Cannabis

Cannabis (/ˈkænəbɪs/) is a type of flowering plants that includes three species (and seven taxa) or sub-species,sativa, indica, and ruderalis. The plant is indigenous to Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Cannabis has long been used for hemp fibre, for hemp oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a recreational drug. Industrial hemp products are made from cannabis plants selected to produce an abundance of fiber. To satisfy the UN Narcotics Convention, some cannabis strains have been bred to produce minimal levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive constituent. Many plants have been selectively bred to produce a maximum of THC (cannabinoids) which is obtained by curing the flowers. Various compounds of the plant, including hashish and hash oil, are extracted from the plant.

Globally, in 2013, 60,400 kilograms of cannabis were produced legally. In 2013 between 128 and 232 million people are thought to have used cannabis as a recreational drug (2.7% to 4.9% of the global population between the ages of 15 and 65).

Cannabis (disambiguation)

Cannabis may refer to:

Cannabis classification in the United Kingdom

Cannabis classification in the United Kingdom refers to the class of drugs, as determined by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, that cannabis is placed in. Between 1928 and 2004 and since 2009, it has been classified as a class B drug. From 2004 to 2009, it was in class C (less harmful).

Transfer to class C

As Home Secretary in Tony Blair's Labour government, David Blunkett announced in 2001 that cannabis would be transferred from class B of the Act to class C, removing the threat of arrest for possession. Arrest would still be possible for distribution, however. Reclassification had the support of a plurality of the public, with surveys at the time finding that 49% of British adults supported cannabis decriminalisation, 36% were against, and 15% were undecided. The transfer eventually happened in January 2004, after class C penalties for distribution had been stiffened. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs had recommended such a reclassification as early as 1979, a view endorsed by the Runciman Report in 1999.

Etymology of cannabis

The plant name Cannabis is from Greek κάνναβις (kánnabis), via Latin cannabis, originally a Scythian or Thracian word, also loaned into Persian as kanab. English hemp (Old English hænep) may be an early loan (predating Grimm's Law) from the same Scythian source.

Word history

The Oxford English Dictionary records the earliest usages of cannabis meaning the plant "common hemp, Cannabis sativa" in 1548 and meaning parts of the plant "smoked, chewed, or drunk for their intoxicating or hallucinogenic properties" in 1848. The OED traces the etymology to the New Latin botanical term cannabis – proposed in 1728 and standardized in Carolus Linnaeus's (1753) Species Plantarum – from an earlier Latin cannabis, coming from Greek kánnabis.

Herodotus (c. 440 BCE) recorded the use of cannabis in The Histories. "The Scythians, as I said, take some of this hemp-seed [presumably, flowers], and, creeping under the felt coverings, throw it upon the red-hot stones; immediately it smokes, and gives out such a vapour as no Grecian vapour-bath can exceed; the Scyths, delighted, shout for joy."

Cannabis (film score)

Cannabis is a film score by French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, released in May 1970 through Philips Records, accompanying the 1970 film of the same name, directed by Pierre Koralnik and starring Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin, and Curd Jürgens.

Conception

Background

After collaborating on Anna, a 1967 television movie starring Anna Karina, Gainsbourg and French director Pierre Koralnik decided to work on another movie which would eventually become Cannabis, when three producers (Roger Duchet, Andrée Debar, and Nat Wachsberger) commissioned one, based on seeing Gainsbourg and his then-lover Jane Birkin starring together in the 1969 film, Slogan, directed by Pierre Grimblat. All of the music for Cannabis was composed and written by Gainsbourg after the film had been shot, with help from arranger Jean-Claude Vannier, with whom Gainsbourg would again collaborate the following year on Histoire de Melody Nelson.

Recording

Cannabis was recorded at Studio Davout, a recording studio in Paris, France, with producers Roger Duchet and Nat Wachselberger.

Cannabis (film)

Cannabis is a 1970 crime film directed by Pierre Koralnik. It is a co-production between France, West Germany and Italy. It stars Serge Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin, Paul Nicholas and Curd Jürgens.

Cast

Release

Cannabis was released in France on September 2, 1970. It was released in Italy on February 2, 1973.

See also

References

External links