Across various traditional healing practices worldwide, herbal medicines, music, specialized diets, meditative states, and healing touch are frequently utilized. On the other hand, specific symptoms are the focus of treatment in modern Western medicine. It is crucial to recognize and address both Permanent Marker strain profile implicit and explicit biases against medical pluralism in authoritarian institutional settings to ensure optimal patient outcomes. The spirit of the plant resides in the medicine when we gather it; this essence remains within. Each remedy and individual is unique since particular solutions are effective for specific people. We are composed of four elements — physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

Nonetheless, various historical and contemporary Chinese sources conflict regarding which parts of plants relate to specific traditional drug names such as mafen (), mahua (), and mabo (), complicating their medical interpretation. Even though cannabis preparations have been thoroughly documented in Chinese bencao , materia medica, texts for approximately 1800 years, no systematic evaluations of the medicinal uses of cannabis in the English-language bencao literature and the historical evolution of the plant parts utilized have been conducted. Historical Chinese medical texts feature all components of the cannabis plant, including the seed (achene), female flowers, leaves, roots, the stalk cortex, and the water used for fiber processing. This article does not involve data sharing since no new data were produced or analyzed during this research. The conception and design of the study involved MNA and SS; the manuscript was prepared and the data was interpreted by MNA; KH and MG contributed to drafting and revising the manuscript; and the final draft was reviewed and edited by KH, MNK, MG, and SS.

In the present day (traditional medicine has emerged as a global trend), with an increasing number of patients pursuing more holistic and personalized health care, desiring greater control over their health and well-being. Numerous countries acknowledge traditional medicine as a significant health care resource and have made efforts to incorporate practices, products, and practitioners into their national health systems. According to a WHO report from 2019 — Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) is practiced in 170 countries.

Cannabis was believed to facilitate communication with the divine and induce altered states of consciousness conducive to spiritual experiences or spirit-walking trances. Additionally, cannabis may have played a role in Mayan religious ceremonies and rituals, although specific details are not as extensively documented as in some other ancient cultures. However, historical records reveal that “mystic Islamic travelers” originating from Syria during the 12th century AD (Ayyubid dynasty) introduced hashish to the Egyptian population. Despite prohibition in many countries and conflicts between state and federal law in the United States — cannabis has played an important part in human history. Ayurvedic medicine, African traditional healing, and Native American plant medicine incorporate cannabis into holistic treatment approaches that address mind, body, and spirit, emphasizing personalized therapies and ceremonial preparation methods that maximize therapeutic efficacy.

Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: Cannabis in Healing and Spirituality

As the use of Kampo continues to rise in conjunction with Western medicine — there is growing realization of the urgent need to study the interactions between these two types of medicines . Together with radiotherapy or chemotherapy, some Japanese physicians frequently utilize Kampo medicines in treating cancer patients. A recent study has found that some physicians in Japan use Kampo medicines in their daily practice—sometimes as the preferred medication 29,30,31. In recent years — TCM has gradually gained considerable approval as a complementary or alternative medicine in Western countries.

These rituals encompass Native American vision quests (Hindu festival observances), and Rastafarian sacraments that regard cannabis as a sacred guide for connecting with divine consciousness and ancestral spirits. Traditional teachings emphasize that cannabis should be approached with respect (utilized for designated therapeutic or spiritual reasons), and consumed in amounts that elevate consciousness and community ties, embodying thousands of years of wisdom regarding the effective use of plant medicine. These programs highlight the complexity of traditional knowledge systems, the necessity of cultural context in understanding plant medicines, and the enduring significance of ancestral wisdom for current cannabis use, research, and policy formulation in the U.S. Traditional teachings consistently emphasize that cannabis must be treated with reverence, utilized for specific therapeutic or spiritual purposes, and ingested in amounts that enhance rather than diminish consciousness and community connection. Engaging ethically requires obtaining consent prior to taking part in traditional ceremonies (acknowledging the origins of traditional knowledge), and advocating for indigenous communities’ rights to manage access to their cultural heritage. Access to these ceremonial cannabis practices is often limited by indigenous communities to certain age groups, gender roles, or spiritual initiations, ensuring that plant wisdom fulfills appropriate developmental roles within cultural contexts that respect both individual growth and communal responsibility.

The application of (and research into), natural products are far from satisfactory. To counter the danger from serious illnesses and to guarantee survival of the species, it is necessary to continually produce better drugs. Human history is also the history of medicines used to treat and prevent various diseases.

In the context of cannabis — several unique challenges relate to the translation of the plant parts used, as historical sources offer conflicting descriptions of different plant parts. Authentic editions of over 800 historical bencao texts are collected together in a set known as the Complete Ben Cao , 本草全書 Ben Cao Quan Shu,; a set of this compilation stored at Hong Kong Baptist University was used as a primary reference in this study. Thus, special attention was given to tracing the historical development of applications related to seizures, pain, and mental effects or mental illness, as these conditions have been the subject of extensive research in the context of cannabinoids such as CBD and Δ9-THC (Mechoulam et al., 2002; Devinsky et al., 2014).

Trichomes Are the Key to Most Potent Cannabis Flowers

In addition (when you browse our shop), we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Another author (Bian Que), wrote about how a combination of cannabis and other herbs would bring patients to a tranquil state where they would be numb to pain, allowing surgeons to operate. Interestingly, these specifically mention taking seeds as pain relief, or in the case of Su Song, taking seeds alongside wine to treat the pain caused by broken bones. However, for now, it’s important to note that they are all uses we would today recognise as coming from the effects of CBD and THC. Once emperor Sheng Nung , 2696–2737 BCE,, now deceased, first recorded the use of cannabis in traditional Chinese medicine, around 4800 years ago—so it’s been used for quite some time.

Among anticancer drugs approved in the time frame of about 1940–2002, approximately 54% were derived natural products or drugs inspired from knowledge related to such. This shows how research using natural products has made a significant contribution in drug development 19,20. As a successful example of drug development from natural products, artemisinin and its analogs are presently in wide use for the anti-malaria treatment. From the past century, the high structural diversity of natural products have been realized from the perspective of physical chemistry.

Notably (empirical data on distinct aspects of cannabis use are lacking in selected underrepresented countries), geographical regions, and minority groups. Being traditionally used for religious and ritualistic purposes (today cannabis use is interwoven with), and influenced by, social, legal, economic, and cultural environments which often differ across countries and cultures. Specifically (we aimed to overview historical and traditional contexts of cannabis use and physical and mental health-related correlates), as well as emerging cannabis-related policies and their impacts on medicinal and recreational use of cannabis. He hoped that studying the effects of cannabis on the mind would help him to elucidate the mechanisms of madness and delusions. Jacques-Joseph Moreau de Tours (a disciple of Esquirol), traveled through the Middle East between 1836 and 1840, accompanying one of his mentor’s patients.

In these texts (cannabis—referred to as “bhang”—was considered a gift from the gods), used to facilitate meditation and connect with higher realms of consciousness. This manuscript outlines a brief overview of the cultural aspects of cannabis use across different cultures (nations), genders, and racial groups, as well as historical and traditional background of cannabis use motives. This approach suggests that cross-cultural differences in the manifestation of CUD may be driven by cultural differences that relate to specific neural mechanisms that may, in turn, impact psychopathological manifestations of cannabis use.