What is cannabis?
Authors: SCIRE Community Team | Reviewer: Andrea Townson and Janice Eng | Published: 2 April 2019 | Updated: Apr 20, 2020
Leaves of a cannabis plant.1
Cannabis is a term that refers to the products of cannabis (hemp) plants, a group of plants from central Asia that are now cultivated around the world. Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis are three well-known types of cannabis, but many strains or varieties exist, both pure and hybrid types. Common preparations of cannabis include marijuana, which is the dried leaves and flowering tops of the plant, and hashish, which is its condensed resin. Cannabis has been used for thousands of years as a medicine and recreational drug.
Currently, cannabis is a controlled substance in most regions because of its psychoactive effects. However, exceptions are made in some places for approved medical or spiritual uses. In addition to medical use, in Canada recreational use of cannabis has also been made legal as of October 2018. Here, the sale of recreational cannabis was originally limited to dried cannabis and oils, but as of October 2019 edibles and concentrates are also legal for sale.
Cannabis has been studied as a treatment for conditions as diverse as nausea associated with cancer chemotherapy, loss of appetite in people with HIV, and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis.
