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Wednesday 8 May 2019

Cannabis and Iran

Iran is known to have numerous varieties of indigenous cannabis that are said to have evolved over millions of years. Central Asia and the Tibetan plateau are said to be the places where first the cannabis plant diverged from the Humulus plant 28 million years ago. Cannabis is however illegal in Iran as it was prohibited here along with the cannabis ban in the rest of the world. But the cannabis communities in Iran surely thrive most likely in places where tradition has managed to sustain over changes, more so in the rural areas. In urban Iran however the modern synthetic recreational drugs such as heroin and shisheh or methamphetamine has made huge inroads into the social lives of individuals, spurred by the ban on cannabis and the rise of Iran in the international heroin trade with its proximity to Afghanistan and its location as a transit point for methamphetamine from south east Asia. Iran forms a key point in the Balkan and maritime routes that aid the movement of opioids and methamphetamine from Asia to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

It is a matter of concern that a country that produces probably some of the world's best cannabis has relegated this wonderful, traditional, medicinal, recreational herb to the background while  heroin, methamphetamine, synthetic cannabinoids, novel psychotropic substances and abuse of prescription drugs , besides the legal drugs alcohol and tobacco, wreck havoc with the lives of people looking for social and recreational release.

The influence of hard-line rulers as well as the bowing down to US pressure in the 1960s and 70s in order to be their ally brought about the widespread implementation of cannabis prohibition. Things have changed in terms of relations with the US since then. The US is no longer considered an ally and trade wars have gone on between the countries over crude oil and nuclear armaments. The US which pushed for global prohibition of cannabis has itself now legalized the herb for recreational use in 15 states and for medical use in more than 33 states to treat more than 30 qualifying medical conditions and the herb has emerged as a multi-billion dollar industry growing at a rapid pace.

For Iran, legalizing cannabis will be a step forward in preventing the extinction of the precious varieties of cannabis that may still survive there. It presents an opportunity for the revival of cannabis and developing agriculture, industry, medicine, business, tourism, wellness, food, beverages, recreation, the environment, economy and research around it. Cannabis presents an opportunity to get out of the deadly addiction with petrochemicals and to move in the direction of a sustainable plant that could boost Iran's economy as well as the world's sustainability. Legalizing cannabis would sharply cut down the illegal heroin trade which fuels armed conflict and would reduce the consumption of the deadly drug by Iranians by offering them an age old traditional medicinal herb for recreation. Keeping the herb prohibited deprives persons who need it the most mainly the poorest, the minorities, the indigenous communities, the elderly, the ill, the youth and women.

Israel, one of Iran's neighbors in the middle east has made rapid strides in cannabis, becoming one of the world's leading research hubs on the plant, including its medicinal and industrial applications. Israel has already legalized the cultivation and export of cannabis. Iran can do the same as well, if not better, given the available resources, conducive climate and potentially much larger numbers of indigenous cannabis varieties. Cannabis is an opportunity for Iran to shed its obsession with oil and its continuing tensions with other countries on the basis of oil and to move towards a more healthy, peaceful and sustainable way of life. It is not something new but a return to an age old way.

Iran has as rich and long a traditional association with cannabis as does Israel, India or China. It is to understand, remember and revive this traditional yet most wise way of life that the country should endeavor to attain once again.

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.    


'The emergence of methamphetamine use in Iraq was reported in 2012, when, on the basis of data from medical and psychiatric hospitals, outpatient clients, health centres, surveys of medial patients and prisoners and law enforcement reports, the primary drugs of concern in Iraq were found to be “captagon”, crystalline methamphetamine and tramadol. A study conducted in 2015 reported that drug users in Iraq thought that cannabis was “very difficult” to obtain while “captagon” and methamphetamine were “very easy” to obtain. Both official and media sources report a recent rapid increase in methamphetamine use in Iraq. Initially, law enforcement sources in Iraq suggested that methamphetamine was mainly smuggled into the country from the neighbouring Islamic Republic of Iran, across the long shared border, being smuggled to Basra in the south in particular. However, there have been reports of the clandestine manufacture of methamphetamine inside Iraq. In November 2016, for example, the Iraqi National Security Agency discovered methamphetamine laboratories in Basra and in the south-eastern province of Maysan.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf


'Most of the clandestine methamphetamine manufacture in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia has traditionally been in the Islamic Republic of Iran, being manufactured both for the local market and for export to countries in East and South-East Asia (including Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand) as well as for export to Central Asia and the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Tajikistan) and to Europe (including Bulgaria, France, the Russian Federation, Turkey and the United Kingdom). However, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not the main source of the methamphetamine found in other countries in the Near and Middle East/SouthWest Asia (with the exception of Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic). The main source countries for other countries in this subregion seem to continue to be countries in East and South-East Asia. The extent of clandestine methamphetamine manufacture in the Islamic Republic of Iran actually appears to be declining, while manufacturing is rapidly increasing in neighbouring Afghanistan.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

 
'In the past few years, the manufacture and use of methamphetamine have emerged in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, subregions that until recently were dominated by use of “captagon”. Methamphetamine manufacture and consumption used to be largely unknown in those subregions. Initially reported by only one country in the subregion (Israel), the number of countries reporting seizures of methamphetamine has increased in subsequent years. Overall, eight countries in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia reported seizures of methamphetamine in the period 2000–2009, rising to 14 countries in the period 2010–2018. The bulk of the methamphetamine seized, however, continued to be seized by the Islamic Republic of Iran.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf


'Much of the methamphetamine production in these subregions was originally intended for exports to the rapidly growing markets of East and South-East Asia, but domestic markets also appear to have started to emerge in the Near and Middle East/ South-West Asia in recent years. Of 15 reporting countries in these subregions, 12 countries reported the use of methamphetamine by 2018 (or the latest year for which data are available). In the absence of scientific data for the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, qualitative information on trends in methamphetamine use reported by national authorities to UNODC give an indication of the threat experienced by the region. National authorities have reported a clear upward trend in methamphetamine use in those subregions. Methamphetamine appears to have emerged in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia as the main ATS used in the Islamic Republic of Iran (2009– 2018) as well as in Iraq (2016 and 2017), Lebanon (2014–2017), Bahrein (2016), Afghanistan (2015 and 2016), Israel (2014 and 2015) and Kuwait (2003, 2009, 2013' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
 
 
'In 2018, the main countries reporting utilization of opium for the extraction of alkaloids were the Islamic Republic of Iran (511.8 tons, or 56.3 tons of morphine equivalent), India (138.5 tons, or 15.2 tons in morphine equivalent) and Japan (41.6 tons, or 4.6 tons in morphine equivalent). The opium reported as utilized by the Islamic Republic of Iran originated from seized material.'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf


'The growth of methamphetamine consumption in the world as well as in Iran has become an important problem for the health sector at the individual and social levels.

 Ease of production, uncommon compounds, and different degrees of purity, low cost and high income, easy availability, simple and little needed equipment, the possibility of mass production, and difficulty in identifying laboratories make its trade very lucrative. However, it can cause a lot of dangers, such as explosion, burns, lung burns and even cancer, for manufacturers and those who are near the places of production and exposed to waste.

 The regular methamphetamine use can lead to long-term harmful effects. Ahmad Hatim conducted a study on methamphetamine dependence in Malaysia, and the results showed that the prevalence of psychiatric co-morbidity among these people was 54.4%, the prevalence of suicide was 12.1, and 47.9% of these people had high levels of methamphetamine-induced psychosis. '
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7227073/


'Results: Of 100 patients enrolled into the study, 61 were male with a mean age of 34.01 ± 14.65 years and 39 were female with a mean age of 40.6 ± 7.49 years. Sixty-five patients survived (Table 1). Mean hospitalization period was 2.69 ± 2.12 h (range; 30 min to 5.5 h) and 94.7 ± 40.4 h in non-survivors and survivors, respectively. The most common cause of poisoning was drug overdose in 78 patients.

 Discussion: [L]actate concentration. However, lactate concentration is an established prognostic marker for the evaluation of patients with elevated anion gap metabolic acidosis, selected drug overdoses (metformin and acetaminophen), selected chronic drug toxicities (stadivudine), and chemical poisoning (aluminum phosphide and cyanide).

 As the report of national drug and poisoning information center of Iran provided, 60% of all contacts per year are related to poisoning. Lactic acidosis is the condition where lactate concentration increase instantly to more than 5 mmol/dL. Type A lactic acidosis occurs in oxygen distribution dysfunction due to hypotension or cyanosis. Type B lactic acidosis occurs in sepsis, liver dysfunction, diabetes, and drugs such as biguanides, acetaminophen, and sorbitol.

 Creatine kinase supplies energy in body organs with different types in brain (CK1), myocardium (CK2), and muscle (CK3) whose change is considered to be due to organ damages. Usually, existence of CK in blood defines the organ injuries including myocardial infarctions, rhabdomyolysis, autoimmune myositis, and kidney injuries.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191820/

Updated May 29, 2020, 3:18 PM



'High drug consumption and polypharmacy, especially in the elderly, is one of the 21st century phenomenon. It has different undesirable side effects, which may directly affect the environment. It is known that pharmaceutical residues are excreted via patients’ urine or feces to wastewater, which is then discharged to the environment. Therefore high drug consumption is contributing to the continual rise in pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic environment, and address a rising cause for concern. Alternative treatments that can relieve or improve the patient’s clinical condition, thereby reducing the consumption of pharmaceuticals, hold great potential for reducing drug residues in the environment. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the reduction in pharmaceutical consumption in a nursing home for the elderly, as a result of treatment with medical cannabis. With time, medical cannabis treatment dramatically improved patients’ symptoms and their medical indexes. As a result, the local physicians stopped prescribing drugs that were defined as unnecessary. Overall, 39 dosages of prescription drugs were canceled for the 19 elderly individuals included in this research, indicating that medical cannabis can be an effective treatment that also reduces the environmental drug load, thereby preventing water pollution'
https://www.syncsci.com/journal/index.php/AHB/article/view/386


'The largest quantities of both opium and morphine seized were reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, followed by Afghanistan and Pakistan, while seizures reported by other countries remained comparatively modest. The largest total quantity of heroin seized by a country in 2018 was that seized by the Islamic Republic of Iran (for the first time since 2014), followed by Turkey, the United States, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Belgium.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'Almost 70 per cent of the global quantities of heroin and morphine (the two main internationally trafficked opiates) seized in 2018 were intercepted in Asia, mostly in South-West Asia. The two subregions surrounding Afghanistan, South-West Asia and Central Asia, together accounted for more than 56 per cent of the global quantity of heroin and morphine seized

Despite the decline in 2018, the overall trend in seizures of heroin and morphine in that subregion continued to be an upward one over the period 2008–2018. South-West Asia continued to account for the majority of the global quantities of heroin and morphine seized globally in 2018 (close to 56 per cent), with the largest quantities seized being reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, followed by Afghanistan and Pakistan.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'In contrast to Western and Central Europe as a whole, which continues to be supplied mainly by heroin trafficked along the Balkan route by land, trafficking to Belgium in 2018 to a large extent (98 per cent) took the form of maritime shipments departing from the Islamic Republic of Iran or Turkey. Similarly, trafficking to Italy was characterized by maritime shipments in 2018 (61 per cent of the total quantity seized by customs authorities), with the bulk of seizures in 2018 having departed from the Islamic Republic of Iran in containers, followed by shipments by air (37 per cent), often departing from the Middle East (Qatar) or Africa (South Africa), while heroin shipments destined for France typically transited the Netherlands and Belgium in 2018' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'The world’s single largest heroin trafficking route continues to be the so-called “Balkan route”, along which opiates from Afghanistan are shipped to Iran (Islamic Republic of), Turkey, the Balkan countries and to various destinations in Western and Central Europe. Not counting seizures made in Afghanistan itself, countries along the Balkan route accounted for 58 per cent of the global quantities of heroin and morphine seized in 2018. A further 8 per cent of those global seizures were reported by countries in Western and Central Europe, whose markets are supplied to a great degree by heroin and morphine that is trafficked along the Balkan route' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'The Islamic Republic of Iran reported that 75 per cent of the morphine and 75 per cent of the heroin seized on its territory in 2018 had been trafficked via Pakistan, while the remainder had been smuggled directly into the country from Afghanistan. Typically, heroin is then smuggled to Turkey (70 per cent of all the heroin seized in the Islamic Republic of Iran in both 2016 and 2017) and from there along the Balkan route to Western and Central Europe, either via the western branch of the route via Bulgaria to various western Balkan countries or, to a lesser extent, via the eastern branch of the route via Bulgaria and then to Romania and Hungary, before reaching the main consumer markets in Western and Central Europe' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'The region with the next largest number of methamphetamine laboratories dismantled was Asia, accounting for 6 per cent of the global total in the period 2014–2018. Most of these facilities were dismantled in China and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which together accounted for 94 per cent of all reported laboratories dismantled in Asia, while some clandestine methamphetamine laboratories were also dismantled, in descending order of importance, in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, the Republic of Korea, Myanmar and Hong Kong, China. In addition, the clandestine manufacture of methamphetamine has been reported in recent years by Afghanistan and Iraq.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'Countries identified as significant source countries for methamphetamine shipments in Asia in the period 2014–2018 included Myanmar, followed by China, Thailand, India and Iran (Islamic Republic of). Clandestine methamphetamine manufacture in Asia seems to be still largely based on the use of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine as precursors, although reports from Afghanistan suggest that ephedrine is extracted from ephedra plant material and used as a precursor for methamphetamine.80 The authorities in Myanmar and Thailand have reported the seizure of increasing quantities of sodium cyanide and benzyl cyanide in recent years. These substances can be used for synthesizing P-2-P, which is then used to manufacture either amphetamine or methamphetamine.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'Similar to the situation in the United States, where the manufacture of methamphetamine declined while increasing in neighbouring Mexico, both China and Iran (Islamic Republic of) reported declining domestic production, reflected in the decreasing numbers of methamphetamine laboratories dismantled in recent years, going hand in hand with the expansion of methamphetamine manufacture in their neighbouring countries. Indeed, by 2018 the Islamic Republic of Iran reported that most of the methamphetamine found on its territory originated in Afghanistan and was trafficked either from there directly or via Pakistan. Similarly, China reported that methamphetamine seized in recent years has originated primarily in Myanmar. In contrast to many other countries, however, the marked declines in the domestic manufacture of methamphetamine in China appear to have more than outweighed any increase in clandestine manufacture and imports from neighbouring countries. This is revealed in the decline in methamphetamine found in the wastewater in cities across China, with wastewater-based estimates suggesting a fall in methamphetamine consumption amounts of 26 per cent over the period 2014 –2018' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'The manufacture of counterfeit “captagon” tablets, that is, amphetamine tablets mixed with caffeine, in the Near and Middle East is more widespread than the manufacture of amphetamine in South Asia or in East and South-East Asia. Indications received from other countries in the subregion pointed to the existence of clandestine laboratories manufacturing “captagon” tablets in the period 2014–2018, in particular in the Syrian Arab Republic and Lebanon, intended partly for domestic consumption and partly for the more lucrative markets of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, as well as the Sudan and Libya. In addition, Iran (Islamic Republic of) and Jordan have been identified by other countries in the subregion as possible countries of origin of amphetamine shipments. Jordan reported that all of the amphetamine found on its market originated in either the Syrian Arab Republic or Lebanon.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'Although data for 2018 were unavailable for key countries in the Near and Middle East, more than half (54 per cent) of the global quantity of amphetamine seized in the period 2014–2018 was reported in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia. Of the rest, some 24 per cent was seized in Europe (including 14 per cent in Western and Central Europe), 13 per cent in the Americas (including 7 per cent in North America), 6 per cent in Africa (mostly in North Africa) and 1 per cent in Oceania (mostly in Australia). The regional totals for Europe and the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia show larger seizures of amphetamine than of methamphetamine over the period 2014–2018, suggesting that the availability of amphetamine may be still greater than of methamphetamine in those regions' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'In the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, the quantities of methamphetamine seized increased markedly in 2018. However, the marked decline in the reported quantities of amphetamine seized in recent years (-37 per cent in 2017 and -80 per cent in 2018) seems to be largely a statistical artefact. Some of this decline may have been related to changes in the categorization of stimulants seized, for example, “prescription stimulants” instead of “amphetamine”. Even more important has been the hiatus in the reporting of seizures to UNODC by some countries known to be affected by major amphetamine trafficking activities. There is plenty of evidence that trafficking in amphetamine, in particular of “captagon” tablets, has also continued in the Near and Middle East in recent years. INCB, for example, in its most recent annual report noted the following: The manufacture and trafficking of counterfeit “captagon” continued to seriously affect the countries of the Middle East, which not only are destination markets for those drugs but are also increasingly becoming a source of counterfeit “captagon”…Political instability and unresolved conflicts, poverty and the lack of economic opportunities in some parts of the subregion have contributed to increased trafficking in…“captagon”' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'Instability and conflict in the Middle East contributed to the trafficking in falsified “captagon” in the subregion. A lack of control and monitoring led to an increase in the manufacture of “captagon” tablets in some countries over the period 2014–2018, which turned into an additional source of income for terrorist and insurgency groups in the Middle East. Captagon was originally the trademarked brand name of a medicinal product containing fenetylline, until the substance was placed under international control in 1986. While the diversion of fenetylline from existing stocks might have continued until the end of the 1990s, those stocks, some of which were apparently located in Bulgaria, became depleted. However, the “captagon” name and logo continued to be used even though the composition of the counterfeit tablets had changed, and increasingly, seized “captagon” tablets were found to contain amphetamine, often mixed with caffeine and other substances.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'The two countries most frequently reported as countries of origin of amphetamine (mainly “captagon”) seized in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia in the period 2014–2018 were Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic, which together accounted for some 40 per cent of all mentions of countries of origin reported by the authorities in the subregion. Final destinations are mostly countries in the Near and Middle East, most notably Saudi Arabia and various other Gulf countries, in particular the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, using both direct and indirect routes.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'Large-scale trafficking of “captagon” from Jordan to Saudi Arabia has also been documented. In two separate incidents, in January and March 2018, customs authorities in Saudi Arabia foiled attempts to smuggle “captagon” tablets into the country. Prior to that, a total of about 6.3 million tablets of the substance were recovered during operations at the border with Jordan in 2017. Although some of those tablets may have originated in neighbouring countries, in January 2018, Jordan also dismantled a clandestine laboratory manufacturing “captagon” that was mainly destined for markets in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'Afghanistan appears to be the second most important source country of cannabis resin worldwide, with 19 per cent of all mentions worldwide in the annual report questionnaire over the period 2014– 2018, followed by Pakistan and Lebanon. The cannabis resin produced in these countries is principally destined for other countries in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, although cannabis resin originating in Afghanistan has also been identified in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Western and Central Europe. The Islamic Republic of Iran reported that the cannabis resin found on its territory originated mainly in Afghanistan (followed by Pakistan), with some 65 per cent destined for countries of the Arabian peninsula, 15 per cent for the Caucasus and some 20 per cent for domestic consumption. Cannabis resin originating in Lebanon is mainly found in the Near and Middle East and, to a lesser extent, in Western and Central Europe.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamine. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
Jul 10, 2020, 1:14 PM


'In 2018, the main countries reporting utilization of opium for the extraction of alkaloids were the Islamic Republic of Iran (511.8 tons, or 56.3 tons of morphine equivalent), India (138.5 tons, or 15.2 tons in morphine equivalent) and Japan (41.6 tons, or 4.6 tons in morphine equivalent). The opium reported as utilized by the Islamic Republic of Iran originated from seized material.'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf


'The main countries importing opium in 2018 were Japan (36 tons, or 67.3 per cent) followed by France (11.1 tons, or 20.7 per cent) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (5 tons, or 9.3 per cent). The United States, which had been the main importer of opium, reported the import of  only a negligible amount of opium from India in 2018.'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf 


'The Assyrians, who lived about 3000 years ago, documented the effects of cannabis on clay tablets. They referred to the plant according to its various uses: as “azalla,” when used as a medical agent; as hemp; and as “gan-zi-gun-nu”—“the drug that takes away the mind”'
https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(17)32207-2/fulltext


'As with other cultivated plants it is difficult to pinpoint the exact place of origin for C. sativa. It is likely that Cannabis spread to ancient Persia very early, assisted by Aryan and Scythian tribes expanding westward from central Asia. Evidence for this early spread comes from archeological studies of the Scythians, who occupied an area encompassing large swathes of what is now northwest Iran from the 7th century BCE to the 4th century CE, this culture was known to use Cannabis for entertainment and spiritual purposes. While all Iranian cannabis has been described as a complex of landraces of C. sativa, it is one of the countries with a high level of genetic diversity among cannabis populations.'
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15816-5


'Central Asia and Southeast Asia are considered the regions where the plant originated. It’s also where cannabis was domesticated. The regions are “believed to play a vital role in its evolution,” according to the study.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/a-complete-history-of-marijuana-according-to-scientists/


'The economic life of lumpen drug users is made of daily expediencies, such as barter, repairing, collecting abandoned objects, selling minimal items, begging and resorting to charity. It is a diverse ecosystem which changes according to personal and structural conditions. The use of drugs is not mechanically experienced and driven by a deus ex machina called ‘addiction’. It is based on what I call ‘chemical calibration’, for instance in the use of shisheh (methamphetamine) as a productive drug to hustling and heroin as a tranquillizer and painkiller amid sheer destitution.'
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1466138118787534


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The Politics of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-politics-of-cannabis.html

The Social Usage of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-social-usage-of-cannabis.html

No medicinal value?
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/02/no-medicinal-value.html

Cannabis Patients
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-patients.html

Cannabis and the Elderly
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-elderly.html

Cannabis and the Armed Forces
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-armed-forces.html

Cannabis and Alcohol
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-alcohol.html

Cannabis and Tobacco
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-tobacco.html

Cannabis and Methamphetamine
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-methamphetamine.html

Cannabis and Opioids
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-opioids.html

Cannabis and Harm Reduction
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-harm-reduction.html

Cannabis and Synthetic Cannabinoids
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-synthetic-cannabinoids.html

Cannabis as Universal Medicine
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-as-universal-medicine.html

Cannabis and Anxiety
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-anxiety.html


Cannabis and PTSD
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-ptsd.html


The Recreational Cannabis Consumer
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-recreational-cannabis-consumer.html

The History of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-history-of-cannabis.html

Cannabis and Scientists
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-scientists.html

Cannabis in the Workplace
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-in-workplace.html

Cannabis and China
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-and-china.html

Cannabis and India
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-and-india.html

Cannabis and Israel
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-and-israel.html

Cannabis and Social Consumption Areas
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-social-consumption-areas.html

Cannabis Tourism
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-tourism.html

Cannabis and Cooking
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-cooking.html

Cannabis in the Workplace
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-in-workplace.html

Cannabis and the US Federal Government
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-and-us-federal-government.html
 

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