Cannabis indica explained

Cannabis indica is an annual plant species in the family Cannabaceae[1] indigenous to the Hindu Kush mountains of Southern Asia.[2] The plant produces large amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)[3] and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), with total cannabinoid levels being as high as 53.7%. It is now widely grown in China, India, Nepal, Thailand, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as well as southern and western Africa,[4] and is cultivated for purposes including hashish in India. The high concentrations of THC or THCV provide euphoric effects making it popular for use for several purposes such as recreational drugs, clinical research drugs and the potential of Cannabis or selected constituents for new drug research or being used in alternative medicine, among many others.[5] [6] [7]

Taxonomy

In 1785, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck published a description of a second species of Cannabis, which he named Cannabis indica. Lamarck based his description of the newly named species on plant specimens collected in India. Richard Evans Schultes described C. indica as relatively short, conical, and densely branched, whereas C. sativa was described as tall and laxly branched.[8] Loran C. Anderson described C. indica plants as having short, broad leaflets whereas those of C. sativa were characterized as relatively long and narrow.[9] [10] C. indica plants conforming to Schultes's and Anderson's descriptions originated from the Hindu Kush mountain range. Because of the often harsh and variable climate of those parts (extremely cold winters and warm summers), C. indica is well-suited for cultivation in temperate climates.[11]

The specific epithet indica is Latin for "of India" and has come to be synonymous with the cannabis strain.[12]

There was very little debate about the taxonomy of Cannabis until the 1970s, when botanists like Richard Evans Schultes began testifying in court on behalf of accused persons who sought to avoid criminal charges of possession of C. sativa by arguing that the plant material could instead be C. indica.[13]

Cultivation

Broad-leafed C. indica plants in the Indian Subcontinent are traditionally cultivated for the production of charas, a form of hashish. Pharmacologically, C. indica landraces tend to have higher THC content than C. sativa strains.[14] [15] Some users report more of a "stoned" feeling and less of a "high" from C. indica when compared to C. sativa. (The terms sativa and indica, used in this sense, are more appropriately termed "narrow-leaflet" and "wide-leaflet" drug type, respectively.)[16] The C. indica high is often referred to as a "body buzz" and has beneficial properties such as pain relief in addition to being an effective treatment for insomnia and an anxiolytic, as opposed to C. sativa's more common reports of a cerebral, creative and energetic high, and even (albeit rarely) including hallucinations.[17] Differences in the terpenoid content of the essential oil may account for some of these differences in effect.[18] [19] Common C. indica strains for recreational or medicinal use include Kush and Northern Lights.[20] [21]

A recent genetic analysis included both the narrow-leaflet and wide-leaflet drug "biotypes" under C. indica, as well as southern and eastern Asian hemp (fiber/seed) landraces and wild Himalayan populations.[22]

Genome

In 2011, a team of Canadian researchers led by Andrew Sud announced that they had sequenced a draft genome of the Purple Kush strain of C. indica.[23]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Indoor Marijuana Horticulture. 256. 9781878823298. Cervantes. Jorge. 2002. Van Patten .
  2. Book: Cannabis. chapter 2. Duvall. Chris. 1999. Reaktion Books . 9781780233864 .
  3. Web site: Marijuana Concentrates. Drug Enforcement Administration. December 2014.
  4. Hillig . Karl W. . Mahlberg . Paul G. . June 2004 . A chemotaxonomic analysis of cannabinoid variation in Cannabis (Cannabaceae) . American Journal of Botany . en . 91 . 6 . 966–975 . 10.3732/ajb.91.6.966. 21653452 . 32469533 . free .
  5. Web site: Carvalho . Joana . GW Pharma Plans More Clinical Trials for Sativex . multiplesclerosisnewstoday . 13 January 2021 . BioNews Services, LLC . 15 October 2021.
  6. Web site: PubChem . Tetrahydrocannabivarin . 2023-07-01 . pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov . en.
  7. Abioye . Amos . Ayodele . Oladapo . Marinkovic . Aleksandra . Patidar . Risha . Akinwekomi . Adeola . Sanyaolu . Adekunle . 2020-01-31 . Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV): a commentary on potential therapeutic benefit for the management of obesity and diabetes . Journal of Cannabis Research . 2 . 1 . 6 . 10.1186/s42238-020-0016-7 . 2522-5782 . 7819335 . 33526143 . free .
  8. Richard Evans Schultes . Richard Evans Schultes . William M. Klein . Timothy Plowman . Tom E. Lockwood . amp . 1974 . Cannabis: an example of taxonomic neglect . Harvard University Botanical Museum Leaflets . 23 . 9 . 337–367 . 10.5962/p.168565 .
  9. Loran C. Anderson . 1980 . Leaf variation among Cannabis species from a controlled garden . Harvard University Botanical Museum Leaflets . 28 . 1 . 61–69 . 10.5962/p.168641 . 90557456 .
  10. http://www.bio.fsu.edu/faculty-anderson.php Dr. Loran C. Anderson - FSU Biological Science Faculty Emeritus
  11. News: How to Grow Marijuana in Sub-tropical and Temperate Climates. 2017-05-09. MSNL Blog. 2018-07-15. en-GB.
  12. Web site: indica Meaning Pop Culture . 2022-06-30 . Dictionary.com . en-US.
  13. Bosse. Jocelyn. 2020. Before the High Court: the legal systematics of Cannabis. Griffith Law Review. 29. 2. 302–329. 10.1080/10383441.2020.1804671. 229457146.
  14. Fischedick. Justin Thomas. Hazekamp. Arno. Erkelens. Tjalling. Choi. Young Hae. Verpoorte. Rob. Metabolic fingerprinting of Cannabis sativa L., cannabinoids and terpenoids for chemotaxonomic and drug standardization purposes. Phytochemistry. December 2010. 71. 17–18. 2058–2073. 10.1016/j.phytochem.2010.10.001. 21040939. 2010PChem..71.2058F .
  15. Karl W. Hillig . Paul G. Mahlberg . 2004 . A chemotaxonomic analysis of cannabinoid variation in Cannabis (Cannabaceae) . . 91 . 6 . 966–975 . 21653452 . 10.3732/ajb.91.6.966. free .
  16. "Sativa vs Indica." AMSTERDAM – THE CHANNELS. Web. 5 December 2010. .
  17. Web site: Difference Marijuana Cannabis Sativa and Indica, Sativa or Indica Marijuana Seed Strains.. Amsterdam Marijuana Seeds Seed Bank. 2010-12-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20120512095549/http://www.amsterdammarijuanaseedbank.com/Growguides/general-marijuana-info/difference-sativa-indica.html. 2012-05-12. dead.
  18. McPartland . J. M. . Russo . E. B. . 2001 . Cannabis and Cannabis extracts: greater than the sum of their parts? . Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics . 1 . 3/4. 103–132 . 10.1300/J175v01n03_08.
  19. Karl W. Hillig . 2004 . A chemotaxonomic analysis of terpenoid variation in Cannabis . . 32 . 10 . 875–891 . 10.1016/j.bse.2004.04.004. 2004BioSE..32..875H .
  20. Web site: Northern Lights aka NL Weed Strain Information . 2023-02-18 . Leafly . en.
  21. Web site: 2020-06-09 . Marijuana strains: The best of indica, sativa, hybrid, and more . 2023-02-18 . www.medicalnewstoday.com . en.
  22. Karl W. Hillig . 2005 . Genetic evidence for speciation in Cannabis (Cannabaceae) . . 52 . 2 . 161–180 . 10.1007/s10722-003-4452-y. 24866870 .
  23. Van Bakel . H. . Stout . J. M. . Cote . A. G. . Tallon . C. M. . Sharpe . A. G. . Hughes . T. R. . Page . J. E. . 10.1186/gb-2011-12-10-r102 . The draft genome and transcriptome of Cannabis sativa. 22014239 . 3359589 . 12 . 10 . 2011 . Genome Biol. . R102 . free .

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