ABSTRACT
The herb cannabis is derived from the Old World species
Cannabis sativa
L.
Cannabis indica
and
C. ruderalis
may also merit species status. Cannabis has a history as an analgesic agent that spans at least 4000 years, including a century of usage in mainstream Western medicine. Quality control issues, and ultimately political fiat eliminated this agent from the modern pharmacopoeia, but it is now resurgent. The reasons lie in the remarkable pharmacological properties of the herb and new scientific research that reveals the inextricable link that cannabinoids possess with our own internal biochemistry. In essence, the cannabinoids form a system in parallel with that of the endogenous opioids in modulating pain. More important, cannabis and its endogenous and synthetic counterparts may be uniquely effective in pain syndromes in which opiates and other analgesics fail.
