Every single day without fail the press carries on with its blind campaign against cannabis, and regardless of the harm this causes to people who are perhaps contemplating using the class C drug for the first time and are looking for some unbiased, non-judgemental advice.

The fact is, if a young person reads a news-report which goes on to grossly exagerate the dangers associated with cannabis use, and then finds alternative information from within his or her own peer group, friends who perhaps have used cannabis for a period of time with no ill-effect, the damage is already done, and any future drugs message will continue to fall on deaf ears. Even if that message relates to truly dangerous drugs such as heroin, cocaine, tobacco and alcohol.

When people consume alcohol they do so to achieve "the alcohol buzz". Thats what being drunk is all about. The alcohol buzz is just that, a buzz. But when people consume cannabis they can choose what type of buzz suits their own chemical make up, by decidng whether to consume a sativa or an indica cannabis variety, both of which do a very different job. By allowing the cannabis community to take part in national drug awareness initiatives, the government can call on a collective consisting of many thousands of years of experience using cannabis safely and responsibly. A program of awareness which you either support, or you are against and if you are against it, the question is, why?

But if we were to undertake a program of education, using "we know you are going to take cannabis, so here's our recommendation on how to do so safely and with the minimum of personal risk" as the basis of a new program of awareness, this gives the young experimenter two different view-points, (official and otherwise), but both coming from a similar angle.

Teenagers are nothing more than young adults, and deserve to be treated as such. But simply rehashing lie after lie, continues to lose the government "kudos" in the eyes of the younger generation. The consequences of this are disasterous.

Offering an alternative to the "Frank" drugs awareness campaign, the Canna Zine pro-reform website believes our youngsters are responsible enough to be told the truth, and with this in mind, here is our first installment in demystifying cannabis, with a look at the different "sub-species" which all belong to the psycho-active 'cannabis' family.

NOTE: As industrial hemp has no psycho-active compounds, its not included here, because no-one in their right mind smokes hemp. If its a head-ache you're after, try alcohol.

Cannabis - Here's the dope;
Cannabis sativa L. is the scientific name given to the cannabis or hemp plant in 1753 by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus. Since then, three main types have been identified:

- Cannabis Sativa

- Cannabis Indica

- Cannabis Ruderalis

Sativa, Indica and Ruderalis each have distinctive characteristics.

Cannabis Sativa
Probably the most common form of Cannabis worldwide and also the type with the most applications. As a botanical name, sativa simply means ‘sown’ and is applied to the cultivated or common form of many agricultural crops.

A typical Sativa is a tall plant, generally a lighter shade of green than the other types. Its leaves are made up of long, narrow blades. Female flowers are longer and more ‘feathery’ in appearance than those of an Indica.

In general, the foliage of a Sativa is sparser than that of the other varieties Sativas grow taller than the other types, gaining height all through their growing and flowering phases. This is due to the equatorial origin of Sativas. In the tropical regions the length of day does not change very much between seasons, so Sativas are adapted to accomplish both their growing and flowering in a fairly uniform photoperiod.

The female flowers of Sativa strains usually grow along the length of the stem and branches, instead of forming in clusters around the internodes, as with the other types. This flower formation is due to the Sativa tendency to grow and flower simultaneously. As a result, female Sativa flowers are usually less dense and weigh less than Indica flowers.

A pure Sativa often requires a combined grow/flower period of around six months to ripen completely. For this reason there is no such thing as a pure indoor Sativa strain. All Sativa strains that are viable for indoor growing have been hybridised with Indica strains to make them more compact and faster to flower.

Nearly all cannabis grown for industrial purposes is Sativa. As the tallest variety it produces the longest fibres and therefore has the widest range of industrial uses.

Canna Zine comment;
Sativa varieties bring with them a number of issues for the home grower and as the majority of sativa strains tend on the whole to be at the "stronger" end of the THC spectrum (the active compound, the bit that gets you stoned), this is what most of the fuss is about when it comes to the news headlines which announce "Cannabis 20x Stronger".

If it were 20x stronger, it would most likely belong to the sativa family, but its not. 

The truth is, Sativa strains tend to originate from equatorial regions and as such, require far higher levels of light, and for longer periods, in order to produce the valuable and much-revered end product.

Sativa strains can take as much as 16 weeks to mature. Too long for outdoor growers on the whole, due to the crummy British weather, and as such, are out of the realistic "scope" of most indoor home-growers, so seldom will the authorities come upon a commercial cash cropper who is growing super-strong strains! In 16 weeks a cash cropper could harvest two, standard 8 week strains, which is worth a lot more money, and thats what its all about isn't it?

Cannabis Indica
Indica varieties are generally agreed to have originated on the Asian subcontinent or possibly Afghanistan. Lamarck, the first European botanist to classify this type, received his samples from India and thus dubbed the plant ‘Indica’ in recognition of that fact.

A typical Indica is a much more compact, thick-stemmed plant, usually attaining a height of less than two metres. It is a darker shade of green, some examples appearing to have almost blue or green-black foliage. Its leaves are comprised of short, wide blades.

An Indica tends to produce more side-branches and denser foliage than a Sativa, resulting in a wider, bushier plant. Female Indica flowers form in thick clusters around the internodes of the plant and usually weigh more than Sativa flowers of similar size.

The life cycle of an Indica is divided into two distinct photoperiods – growing and flowering. Growing occurs when the plant is in an environment of long days and short nights. Here, the plant devotes its energy to increasing in size.

As days become shorter and nights longer, the plant receives the signal that winter is approaching and flowering is triggered. Here, upward and outward growth slows or stops as the plant devotes its energy to growing reproductive parts. The flowers, which are the only part of the cannabis plant which have any monetary value.

An Indica requires both a growing and flowering period in order to reach its full size.

Many Indicas are a rich source of the cannabinoids THC, CBD and CBN.

While a Sativa may possess a higher proportion of THC relative to its other cannabinoids, an Indica will often contain significant levels of all three.

When ingested, Indicas tend to produce more bodily effects than Sativas – effects such as enhancement of physical sensations, relaxation, dry mouth, red eyes. These Indica effects are often grouped together under the term ‘stoned’, as opposed to the ‘high’ imparted by Sativas. This is not to say that Indicas have no psychoactive effect, just that they also have noticeable effects on the body.

Indicas are cultivated almost exclusively for their medicinal and psychoactive properties. Lamarck, when classifying this type, commented that Indica’s “firm stem and thin bark make it incapable of furnishing similar fibres to the preceding species (C. sativa L.) of which so much use is made".

Canna Zine comment;
As the passage above alludes, the cannabis indica variety is popular with the medical cannabis community, for its beneficial effect in combating the side affects of a number of conditions, including cancer, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, Multiple Sclerosis and a lot more besides.

Whilst the Sativa varieties tend to be higher in the THC value, giving a more pronounced and 'higher frequency' buzz, the majority of the effect is felt in and around the head. A head buzz. 

Indica varieties tend to have more of the CBD/CBN compounds which can take the edge of the heady sativa buzz, leading to less paranoia.

According to www.idmu.co.uk cannabis contains a number of cannabinoids, of which the most abundant are THC (D9-tetrahydrocannabinol), CBD (cannabidiol) and CBN (cannabinol). The active ingredient, which gets you high, is THC. In the plant, CBD is a precursor and CBN a metabolite of THC. As cannabis gets older, THC gradually breaks down to CBN.

THC is the substance found to have most psychoactive effect, and also the most effect on symptoms such as pain or bronchospasm.

CBN and CBD are not psychoactive themselves, however CBD can take the edge off a THC high, tending to relax the user rather than increasing anxiety and paranoia. Side effects which are all avoidable but for having the correct information to work with in the first place.

CBD has also been found to have anti-convulsant properties (potential value in treating epilepsy, MS, muscle spasms etc), and recently published research has indicated CBD to be effective in reducing neurotoxic brain damage following strokes or head trauma.

The proposed mechanism of action also suggests CBD may offer some protection against ecstasy-derived neurotoxicity (long-term depletion of serotonergic receptors), although this has not specifically been investigated.

CBD is normally present in significant quantities in hashish (cannabis resin), although in most herbal cannabis or "skunk" the levels of CBD are usually low or absent.

Cannabis Ruderallis or "Ditchweed"
The name ‘ruderalis’ comes from the German ruderal, a term for weeds growing by the roadside or on other fallow land.

Cannabis ruderalis is an uncultivated strain native to Russia and central Europe and is adapted to the harsher environments found in these locations. Whether seen as a variation on the single cannabis species or as a distinct species in itself, Ruderalis varieties are most likely descended from Indica varieties which, in turn, are probably descended from Sativas.

The differences between these three in their growing and reproductive patterns can be linked to the vastly different climates and environments encountered by the original tropical phenotype C. sativa L. as it colonised further and further north of the equator after the last ice age.

The most notable characteristic of the Ruderalis strain is its capacity to flower (and therefore reproduce) according to an individual plant’s age, independent of the photoperiod in which it is growing.

Since nearly all flowering plants take their cue to reproduce from the climatic factors indicative of season, the ability to begin this process based on changes in the plant rather than in its environment is known as ‘auto-flowering’.

A Ruderalis will begin flowering when it achieves a certain stage of maturity - normally after about seven weeks of growth, when it reaches its fifth to seventh internode.

Once a Ruderalis has begun flowering, it continues to do so until other environmental factors (most notably winter) cause the plant to die. The other varieties may expire naturally once their reproduction has been accomplished, or may return to vegetative growth if given a long enough photoperiod.

Ruderalis’ adaptation to short, cool summers can be seen in other areas.

Cannabis ruderalis has the ability to complete its life cycle – from being a seed to producing seeds - in just 10 weeks. Its seeds detach easily and can survive more than one season in frozen ground - until conditions are favourable enough to allow growth. The seeds can also survive their shells being cracked open when walked on by humans or animals. For some Ruderalis strains, this occurrence may even aid the germination of seeds.

A typical Ruderalis plant is very short in height, often between 10cm and 50cm at full maturity. It displays little or no branching and has wide, fat-bladed leaves, similar to those of an Indica. Once flowering begins, Ruderalis will gain even less height than an Indica.

Wild Ruderalis strains are nearly always high in CBD and low in THC.

While pure Ruderalis strains have little value in terms of fibre, medicine or psychoactivity, their auto-flowering capability and their extremely fast maturation time are of great interest to cannabis breeders. Hybrids made from combining Indica and Ruderalis strains are currently proving to be some of the earliest-maturing outdoor plants available.

Adapted from material originally written by;
http://hemp-cannabis.blogspot.com/

Related:
Is Cannabis Controlling Your Life?
Cannabis Could Hold Key To Ending MS Misery

If you would like to know more about cannabis, but never knew who you could ask, stay tuned to the Canna Zine by adding us to your "Favourites" or "Bookmarks" folder. You can also CLICK HERE to subscribe to the Canna Zine RSS news feeds, ensuring all the information you are looking for is delivered right to your computer. Technology rocks, huh?