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admin · Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:34 am Post subject: What Is It?

Cannabis is a Central Nervous System depressant obtained from the plant Cannabis sativa, which grows in many parts of the world. It is available for use as a drug in three main forms: as the dried leaves and buds, known as grass or marijuana, as a solid resin (hashish or hash) which is collected from the buds and flower heads, and also as a thick liquid prepared from the flowers or resin (hash oil).
The main mind-altering (psychoactive) ingredient in cannabis is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), but more than 400 other chemicals are present in the plant.

Hashish is made by taking the resin from the leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant and pressing it into cakes or slabs. It is usually stronger than herbal cannabis and may contain five to ten times as much THC.
Cannabis resin found in the UK comes from a variety of sources. Slabs of hashish from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal are usually dark brown or black and resinous, while traditional hashish from Morocco and Lebanon take the form of green/brown or red/brown slabs that are often dry and brittle. However, in recent years non-traditional forms of the drug have appeared, particularly from Morrocco, where it can now be found as a dark brown or black resin in smaller slabs than previously.
Hashish is often adulterated both within the producing country and also in Europe.

Herbal cannabis has become more popular in recent years. It is imported from many countries within Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean. Herbal cannabis as commonly sold in the UK includes nearly all parts of the plant (stalk, leaves, seeds, flowering parts) that are dried and then cut or crushed. It may be imported into the UK as compressed bales or blocks of various sizes.
In recent years 'home-grown' grass has become more common in the UK and Europe. This is partly due to the increased sophisticated of growing equipment and illicit producers and partly because more potent strains of C. sativa have been developed for home cultivation.
Strains of particularly strong grass are now often available, which have a far higher content of THC than was present say, in the 1960's or 1970's home-grown herbal cannabis market. 'Home-grown' herbal cannabis is usually seen as finely cut leaves, stalks etc. of the C. sativa plant that are sold loose, rather than in any compressed form.

Cannabis oil is extracted from the flowering parts of C. sativa or from cannabis resin by using some form of solvent (such as acetone, alcohol or petrol). The solvent is then evaporated off and the thick sticky liquid left behind is known as hash oil. This oil contains a high concentration of THC and is smoked in a similar fashion to the resin. Hash oil is not very common in the UK, mainly because it is difficult to weigh or to carry it, it's fiddly to prepare for smoking and it's more expensive than herbal or resinous cannabis.

Cannabis Use

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the UK, with up to 3 million consumers per year. It is most commonly smoked, usually by mixing it with tobacco and rolling it up with cigarette papers into a cannabis cigarette (called a 'spliff', 'joint', 'jay' etc.). However, it can also be smoked with or without tobacco in various forms of pipes or smoking devices such as 'bongs' or 'water pipes'. Smoking Cannabis produces fairly instant intoxication, the effects lasting from 1 to 3 hours depending on the potency of the drug and the amount used.

Cannabis can also be taken orally, either eaten direct or mixed with food preparations, such as cakes, biscuits (hence 'hash cookies') or hot drinks. Taking Cannabis orally means that the active ingredients are absorbed slowly into the bloodstream and take an hour or two to produce their strongest effect, which may then last for 2 to 6 hours, again depending on potency and amount ingested.