In July of last year the debate on whether cannabis should be legalised was rekindled by the Home Secretary, David Blunkett. He announced the reclassification of cannabis from a class B drug to a class C which is the lowest classification for an illegal drug and puts it on par with anti-depressants and steroids.
The chronology of cannabis is thought to go back to 2737 BC where it was referred to as a "superior" herb in the world's first medical text, or pharmacopoeia, Shen Nung's Pen Ts'ao, in China and in c600 BC Zend-Avesta, an Indian scripture, speaks of hemps "intoxicating resin". Others have followed and in 1788 when the New Edinburgh Dispensatory was produced they omitted many exotic remedies such as "scrapings of an elephants tooth", "dust from the walls of a wrestling school" and, as a cure for malaria, "seven bed bugs in meat and beans", though cannabis remained. It was thought, often with no justification, as having multiple uses such as easing the pain of earache and treating jaundice, and was recommended as it "consumeth wind and drieth the seed (semen)". (John Gerard. 1597)
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