The History of the Medical Use of Marijuana
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The history of the medical use of marijuana dates back to ancient times in places such as China, the Netherlands, Egypt, India, Greece, and the medieval Islamic world.
In China, hemp seed was consumed as food so it was quite natural for them to discover the medicinal capabilities of marijuana. An early Chinese surgeon, Hua Tuo, is the first known person to use marijuana as an anesthetic. He crushed the plant into a powder and mixed it with wine and gave this to his patient to consume before performing surgery on them.
In the Netherlands, a grave was discovered with large amounts of cannabis in it along with another herb used for medicinal purposes, suggesting that this person was sick and was using cannabis as a painkiller.
What Is The Medical Use of Marijuana?
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In Egypt, cannabis was used in suppositories to relieve pain from hemorrhoids and to treat sore eyes. In India, marijuana was used to treat headaches, insomnia, many gastrointestinal disorders, and pain.
In Greece, marijuana was used to treat nose bleeds and expel tapeworms.
Moving forward a bit in time to the middle ages in the Islamic world, Arabic physicians used marijuana as a diuretic, to help with nausea, to help with seizures, and to lower fevers.
Then in the 19th century, the medical use of marijuana began to spread in the West. It was used as a secret ingredient in at least 2000 different medicines before 1937. Physicians began conducting research on its effectiveness for treating muscle spasms, stomach cramps, and general pain. They began broadening its application to treat migraines, insomnia, melancholia, and seizures.
The History of the Medical Use of Marijuana
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In the 20th century, researchers started to discover that smoking marijuana lowered intraocular pressure and could therefore help with glaucoma. Veterans were also discovering that marijuana prevented muscle spasms associated with spinal injuries they sustained in battle.
In the 1970’s, a synthetic version of the active ingredient in marijuana was created and was put into a capsule. Patients complained that their nausea made swallowing these capsules difficult and preferred instead to smoke the plant due to its almost immediate effects.
At the time of this writing, medical marijuana use is currently legal in 33 states.
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