There is much fuss about cannabis, the deprivation of its consumption, liberalization or production ban and sale of its use as a “drug”, its psychotropic effects, its potential to generate dependence and its risk of causing schizophrenia. But little has been said about the non-psychotropic effects of this plant, which already has about 200 years of use in Western medicine.

What is cannabis and what are its effects?

Cannabis Sativa is a plant of Asian origin, belonging to the Cannabaceae family, which has more than 500 chemical compounds and is characterized by the presence of several active substances, the cannabinoids, which bind to specific receptors (CB1 and CB2) in the brain , in the spinal cord, in some endocrine glands, in cells of the immune system, in the heart, in parts of the digestive, respiratory, urinary and reproductive organs, etc.

The main cannabinoids are:

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which has a potent psychotropic effect (causes euphoria, improper laughter, altered state of consciousness – as if one was dreaming, with ideas disconnected from one another – changes perception of time, space, colors and sounds, feeling calm, relaxation and well being, increased sexual desire, disturbed mental concentration, difficulty performing complex mental tasks, decreased fine motor coordination, deep vision and reaction time, and sometimes anxiety, panic reactions, paranoia and psychotic states), along with some physical effects (dry mouth, increased appetite, congestion of the conjunctiva, increased heart rate).

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