Marijuana has been called the “miracle herb” of the century by many medical professionals due to the various health benefits that it produces. The plant’s main medicinal component: CBD, has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, anti-pain and anti-psychotic properties.
For many living in pain, seizures and end of life situations, CBD has been said to contain miraculous properties to help alleviate or even make symptoms disappear.
So is Marijuana a miracle cure, or just part of a snake’s oil scheme? To start off, there has not been one recorded death related with Marijuana overdose. Technically speaking, overdose is possible if you consume 53 whole grams of THC all at once, but any substance taken at that level will kill you.
Marijuana’s rise to fame in the medical world comes from its cancer preventing properties, which can be said to alleviate the effects of chemotherapy but also have many numerous anti-cancer effects to treat tumors and strengthen the immune system.
You can see the use of Marijuana treating diseases here, where a man has been relieved of his symptoms of Parkinson’s disease:
Therapeutic use of Marijuana is called: “Medical Marijuana” and has been legalized in many countries around the world as long as prescribed by a medical professional.
Ancient uses of Marijuana
However, the plant’s widespread usage has not been a recent development. Throughout history, the herb has been used across the world, from as early as 2737 B.C. by the Chinese emperor whom prescribed Marijuana tea for treatment of various diseases.
China, can be seen as the birthplace of the first users of Cannabis although the introduction of Taoism around 600 BCE has brought a pushback against the plant. Many ancient paintings can be seen depicting the plant.
Many of the colonies of the Portuguese and British empires in Africa and India are also a commonplace to cultivate the plant however the respective empires have introduced policies to a Marijuana Prohibition which would eventually lead to the total ban of the cultivation of the crop in those countries. The illegalization of the plant started from many European countries and its colonies which led to this to the rest of the world following.
However, Marijuana still remains as the world’s most used illegal substance in countries where the plant is illegal. This plant isn’t complicated to grow and may take from 20-30 weeks, the ease of doing this may the reason why historically and currently, Marijuana usage is so widespread in many cultures across the world.
Recent developments
The countries that have legalized the recreational use of Marijuana are Canada, Georgia, Malta, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Uruguay the USA, and Peru –many more countries seem to be following suit. The first motivation could be due to the economic benefits that come from commercial marijuana.
Here are the countries with the highest Marijuana use per population according to Delphihealthgroup:
- Iceland: 18.3%
- United States: 16.3%
- Nigeria: 14.3%
- Canada: 12.7%
- Chile: 11.83%
- France: 11.1%
- New Zealand: 11%
- Bermuda: 10.9%
- Australia: 10.2%
- Zambia: 9.5%
- Uruguay: 9.3%
- Italy: 9.2%
- Spain: 9.2%
- Madagascar: 9.1%
- Czech Republic: 8.9%
- Israel: 8.88%
- St Lucia: 8.87%
- Belize: 8.45%
- Barbados: 8.3%
- Netherlands: 8%
In Thailand, the Cannabis market is expected to grow by about 15% per year between 2023 and 2025 according to the Bangkok Post. Since 2022, the Thai Food and Drug Administration removed Cannabis from the Category 5 narcotics list. The government sees the plant as a “cash crop” to help support the Thai economy for the future years to come.
In the Netherlands, Marijuana was first criminalized in 1958. However, Cannabis has been available for recreational use in coffeeshops since 1976, the laws are lax in possession of it. Small quantities of Cannabis products are allowed by licensed sellers. Cannabis in all forms is legal under the premise of “personal use”, which means smoking in public will not be prosecuted.
In the USA, recreational use of the plant has been legalized in 22 states although there have been many states that limit the psychoactive compound of THC.
We believe that the trend of legalization of Marijuana will continue in surrounding countries around Thailand and the rest of the world due to its benefit-rich properties of the plant and how it has helped many people under the right circumstances.
We hope you enjoyed this article. At WeedHub, we support the democratization and commercialization of Cannabis. You can check out our carousel of products here through this link. Happy smoking!
