Drugs Case - Marijuana

1. Marijuana comes from a preparation of leafy material from the cannabis plant that is smoked. It is classified separately because its effects are varied and complex, sedation, pain relief, and hallucinations in larger doses. Effects are sufficiently different from the effects of depressants, narcotics, and hallucinogens to merit its separate classification.

2. Three species of cannabis- charas: hashish, ganja: sinsemilla, from Spanish sin semilla, without seeds, bhang.

3. THC and from the surface of leaves, stems, and mainly the bud.

4. Hashish- consists of pure resin that has been carefully removed from the surface of leaves and stems- may be less than pure depending on how carefully the resin has been separated from the plant material. Rare in the U.S., and the average THC content of U.S. hashish ranges from 3 to 7 percent, a few batches have tested as high as 20 percent THC. Sinsemilla- consists of dried flowering tops of plants with pistillate flowers (female plants), male plants are removed from the fields before the female plants are pollinated- female plants do not put their energy into seed production, thus increasing their potency, average THC content of U.S. sinsemilla samples is about 7 to 12 percent. Bhang- consists of the remainder of the cannabis plant after the top has been picked, plant material is dried, ground into a powder and mixed into drinks and/ candies, rare in the U.S., but about equivalent to low grade marijuana consisting of leaves, average THC content of less than 1 percent.

5. Typical range of potency in the U.S. is 2 to 8 percent THC.

6. Earliest mention: Chinese pharmacy book (2737 BC). History in U.S.-