United Nations Nations Unies

ECONOMIC AND

SOCIAL COUNCIL

CON SElL ECONOI\'IIQUE ET SOCIAL

CCNHISSIOH OH Flll\ COl'IC .DTIUGS. . ~ . ' . ~ . .. .... ..

·T.II:IT'.D 'S~SSIOl'l ' .

STUPY. OH CfJ!VJ!IB,IS SATIVA OR EE.HP

Item 14 of the Provisional ·.A.:;enda

P.ES'l'HIC'1'IID . .

E/CH. 7 f.·J .3'( l.l May 1948 ORIGTI'!AL: El'TGLI[ ... :

. ITOT2 BY TEE ASSISTANT SEC'.P..E~l1BY··GEHER/J.. TI1 CIIARGE • • , • I • \

OF THE DEP.{I.DTHEI·YL' ClF SOC:q'.L J\.FF AIRS

This stt!dy ''as prepared by the Secrete.rie.t to facilitate the

discuss i on by the Conunission of Item 11~ CJ! the Provisional Acenda.

/IliDE::C

E/Clif. 7/H. 37 Page 2

I .

II.

II!D~

The Plant and its Products . • .

The plant .

The 3tell:s •

The :;eeds .

The ::-esin ••.

Che:mical .\spects of the Drug . •

The i'l.Ctive principles . •

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

3 3

3 4

5 6

6

Chem:lcal tests . • . • • • • • 7

othe:· consti tt~ents of hemp • • • • • • • • • 7

III. Hedical A:;pects • • • • • • • • • • • • • 9 The drug in medicine • • • • • • f • • • • • 9

The Harcotic pleasure druc • • • • • • • ·• • • • 9 IT , Some Questions Affectil18 Enforcement and Ac;reements • ll

:b.\es1.ion of different kinds of' Cannabis • • • • • ll

Quest ion of nomenclature • • • • • ., • • • • • • 12

V It Appendix . • . . • . . . • . . • . . • . • • • .,. • • • 13

B1bl1ocraphical references . . . . . . . . . 13

/cAlnwus

I . Tim PLAJiT AIID ITS PJ::CIDUCTS ·

· The :Plant

E/CN, 7 /vJ .37 :Page 3

Cannabts sativa, ·t he hemp plant 1 is much used and also misusad. The

sta.J2~s l:ll"OVide e. value.ble t extile fi'bre and the seeds a useful oil, while ;

the resin, V~ich coats t4e tops of 'the pl~ts, is chiefly misused as an

intoxicatinG dru3.

This plant, probably. native to Central ·As1a, has been cultivated fl~om

· · vecy ancient times for fibre 1 seed and res i n, and is nO't-r spread ove1• most

of the uorld. It is extremely hardy and o.ften escapes from cultivation.

It is nmr a veed in me..w ~ands in uhi ch it has been cultivated, and even

in some places Hhere its introduction iras never intentional. As a uild

plant it (7'0irs chiefly on fertile but l m·r- lyinc ground near streruns and

rivers , on re.ilroad right- of-ueys, in ~·.llies, and alone the feiices arot•.nd

cornfielcls ; cenerally speakinc; , on opHn '-taste-land ,.,here d~struction of

the ueeds is not uorthwh:IJ.e econom:i.ca).J.y.

The species i s dioecious, produci11g pollen &4d seed on separate plru1ts .

The male and female plants par-'lial~e of neerly equal grouth at first, bttt

the meJ.e plw..ts becin to die immediately e.fter shedding t heir pol:len, 1-rhile

the female plru1t s cont in\le to ~0'1-T, not much in hei ght , but branching out

l ateral.ly. In a thick ,stend of hemp one c.an scarcely tell , a f e,., '1-Teeks

later 1 vrhere the male plants hod been. The species i s annual, but i n

temperate cli.I!lates t he female );1lents of'ten live tmtil killed by frost .

The mature hemp plants probably aver ace about six feet in heiGht, or

close to ~i'o metres. On dry, in:fertile f?Oil t hey may attain only a foot

or t ,.ro . On '1-rell -,·ratered fertil e soil, as for e~~emple near the Hissouri

Iaver 1 Uni·t.ed States· of Amefica, the plat1ts frequently attain a heiGht of

· thirteen to s i:xeenfeet, or about f our to five metres . The height and

nume::-ou.s otl:er characteristics also depend. considerab~ on the varie~liY .

There are several varieti es, li1cl uding pannabis sativa var . indica,

commonly 1~10'1'111 as Carmabis i ndica. The creat majori ty of botar.ists (1)* consider that there is only one. s~cios of hemp, Cannabis sativa L.

The Stall.:s

The atall:s yield a valuable fibre, very strong, coarser, hers~er, and

l ess pliable than flax, not readily bleached E!l.'l.d so used chiefly where a

darl~ colo1.1r is not objectionable . Fol"lllerly in many parts of the '-rorld it

'Was t he most im,artant mater:'..el. in l:.omespun fabrics, but is not nov much

* All referencec ,.,ill be found at the end of the document,

/ used f or

E/Cli. 7 ft7 . 37 PaGe 4

used for clothing. It ,,as also formerly much used for ropes and ship-riagina;

here it has been la.rgel;r replaced by abaca C'Nanilla hemp"). In other

uses it has been pa.rtly .replaced by jute, ramie and ather fibres , but it

is still val.\'..able and much u.sed for t uine, cord.ege, carpet-,.rarp, sail cloths,

sacl:ing, tarpaulin and 1lelt-"rebbine. Hemp tO'\-r is used as oakum f or packing

pun\~1s and engines, fo1· narine purposes end i;n ':lpho],stery stuffing. Hemp

h\trds (the 'rooccy parts u'f the stall~s ) and hemp wastes can be used in

paJ?er-makina . (l) (2 )

For f i bre purposes hemp is grown in a great many countri~s in all parts Ol

the world . The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics produces most; Italy, HU':el

and Roumania have been large producers, Yugoslavia and Chile may also be noted as sizable producers. China and Japan are large producers but

t .nemselves consume neerly all they produce.

For fibre purposes the stall~ are generally cut ,.,hen the male plants

are in f\.UJ. bloom.

AlthouGh cultivation for seed and for resin have had a part, it is

chiefly the cultivation for fibre which has b.een responsible for the spread

of hemp over the uorld, both in cultivation ~ as a ll'ild plant.

The Seeds

Hemp is also cultiv :~.ted in ma.ny lands for the seeds or fruits, (l)

The fruits, commonl;r oaUed s~eds , are techni celly e.chenes. They

c.ontain some 20/30 per c•mt or more of a fixed oil which is valuable

industriaJ.ly. It is us e el for mal~ing paints end vernishes, and also for

soft soaps. The Union o:~ Soviet Socialist Republics ElD.d China, in Hanchm·ia

especially, are large producers of homp seed. (3)

The oil is obtained by e:•1:n-ession. lbe cal~e remaining is used for

fertilizer, es bait for j'ish and as food for domestic animals . ~e whol.e

seeds are valuable as foe~ for caged birds, and dre sometimes used to feea

poultl"y. They ere occasjonally used also as food for htunan beings, and

sometimes the oil is usee. in cooltery. The flavour, holrever, is not admired,

and is against these ~est -mentioned uses .

There have been repcrts of the seeds being crushed and mixed with

tobacco and smol;:ed by drug addicts . In a publication in 1941 Natchett

end Lowe set out evidence that ma.terial having a ''marihua.na-lil•e" activity

can be extracted from the fruits of Cannabis sativa. rrothing was determineci

as to the cllemical characteristics of the substance responsible . The

concl~s.ion was based an t~sts on do3s, and these te.sts indicated one-thirtie~h

t o one-hundredth as much ·potency for the seed$ as for the dried mru:ihu.an.a

tops (the crude dru3) in ·~he illicit trade . (4) Dewey remarks that in

/medieval

E/CN. 7/H .37 Page )

medieval tillles in EtU'ope the 11 seeds 'rere . cool;:ed '\lith barley and other . . ' . . crains end eaten, thoueh it ;.ras found d.a.n{;erous to eat too much or too

frequently . 11 There do not . apr-ear to be any r eports tha·c hemp seeds are

ever eaten for a ~cotic effect or as -a pleasure-druG, nor any re~orts

that uh~n eaten for food they have ever caused eddiction or even euphoria.

The seeds are usually removed fram the crude druG before it is smoked.

The seeds have had a very sli:¥lt t~se in m~dicine , but only on· accotuit

C1f tl:.eir oil content , and in no llay as an active drug .

The nesin

The infloresce11ce and tr...e leaves and stems,, particularly at the

top of the P,lant, are coated ' ·lith a sticlcy resin. Chemical tests for

cer·i;ain constituents of the resin have shmm that it is already present

on ti?Y seed.lincs.' that have just develoJ;Jed their first true leaves. Up to the time of flmrering the male al1d female plants produce reGin equally 1

or nearly so, and of the same l~ind, lThether tested chemically or

physioloGically. Hm·rever, as already mentioned, after shedding t heir

pollen the male plants soon die 1 ru1d so ii' the tops for drug purposes a.re

collected later in the year 1 as they usually are, they come, naturally 1

from the female plants only. The belief that the male plants do not

p:1.·oduce the cll"Ul3 at all is quite unfounded.

The crtld.e dxus consists of the dried tops of the plants) with adherent

resin. The physiological effects are principally due to this resfu, though

!lOBsibly same constituents of the loafy and ,.,oody parts n1ey have some

eff ects of a different kind. The belief that the druc properly or

necessarily consists only of the unfertilized tops of the female plants,

or the resin fram them, is a ctU'ious one. In support of this it is true

that on mo.ny of the plantations in India the male plants ar e e:rterminated

"Hh c;reat ce.re, before they cc.n shed their pollen . Perhaps the female

plants then m~e better. grO\-rth and produce more resin. Perhaps t he object

i s to prevent any pollen getting in t he dru3; for many people are aJ.lerc;ic

to hemp pollen. It is quite certain ~hat the resin from the fertilized

tops, full of seed, is potent; and in most perts of t he uorld it is the

fercilized tops that are used.

The resin is i nsoluble in .;.rater but soluble in alcohol , organic

so~vents i n General and petroleum ether. Often it is separated more or

less c.;aa~letely from the leaves end stems , either by mechlmica.l meWls

or b~r sol ution in alcohol or same o~her solvent . In this way more potent

preparations .are obtained, ,.,hich a.;.·e , however , still crude. d.rucs in tlhich

the active principles are mi::ed with much inert or undesirable material~

/II . ~'\i!C.AL

E/CII. 7 /lv .37 Pace G

II. CllEHICAL ASPECTS OF THE DTIUG

The Active PriEciplas

'Ihe chemistry of the resin vras formerly much confused, . and some of

the ccn:f'usion still persists, even in some re~t.ct reference boolcs . l ;uch of

it rel ates to the 1-rord "~annabinol 11 • This term ha,s been used for a

toxic "red oil11 obta.ined from the resin by distillation under greatly

redl.\ced pressure . Hm·rev·~r , Dl.mste.n and Her1ry in 1898, and Hood, Spivey

and Easter.field the foll•11-Ti~ yeax 1 isolated a definite ~hem:i.cal compound

as the crystalline aceta·:e, and nallled this c~abinol . In the f.ol lowil1G

years, l.Ultil 1931, several chemists 1 1dthout beinG able to confirm this

separation, obtained en oily isolate 1rhich they called "can."labinol" .

Actually their products ·Here mi;:tuxes of some clos ely re:i.ated CO!llp01mds ,

but such a mi::>...-ture behe.VEtS in many uays lil~e a pure s ubstance. FinP-lly 1

in 1931, Cahn acain isolhted tlte I,JLU'e connabinol , a definite chemical

compow1d; end in recent years severel cl1emists have obtained it .

Unfortunctely this pure cennab i nol proved not t o be "~" active principle,

al"i.;hough it is tmdc and acoordinc to sorne 'recent research does have the

specific na.rco'cic effect in some s l iGht degree . The specific narcotic

effect of the Cannabis dxug is, hO'I·rever, resident in :the "cn'lde ~annabinol"

or the distilled mixture of compounds r elated to end i ncluding the pure

cruu1abinol . To this is due the statement in many reference bool;:s t hat

cannab i nol is the active principle . This is incorrect, accoridng to the

nonenc:ature n<11r accepted by che:mi sts . (5) ( 6)

In 191~0 Adems, IIunt md Clru·k reported the isolation of another ~finite

compound, thi s being obta tned from the "ni.ari huana extract" of Ninnesota

llild hemp. 'lbey n!Jllled it cannabidi ol. It is not the active principle

either. llmrever, Adams and h i s collaborators ueut on to shm·r t hat

cannabidiol isomerizes to tetrahydrocannabinol, lrhich does have "ll'.arihuana activity" . ('r) (0)

As a r esult of furth£tr uork by Adams and collaborators in the

United Ste.tes 1 Todd and cc•llaborators i n England, and other chemists , the

structure and syntheses of c&L~abinoi w1d cannabidiol and numerous

derivat,ives have been estEblished. (9 ) (lO) (11)

J acob e.nd Todd also isolated cannabol , an i flcmcr of cannabidiol vrhich

lil,m-rise has lit tle narcotic effect. (l 2) Hellner, Na~chett , Levine and

Loevre i n 191}2 reported on the isolation o:f natural tetrahydrocannabinol

fl·om chal'as . It Has not obtained in crystalline form. (l3) A number of

different isomeric substan::es are possible 1thich are entitled chemically

to the nrune tetrahydrocann:~.binol and it is ;probable tha.t several ext st i n

/the hemp plen:~ .

E/CH. 7 /H .37 Pat;~ 7

the hemp plant . It is ~enerally ec;reed n~r thc.t the chief active com::?one~·.ta

of hemp resin are tetrah;y:drocarme.binols . ~ p , " -

'l\ro GJ:'OUJ?S . of rezearchers have isolated nC~Xco'ticelly active substances

from the res:!.n in crystall ine form. Very little, however , is lmo1m abou·c

the st;bstances; one called ca.n..11.in and the ·other ur.nwned but perhaps a

r.iethylcw..nabinol . (ll~) (15)

Fulton has shovm that some of the compounds related to cw.nebinol are

sol ubl e in aqueouo all:ali , e.t least from fresh r esin. (l6) This worl;: in

part foll<>'·Ted a separation discovered by Nyttenaere, and '1as soon after

a.mr>lified and in J?ar-c mor e col·rectly e:.."]?lained by liadinaveitia, Russell

aud Todd. (l7)(lD) It appears that alkali solubility is conferred by

corJbi ne.tion with a phenolic e.c:Ld . Very fe,·r researchers have done e..""lY

worl: on fresh resln direct f rom the green pl ants , end t he majority have used

the distilled oil e}:cl usively.

Tetrahydrocannabinol , he::ahydrocannabi nol and l1tunerous homol ogs

and analogs havinr, "ma1·ihuana activity" 1 or a narcotic effec·c similar to

thet of ce..Ilile.bis resin, can non be produced eynthetically, either from

co.:.mabidiol end cannabinol, or by a chain of syntheses frOLl materials not

derived f'1·on the hem;;> plan·~ . In 191~5 Adams , Chen and Loe'"re reported on

v~ious s:,rnthetic~ , including one even more potent than the most active

nat~al i~olate thus far obtained. (l9)

All of t he st\bstcmces related to cen.nabinol , discussed above , are

compounds of carbon, hydrogen and m:y~;en only. They are not all:aloids .

Chemical TestE,

The Al !:aline Beam test is due to cannabidiol and closely related

compounds of similar str ucture . The Acid Bean test us i ng a petrol et"!Ll ether

extract is 1-xrobably due to a c;lucoside of one (or mor e) of t he 11ce.nnabinol

compot'.l1ds" . liost of the ethel• tes·cs that have been found especially usef\tJ.

end characteristic for the dr:.1;; ap!:)eer to be due to all t he 11 ca.Jlllab:!.nol

compotmds" - carmabinol, cannabidiol , tetrahydrocannabinol and the other

closel.v related compounds lrhich occu.r in hemp r e s in.

othel• Consti tu.ents of Hemp

Al thouGh other constituents have only a minor importance it may be

"\-Tell to nate mention of some of thom that have been identif'ied.

7he characterj.stic odour of the hemp pl ant, and of the res:!.n, i s

not due to t he plzysiclogically ac'dve part, but to an "essentiaJ. oil" ul":.ich

can be much more easily distilled. T'ne most thorouGh analysis of this vas

:reported on by Simonsen and Tocld i n 191~2 • . This particular oil wes obteinec1

from EeJrr,tim1 hashish. The loi"r- boilinG t e rpene consisted mainly of

/ p-cyrucne

E/CL 7 /H.37 Pace 3

p- cymene end 1-methyl· ~ - isopror.enylbenzene . Tha hic;her boiling f ractions

contain humulene (d-ceryophyllene), hitherto found only in oil of hops

and oil of cl oves . The hop plant {II~unulus lupulus ) and hemp belonG t o the

saz:e botanical fam.tly. (20)

A poraffi~e P~drocarbon is also present in the resin, i derrcified as

n-nouacosane. (5 )

flavine fractionated. r ed oil from a c:n.~de ethe.nolic hemp extract,

1\d~s , Pease and Cla.l•k in 191~0 r eported en the isolation of quebrachitol ,

a vater-·soluble substoJ.lce, the monomethyl ether of 1- inositol, c6ric(OII)t: • (2l) 0 i.)

'l'he presence of an al.ke.loid i n the crude fu'tlg, or even i n the resin,

has often been claimed ::>r asswned , Practically nothing def i nite is knmm·

of a:ny all>e.loid peculiar to hemp. Hmrever, choline, trigonelline and

muscarine have. been rep)rted by differ ent investigators as p:resent in

t he crude drug. Cholin:l is a nitrogenous base but is usually ·:not classed.

as an ellreloicl . It i s ·rery widespread in both t he vegetable and. a)limal

l::inBdoms . Tri3onelline is found i n t he seed of !!ifiCI!lel la foem.m1-..(Q:a.ecum L .

It is also present in C•)ffee o.nd i s s~'.id to be nonwtoxic o Huscarine is

fo~cl in Amanita muscar:~ L, a -poisonous mushroom. It is highly to~dc .

The r eported pr esence o:~ muscarine in hemp perhaps should be investigated.

further . TriGonelline 1md muscari ne are genereJ.J.y classed as all~aloicls . {22)

Some hemp contains considerable amounts of red e.nthocyanin pigni'3nt·,

as uell as chlorophyll.

/III . HEDICAL

III. liEDICAL ASPECTS

The Dru~ in J)edicine

E/CiJ. 7 jw .37 Page 9

aemp has only a small use in medicine . I t has oeen used to relieve

pe.in, to encourage ·sleep, sooi;he restlessn;.:ss, ~oduce eu~o;ria, rel~eve . . .. miureinic heado.c!1es, in psychiatric studies, etc. This is not . to say that

it is a..l,·Te.ys succaosful in such ~al:i,~s . The g.'t'ea~ obstacle to. its use has

bee11 the enormous variaticm in potency of differon-~ .samples . Th.e

United States Pharme.col,':oeia, '1-rhich has nolr dropped Canna'Qis entirely, .

forinerly {Tenth Revhion) required a biological stenda.rdize.tion.. The

a\tthors of "71-le Dispensatory of the United States of America" 9~ent t hat . .

the method 'vas "able to distinGUish inert st);llples from ar:tive ones but not

even ap!_jroximately relia'ole as a quantitative meas\U'e " o (3)

The e'::tract of hemp '·Tas also t rl:lidi tionally used in corn, medicines , . ..

but · in such \lSe it seems to have had no possible e:!fect exce~ po colour

the pre-paration ~ri'i;h the chloropb;:,rll ;rh i ch it cont ~i.ns .

There iS Sti.ll no method for Ch,.Y:J; i.Cal stanOal"•l f.1.ati0~1, a'ld. the USe ·­

Of Ce.nna.bis i n medicine is at a very l<11'" point in:irJ~d.. HcMeYer) ·nO\·T. that

the chemi !::try of the rt!s in is bett-er under stood, ~J.; is p.:9sible that a

chemical me·chod fo:t: stania:rdizc:cion '!!l.a.y be wol·jted cut . . Or, wtural .

isolates may 110ssioly c~9 ir.to use$ Al so, synthotic ~olucts d~riyed

fran coropou..-•c'l.s of hemp resin or analegous to te·tra.~yirocan..'t'labiJ?.C1 may be

found useful in certain treatLlent s . A bibliography r elative to synthetic ·

products has. been preJ?a:red.

The Ha::cC?1!£Yle~t~.:r.EL1?..1J!.~

In ma.ny pcrts of the -.;-rorld hemp is u.sr~-5., or misused, as a stupefying

narcotic pleasure - drug.. I t is thus used e$pacially in India, Iqepa.1,

Sinl:ie.nB, I ran and Arabia; in Egypt , Tunis , Uorocco end by the nat..i.ve. races

in other pa:rts of Africa; and in the Uest Indies , Brazil, Nexico end soma

other Latin-American countries . Egypt is not a pro~ucer but is a larBe

consumer i n the illicit trade; most of the crther countri~s produce their

o-.;rn narcotic hemp, either l egally or illeBa:t.ly. The drug use has spread

from these countries to :nany ot:1ars , for insto.nce from Nexico to the

United States and Canada.

The dntG may be smelted, eaten, or d.mnlc . Sn1oking is most common.

I.n the Hester11 hemisphere smo!:ing cigw.·ettes made fran the dried tops of

the plants alone or mixed with toba~oo is about t he only form of

i ndulgence in this drug. Usually the 0.:.-ieo. hr.rb is brolten up, and most

of the seeds (if present) and the la't'G(jr pir-, (.;e s of stems are removed.

Sometimes these a:re ca:refull y sifted out; ·but othe1"~rise ther e is no

/ee:pecial

E/CN. 7 /H.37 Page 10

especial preparation. In Egypt and in Asia the · use of more potent

preparations is very ccmmon. Charas, the crude resin, i s also smo!:ed.

Sueetmeats and collfections of various l;:inds are prepared from the resin

or the l?OWdered crude drug 'nth sugar or honey and spices, and eaten.

Another preparation is made by heating the drug vTi th butter and ll'8ter .

The res~·. blends 'dth the melted butter and yields a very potent :product.

Sometimes the pm·tdered :!rug is stirred up in vTater and the uhole drunk.

The resin is not soluble in •rater so this last is not a method of

concentration but simply- another •ray of in&esting the drug. The drug may

be e~cta·acted vrith a str::mg alcoholic beverage; or an extract with alcohol

may be used to :prepare a beverage. The combined effects of hashish and

alcohol - are thus obtain3d, but if' the preparation i s at all concentrated

the effects of the hemp greatly predominate . (23)(24)

Sometimes the hemp drug is mixed ~·rith opiUI!l for eating. It is also

somet:il'nes mixed with hy:>scyamus; this is sometimes unlmmm to the one •rho

ta.l~es it and is done to vreaken the 'rill of the victim or facilitate robbery

or rape. (25) Hany of t :1e spices and other substences used in Near-Eastern

:preparations have a rep1tation. as aphrodisiacs in .Arab medicine. ( 2l~) In

the United .States SOI!le marihuana cigarettes have been fou:1d t.o contain

crushed aspirin tablets , Presuraably this is thoue-1-lt to add a little extra

effect.

The Cannabis drug :ls a stupefying narcotic ; it perverts the senses

of time and space; stim,u ates the imagination; produces euphoria or

sometimes apprehension; sometimes causes a]hrodisia; sometimes induces

uncontrolled and crbn:i.nal. violence , double- consciousness, or a sense of

"the soul being separatnd from the body", and dreams, also result;

suggestibility, hall.ucinations , acute sensitivity to sound and oneiric

ecstacy are also noted. The eA~rience usually ends with somnolence .

Unl.ike opium, abrupt \rithdre:wal is not harm:f'ul1 even in the case of

confirmed addicts . (23) (~~4)

/IT. SONE QUESTIONS

E/CN. 7 j\f . 37 Page ll

rl. SO£.~ . QUESTIONS Jil."FECTIHG ENFORCEHI!NT Al'JD AGIU!:EliEr7l'S

The Question of Di ffer ent Ki.nds of Carme..bis

It is of·ten believ.ed t hat t he fibre and resin produciug varieties

cif Cannabis ere distinct . Usually this rests O:l nothing except an i dea

held by :')e01)le ltho ere acquainted vrith hemp only as a fibre plant, that

t his cc.ru~o~ b~ the · same pl~t llS the one vrhich produc~s such rema.rl•a·ole . . .

e f:eects uhen consu.'ned as a druB. The idea is fallacious . There is no . . . .

pon.sib~e doubt ·vhat ever that in some cases the. same variety, grmrn in the

same :field, uill :,rield satisfactory fibre , prolific seed product:!.an and

a highly potenc resin ...

This is not aJ:vrn.ys. the ca!je , since there are a number of varieties,

some best for fibre, some for seed and some for resin. E£nreyer, another

idea, t hat potent resin can only be obtained in t r opi cal climates , is also

larGely fallacious . It per sists in spite of the fact that t he potency

of res i n ~oduced . in Central Europe or in Central or Northern U:n.ited States

of i\mer ice has . been demonstrat ed a nl.lr!lber of t iJ:nes .. :No doubt , ~lli

sa.tive var i ndica, a variety a ccliL.1.ated to hot r ec;ions , · cannot 'be very

successfully cro"rn in a northen1 region having a complete:i..y di.i'f'eren·~

climat e and a different length of c;rmrinG season. This really has little

t o do '-lith t he alle::;ed incapacity of the species to !Xt"oduce potent r esi n

i n tet1perate ql imates . Cannabis of Manchurian ori13in, c:ro";lll in i1L'111asota,

United Stat es of An1erioa~ ;o:rcduced hiGhly poten·c r esin. As a metter of

fact , r~1ch chel·as - the extremely potent crude r esin - is said to be

produced in Sinldang, '·rhich can scarc-ely be called a t r opical reGion.

Cl early ,.rhen a country finds it necessary t o r e[SUlete the cttJ.ture of

Cannabio , SOlile restrictions may be necessary on a:ny e.nd all varieties of

the species . Ilolrever, it i s possible that besides this ., the culture of a

certain variety, or varieties 1 l.novm or believed to be the source of

unusually potent dru3s, and of less use othe:ndse 1 mi sht '1-lell be totally

prohibited. Ther e is a certain advantage in this , because the grmring ot

a l').i(;hly potent variety, of l ess use for :fibre than the kind usually crmm •

es:c:Jtecially 1·rhen it is Gl'OVffi in the middle of a field, surrounded by the

ordinary fibre variety - is clear ).)roof o:f crimincl intention. Syria ,

Bulgaria and Turkey have at various times r eported that t hey peruit t he

cult \.u-e of Ca.r>..nabi s sativa but prohibit that of "Cannabis ind:ica" . The

fields are inspected for the :rn-ohibited variety.

AlthoUGh no chemical assay for the potency of the resin is yet

avai lable, saoe progress has been made in diff erentiatinG varieties from

this po;!,nt of vielr. One k i nd produces comparati vely little resin, but

/thi s resin

E/CN . 7 /vT .37 Page 12

this r esin is probably rather potent in proportion to its amount . Another

kind produce s considerable r esin but in relation to its aoount the resin

is not very active physi :>logically. The varieties llhich produce the most

resin of all are the s am3 , apparently, that produc::e the most potent resin .

Considering only the kini of r esin, and not its amount, there. appear to be

t1vo main tY];les of plants , 1-rhich can be distinguished chemically by the

nature of the res in pr od.lced. Both type s ar e :;moked by addicts , but the

hemp '\-Tbich has l east crunabidiol (and compounds of the same tY];)e ) in

r el ation to the largest total of all the compounds rela~ed to cannabinol,

is the ki nd preferred. '['be t1-10 types have been evident in the illicit

traffic in Chicago, U.S .. \. There, the more potent kind is said to have

been smuggled in from Me.dco j but observations in Ninnesota indicated

that the distinction is :?rimarily one of variety, and only secondarily,

if at all, dependent on · ~limate .

Question of Nome nclature

The t e rm "Indian heHlp" ( "chanvre indien") for the_ drug is r ather

unfortunate . First, it :i.mplies that the drug is. obtained only from

variety indica. Enquiri·~s as to the cultivation of the plant ar e generally

misunderstood as not applying to the fibre pl o.nt; and there are other

disadvantages. Secondly, the term is a source of confusion, because other

plants in no way r elated are often call ed "Indian hemp" - some times

r eferring to fibre plant:; of India, sometime s to a native plant of North

America (chan\rre du Canada, Canadtan hemp , Apocynum canne.binum) . The term

"hemp" is also applied to other fibres, such as ''lYlanilla hemp" (abaca), and

sometimes to the plants :~rom lrhich they a re derived. (26'- The most suitabl~ term for t he drug and thn plant would appear to be Cannabis {Cannabis sativ-a ,

cannabis drug) . The botanical genus comprises only the one species, ana n()

confusion exists as to the meaning .

/V. AP:PEHDIX

V. APPENDIX

. . Bibliographical References

E/CN. 7/H .37 Page 13

The following ' references by no means. present a comple.te bibliogra.p}ly • . : . . . . '. .

They supply rather a minimum bibliography f'or ccr.~fi~t~on of. certa~n _points

and e~plification_of othe~s. . . ' . . "' .

(1) "Hemp", by Lyster H. Dewey. Ye.arbock of . the Uni ted.S'cates

Department of Agric~ture for 1913, pages 283-346~ . (I_ncludes botanical

description and hist~ry of ·cultivation, . especially. as. a fibre plant) .

(2} Economic Plants~ _by Ernest Elwood. Stanf~rd. , .D. Appleton-Century Co.

New York, 193_4. ·

(3) The Dispensatory of the United States of America. Horatio c •. Hood,

Arthur Osol, Heber vl. Youngken and Louis G:~rshenfeld. 23rd. edition.

J. B. Lippincott Co··~, Phila~elphia, London, Montreal, 1943.

(4) "On the Preparation of an Extract Having 'Harihuana-li!:c ' A~tivity

from the Fruits of Cannabis Sati.va". John R. r-1atchett and s. Loe1·rc. Journal

of the American Phannaceutical Association, Scientific Edition vol. 30, No. 5,

He.y 1941. {In Arch.:i ves .file 12-236i5-6o49, jacl~et No. 2) . . .

(5) "A Critical survey of the literature dealing iTi th the chemical . . . constituents of Cannabis sativa". A. H. Blatt. Journal. of the UashinGton

Academy of Sciences 28,465 (1938). (In Archives file 12-23615-6043,

jacket No. 2).

( 6) "Marihuana Activity of Cannabinol". S. Loe1re. Science

102 , 615-616 p.945) .. .

(7) "Structure of Cannabidiol, a prod,..tct isolated f rom the Marihuana

E::tract of fiiinne seta v!ild llemp. l." Roger Adams, Madison Hunt and J . R.

Clarlt •. J~:mrnal of the American . Chemical Society. 62, 196-200 (l94o) • . . .

(In Archives file 12-23615-6043, jacl~:et No. 3) . . . .

(8) "Conversion of Cazmnbidiol to a Produc-t( vii th Harihua:1a Activity" •

Roger Adams, D. C. Pease, C. K. Cain, B. R. Balcer, J. H. Clark, Hans Uolff and

R. B. Uearn. Journal of the American .Chemical Society 62, 2245-2246 (1940). . . . · , '

(In Archives file 12·23615-6043, jacl:et No. 3)

( 9) · . "Harihuana". Harvey Lecture 19 F~bruary 191~2. Roger Adams.

Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, November 1942.

(10) "The Chemistry of Hashish". A. R. Todd. The Scientific Journal

of the Royal College of Science 12, 37-45 (1942).

(11) ''Hashish". A. R. Todd. EJ...']?er ientia 2, 55-60 (1946).

(12) "Cannabidiol anq Cennabol, .constituents of -Cannabis indica resin."

A, Jacob and A. R~ Todd, Nature 145,350 (1940).

/(13) "Isolation of

E/CN. 7 jw .37 Page 14

( 13) "Isolation of a physiol ogicaJ.ly active te-trahydrocannabinol

from Cannabis sativa re:dn" . H~j. Wollner , J ohr. R. Matchett, Joseph Levine

and S . Loewe . Journal of_ the American Chemical Society, 64, 26-29 (1942 ).

(14) . "A Physiologically Active Principle from Ca!l!labis Sativa :

(Marihuana)". A.J . Haa(;en-Smit J C. ?.. . Wa~~ra,J.B. Koepfli, G. A. Alles , ·.'1'-

G. A. Feigen, A.N. Pratel' . Science 91, 602-603 (1940) . (In Archives file

12 -23615-6043, jacket No. 2)

(15) "A~tive Priitcipl e of Marihua..."1B.". G. Powell , MoR. Salmon,

T .H. Be!Wry a11dR .P. WaJ.t ort . Science 92_, 522-523 (1941) .

(16} . ."&1a.lytica1 Cl asses of. Ca~~binol Compounds in Mar ihuana Resin" .

Charles C. Fulton. I ndt tstrial and Enginee!":i.ng Cbe~stry, Analyti_ce.1

Edition, 14, 407-412 (15'42).

(17) ~'fourt_h Note on Indi .an B:emp" and "Suppl e:me!lt'! . "Sixth Note on

Cannabis". F . de Mytter..ae::o(il . League of Nations .Dccuments O.C.l724(a) and

Addendum (1938) a~d o.c. Cannabisfl3 (1.939 ). Al so J. Pharm, Belg. 20,

341, 357, 683 , 70·~(and. 'i23 (1.938) and 22 , 163 (1940). . -

(18) "Cannab,is I z:C.ica . Part XI. A..'l Examination of th~ Alkali -

Soluble Portio!l of .A.merican H~mp Re~5.n." (Mr s . ) A. Madinaveitia , P .B . Russell . . and _A.R . Todd . Journal of ~he Chemical Society, 1942 , 628-630. (In Archives

file 12 -34180-6043) .

( 19) "Tetrahydl'QCai,ll'labinol homol ogs vi t h a ·sec -alkyl gr oup in the • > • •

3 -position, XVI." Boger Adarun, K.H •. Chen ani S . Lo~:n..re . Journal of t he

A~erican Chemical Society 67, 1534-1537 (1945) • . . " .

(20) "Cannabis i ndi ca& Pa rt X. The essential oil . f~om Egyptian

hashish . " J .L .

1942, 188-191.

Simonsen and A.R. Todd . Journal of the Chemica l Society

(In ~~c~ives filE;l 12.- 34180-6043.) . . . .

(21 ) . " Isolation cf c~abinol, ca.nna~idi~l and quebrachitcl from .

red oil of Milll':lesota wild hemp. " Roger Adams, .D. c . Pease and J .H. Clark.

Journal of the American ~hemical Society 62, 219!~.-2196 (1940). (In . . . . . . . .

Archives file 12-23615-6043, jaqket No. 3)

(22) The Merck Index., 5th edition, 1940. Merck & Company, Rahway,

New Jer sey .

(23) Marihuana, Amer i ca ' s New Dr ug Proble~~ Robert P~ Wa~ton ,

J .B . Lippincott Co.~ .. P_hiladel phia, 1?38 .

(24) "Present Stat e of Documentat.i~n col!cer ning_ Gannabis and the

Problems to which it give~ r~se . " J. Bouquet , . Le~gue of Nations, o.c./ cannabis 3, · 12 Ap:::il :1,.939 . . . . . . (25) "Subcommi:ttee on Cannabis. P:rogress repm;t o~ the

Subcomrrl t t ee ' s Work. " l eague of Nations, 0 .c. 1724.(b ) • 1 JUne 1938 .

( 26) "Vegetabl e Iroducts Wr ongly Designated as Hemp~ II J. Bouquet:

League of Nations , O.C. 1724, 31 March 1938; also O.C.l724(b), 1 June 1938.