An Introduction to 19th Century Usage of Cannabis as Medicine by Indian Physicians

When the British came to India, they found that cannabis was widely prescribed by Indian physicians who had been following this practice for many years, maybe thousands. The usage was so widespread that it led the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission in its report of 1893-94 to state that  - 'Cannabis indica must be looked upon as one of the most important drugs of Indian Materia Medica.'. Cannabis grew freely in public areas and was a common feature in a large number of Indian homes.


Yet in conclusion, the report did what was unimaginable and recommended restricting and taxing cannabis. The government however went one step further and prohibited it outright. Since then cannabis has slipped out of the Indian Materia Medica and entered the Indian Penal Code where any person who grows, trades in or consumes cannabis is jailed. The plant is destroyed wherever it is found.  We have no idea how many precious varieties of the plant have gone extinct. While the rest of the world once again starts to wake up to cannabis, Indian physicians and the general public remain in an opium and alcohol induced stupor failing to see the truth and reality of the cannabis plant.

The cannabis plant, if permitted once again to be grown at home by all persons as is now allowed in Uruguay, Canada and a number of US states, will mean safe, sustainable, affordable, universal healthcare for all. If introduced once again into the Indian pharmacopeia it will end the dependence of this country on others for a large part of its medicines and bring down the cost of health care significantly. But when will we wake up and when will the people of this country once again have the right to a medicine that was theirs for all time until the last 150 years? That will mean saying goodbye to all the kickbacks that modern Indian physicians get from pharmaceutical companies and the huge fees that they charge patients for consultation. It will mean the end of the medical industry as we know it and a return to nature. Now which physician and pharmaceutical company would want that?

In CH. X. Effects - General Observations, Report Of The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893-94, https://digital.nls.uk/74464868, the following information is to be found.

460. The use of hemp drugs by native physicians, as evidenced from replies of witnesses received by the Commission, may be considered under two main heads—(a) as specifics in the treatment of diseases, and (b) in their general therapeutic applications; while a few uses of the drugs which do not fall within these divisions are also occasionally mentioned. It is hardly necessary to premise that the use of hemp drugs by hakims, etc., is wholly empirical, the drugs being used apparently haphazard for the most diverse diseases. It is interesting, however, to note that while the drills appear now to be frequently used for precisely the same purposes and in the same manner as was recommended centuries ago, many uses of these drugs by native doctors are in accord with their application in modern European therapeutics. Cannabis indica must be looked upon as one of the most important drugs of Indian Materia Medica. In connection with the pharmacy of the drug, the preparations of the hemp plant used by native doctors are bhang, ganja, and sometimes charas: the seeds appear to be very rarely used. Bhang is generally prescribed as a cold infusion prepared from the powdered and well-triturated leaves, or as a confection or "moduks" especially in the treatment of nervous debility: into all these preparations a large number of other ingredients usually enter. The admixture of saccharine matter with bhang is popularly supposed to render it more potent as an intoxicant. Bhang is also used as a local application in the form of poultice, and sometimes the finely-powdered leaves are used as a snuff. When ganja and charas are prescribed for inhalation, the drugs are smoked mixed with tobacco; when ganja is used for local fumigation, the smoke from the unmixed drug is employed. These two drugs appear to be rarely used for internal administration. Occasionally an oil prepared with ganja and other ingredients is used as a rubefacient. The expressed oil from the seeds is also used for a similar purpose.

Related Links
Cannabis and the Digestive System
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/03/cannabis-and-digestive-system.html

Cannabis for Animals
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-for-animals.html

Cannabis as an Antibiotic
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-as-antibiotic.html

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

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

Cannabis and Obesity
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-obesity.html

Cannabis and Pain
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-pain.html

Cannabis and Cancer
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-cancer.html

Cannabis and Diabetes
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-diabetes.html

Cannabis and the Liver
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-liver.html

Cannabis and the Kidneys
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-renal-disease.html

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

Cannabis Events
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-public-events.html

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

Recreation is Medicine with cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2017/12/recreation-is-medicine.html

Cannabis as Medicine
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/cannabis-as-medicine.html

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

References to medicinal cannabis in ancient texts
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/03/references-to-medicinal-cannabis-in.html

Cannabis for Pain and Inflammation
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-pain.html

Cannabis usage in 19th century treatment of infectious diseases
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/03/cannabis-usage-in-19th-century.html