WHILE cannabis’s potential for harm has been well-documented and numerous studies show some therapeutic benefits of medicines synthesised from the drug, the British government is reviewing the law on medicinal use of cannabis.

Man’s relationship with marijuana goes back millennia. Most ancient cultures were acquainted with the drug and hemp crops were first grown over 10,000 years ago. The Chinese used cannabis for medicinal purposes 5,000 years ago, followed by other ancient civilisations including the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and medieval Arabs who also used the drug to treat a wide array of ailments.

Cannabis has been associated with both love and war — the legendary Arabian Nights folk tales note the narcotic’s aphrodisiac properties, while the Hashshashin (“hashish smoking”) warriors, a 11th-13th-century Shi’ite sect based in Persia, from which the English word assassin mistakenly derives, were given cannabis to induce a hypnotic state and eliminate the fear of death. More recently, during World War II US scientists found a potent extract of marijuana that could be used as a truth serum.