally accepted, however, that there is only one species, namely Cannabis sativa L., which exhibits great diversity due to both selection in the wild and in the cultivated environment. 

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