The History of Cannabis
“The ancient Chinese knew of Cannabis and it’s pain-relieving and mind-altering effects, yet it was not widely employed for its psychoactive properties; instead it was cultivated as hemp for the manufacture of rope and fabric. Likewise, the ancient Greeks and Romans used hemp to make rope and sails. In some other places, however, Cannabis’s intoxicating properties became important. In India, for example, the plant was incorporated into religious rituals. During the Middle Ages, its use was common in Arab lands; in 15th-century Iraq it was used to treat epilepsy; in Egypt it was primarily consumed as an inebriant. After Napoleon’s occupation of Egypt, Europeans began using the drug as an intoxicant. During the slave trade, it was transported from Africa to Mexico, the Caribbean and South America. Marijuana gained a following in the U.S. only relatively recently. During the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, cannabis was freely available without a prescription for a wide range of ailments, including migraine and ulcers,”
- Roger A. Nicoll and Bradley N. Alger remind us in Scientific American.
Even American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson declared: “Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth and protection of the country.”
So what happened?
In 1937, the United States Congress decided, against the recommendation of the American Medical Association, to pass the Cannabis Tax Act. The legislation essentially banned the use of Cannabis by making it excessively expensive and difficult to secure. It has been downhill ever since. That is, until the last few years when the legalisation of Cannabis has exploded in the U.S., for both recreational and medicinal uses. For our purposes here, we’re going to look at the health benefits of the plant, which are quite impressive.
An Essential Vegetable
“It [cannabis] has captured these molecules that help our bodies regulatory system be more effective. The bottom line is it’s a dietary essential that helps all 210 cell types function more effectively. I don’t even refer to it as medicine anymore, strictly as a dietary essential.” ~ Dr. William L. Courtney
It may be a stretch for some to recognise raw cannabis as the next in-demand superfood, but Dr. Courtney, a physician with extensive medical training who specialises in the dietary uses of cannabis, presents a provocative case.
When you heat or age cannabis, Dr. Courtney believes that you lose 99% of the benefits cannabis provides. In contrast, if you consume it raw, you’ll reap the full value of the plant. Plus, raw cannabis is non-psychoactive, so you won’t experience a high — an important point for those who would like to utilise the healing aspects of cannabis without feeling drugged or off-center. This means you can also consume a much higher amount of health-promoting compounds with raw cannabis juice compared to if it was smoked or extracted as an oil, according to Dr. Courtney.
How to Enjoy More Raw Cannabis in Your Life
For a daily dose, Dr. Courtney advises juicing fifteen cannabis leaves and two buds, which is then added to a small amount of fruit or vegetable juice that is consumed throughout the day. If you would like to learn more about juicing cannabis, this article offers tips and suggestions. Keep in mind that juicing improperly may create heat, which will cause THC to form.
Contributing writer Caroline Wright for Wake Up World
In an ideal world, we would be growing our Cannabis freely in our backyard and consuming daily in our food just like any other herb, although it is legal in Canberra unfortunately the rest of the country is forbidden to do so. We look forward to the day when all Australians have the option of growing Cannabis (a dietary essential) in our own backyards.
Until the time comes to grow our own Cannabis the next best thing is adding Hemp Seeds, 8/1 Caps or The Ubuntu Pratictioner range of products to our diet.
Bright Blessings of good health - Your Ubuntu Community
This information needs to be widely distributed.