Hemp

Hemp is an annual herbaceous dioecious plant . Female plants are called mother; male plants are called seduce. Currently, varieties of monoecious hemp have been created. There is also hemp with bisexual flowers.

The stem is erect, rounded at the base, hexagonal in the middle and tetrahedral at the apex, has a cavity. The leaf arrangement is opposite, and at the top - the next. Petiole leaves, simple, palmate, palmate or palmate, of five to seven segments, the edge of the segments is serrated. The number of segments increases from the base to the middle of the stem and then decreases to the apex (at the base and at the apex, the leaves are simple, three-lobed or whole).

Hemp flowers are dioecious. The female flower is represented by a pestle enclosed in a green bract wrapped in a cone. The pestle consists of an upper lenticular, single- ovary ovary and two sessile long stigmas , fused at the base. The male flower has five yellow-green sepals and five stamens with large anthers . The flowers are sessile, located at the base of the lateral shoots in the axils of the leaves. Female inflorescence is a complex spike ; male inflorescence is a loose panicle . In monoecious hemp, male flowers are laid first in the axils of the leaves of the main axis of the inflorescence, and then of the lateral branches, bisexual flowers are formed above, and then female.

Fruits - bivalve nuts of an ovoid or somewhat elongated shape, enclosed in bracts, preserved after flowering, smooth or ribbed, gray-green, less often brown in color.

Stem structure

The structure of the hemp stalk is similar to the stalk of flax . The external tissue of the stem (skin) consists of cells of a multifaceted shape. Behind it are a parenchyma with a ring of bast bundles and a core. By the time of flowering, the core tissue is torn, forming a cavity.

Bast bundles are denser in the upper part of the stem, and less often in the lower. The length of the hemp elementary fibers is 4-5 cm or more. Bast fibers are intertwined and glued together with lignopectin .

As a result of the action of cambium , a second inner ring of bast bundles is formed in the hemp stalk, and a third and fourth one often appear behind it. Secondary bast fibers are unevenly placed in the stem. The lower part of the stem is richest in them; only primary fibers are found in the upper part. Poskon contains 20-25% fiber, mother - 15-20%.

Genetics

The hemp diploid set of hemp chromosomes is 20: nine pairs are autosomes , one is sex chromosomes ^[8] . In female individuals (mothers), sex chromosomes are represented by two X-chromosomes, which are slightly larger than autosomes, in male individuals (narrow down), one X-chromosome is replaced by a Y-linked chromosome. The homozygosity of the mother and the heterozygosity of the sex chromosomes are a common mechanism in nature that ensures numerical equality of the sexes ^[9] .

Mother is a female hemp plant. It differs from the male plant (see below) with the form of inflorescences (short complex spike) ^[10] , which are called the seed head and leafy stronger than the male. In the axils of the leaves, female flowers are densely located, consisting of a univalent cover, split on one side. Inside this cover is a pestle. The ovary is one- ovary , with two long cirrus stigmas ^[11] . The mother is characterized by lower growth, denser foliage and later ripening (40-50 days). The fiber of the mother is softer and more elastic, but somewhat less durable than the flat. Psychotropic products from the mother contain significantly more THC .

You can distinguish a mother from a little bit before you start flowering in the cup-shaped flower buds with small antennae (rudimentary pestles). In male flower buds, the shape is diamond-shaped, and the antennae are absent ^[12] .

Poskon ' (also manners , derganets ) - male hemp plant. It differs from the female one (see Materka ) in the form of inflorescences (panicle), higher growth and thin stalk, less dense foliage and earlier ripening (40-50 days). During flowering, it differs sharply in a yellowish tint of inflorescence, which is much poorer in foliage. Male flowers sit in small tassels on the lateral branches of the panicle and on top of the stem. Each flower consists of a perianth with five greenish-yellow petals and five stamens, usually hanging from the flower. One can distinguish from a mother one even before the beginning of flowering by the diamond-shaped shape of the bud and the absence of "antennae" (rudimentary pestles).

Since it rises earlier than the mother and obscures it, preventing it from growing, it is customary to remove it at the very beginning of flowering. Until now, it has not been possible to mechanize this process, therefore modern hemp growers avoid sowing bisexual hemp varieties, preferring monoecious and feminized ones .

In the Russian peasant economy, he was not much appreciated, since the canvas from it turned out to be rough and stiff. The main advantage of inclined fiber is increased strength. In olden times, thin sea ropes - lines and ropes - wafted from it. According to the testimony of American writer Herman Melville (" Moby Dick "), a harpoon tench made of 17 mm thick hemp can withstand a weight of up to 2800 kg and was used for whale hunting.

Hemp has a rich history of human use as food (seeds and oils), material for making paper , clothes , shoes , ropes, ropes, cables and threads (the stalk contains very strong fibers - see hemp ), for medical purposes, and also as a psychotropic agent . Recreational drugs made from cannabis are banned in a number of countries.

Story

Hemp was first described in China around 2800 BC. e. (see Shennong ), was of great industrial importance from the XV to the beginning of the XX centuries , at present, crops are significantly reduced.

Pliny

Hemp sowing is described in the 19th and 20th volumes of " Natural History " by Pliny the Elder , which mentions its use as a spinning, food and medicinal plant . It is mentioned that hemp seeds are a good remedy for treating constipation in pets, grass juice helps to relieve otitis media , and the root can be used as poultices for joint pain , gout and burns .

Dioscorides

Pedanius Dioscorides ( lat. Pedanius Dioscorides ), an ancient Roman physician, of Greek origin. Born in Anazarbas (Kilikia), served as a military doctor, had extensive practical experience with medicinal plants; subsequently became the personal physician of the Roman emperor Nero . In his main work, De materia medica ( On Medicines ), he systematically described over 500 plants, grouping them according to the morphological principle. In particular, he was the first to describe hemp (Prince III, Ch. 156 (166)).

Description of Dioscorides briefly enough:

Dioscorides does not mention the psychotropic properties of the plant ^[13] .

Hemp decree

Henry VIII Tudor led the religious reformation in the country, in 1534 being proclaimed the head of the Church of England , in 1536 and 1539 he conducted a large-scale secularization of monastic lands. Since the monasteries were the main suppliers of industrial crops - in particular, hemp, which is extremely important for sailing, one could expect that the transfer of their land to private hands would adversely affect the condition of the English fleet . To prevent this from happening, Henry in advance (in 1533 ) issued a decree requiring each farmer to sow a quarter acre of hemp for every 6 acres of sown area. Thus, the monasteries lost their main economic advantage, and the alienation of their possessions did not harm the economy .

The "hemp decree" of Henry VIII was repeated twice by Elizabeth I - in 1563 and 1593 . In the XVII century , in connection with the establishment of hemp imports from Russia , the need for such decrees disappeared by itself ^[14] .

Cannabis cultivation

In Russia , mainly cultivated hemp ( Cannabis sativa ) was cultivated, which was traditionally grown in the central regions of Russia. At the end of the 19th century, hemp cultivation was one of the main earnings of the peasants of the Oryol , Kaluga , Kursk , Chernihiv , Mogilev and partly Minsk provinces. According to the Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron , about 140 thousand tons of hemp were produced in the European part of Russia at the end of the 19th century, which amounted to about 40% of hemp production in Europe .

During the dispossession, large farms engaged in hemp breeding were fragmented into small (0.1-0.15 ha) areas cultivated manually and capable of satisfying only on-farm needs. By the beginning of the 1930s, “the hemp-breeding industry in the Middle Volga Region , as well as in other hemp-breeding regions of the USSR, is in a declining state”, expressed in “a reduction in sown areas, low yields, and a decrease in the commodity share of gross harvests” ^[15]

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia of 1937 ^[16] reports that “The socialist reconstruction of agriculture dramatically changed the face of backward hemp breeding in the USSR. The unfolding Stakhanov movement in agriculture, in particular among hemp growers, ensured higher hemp yields. On March 14, 1936, a special meeting was held between the leaders of the party and the government with leaders in flax and hemp. A number of Stakhanovite horse-breeders were awarded orders of the Union. After 1934, hemp crops began to recover, and if in 1934 the hemp sown area was 598 thousand hectares, then in 1936 its crops occupied 680 thousand hectares, accounting for 4/5 of the entire world area under hemp. By the Decree of the Council of People 's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (March 1934), special privileges and advantages were granted for sowing hemp on manor, homestead and floodplain lands. Harvesting hemp fiber from hemp in the USSR in 1933-34. reached 39.4 thousand tons and in 1934-35. - 44.9 thousand tons; the production of hemp oil (from seeds) in the USSR in 1933 amounted to 5.0 thousand tons, and in 1934 - 6.3 thousand tons. "

Hemp was one of the main agricultural crops of the USSR. This status was confirmed by placing hemp leaves together with wheat ears and sunflower inflorescences in the center of a sheaf inside the country's main fountain - Friendship of Peoples at VDNKh .

After the ban ^{[ where? ]} “Cannabis plants” The cultivation of industrial hemp varieties has also been subjected to various restrictions, and has been banned in a number of countries. Something similar happened in the United States with the introduction of the " marijuana tax ", which virtually destroyed hemp breeding in the country. It is known that the initiator of this tax, US Commissioner for Drugs Harry Anslinger , for many years struggled for the adoption of the Single Convention of 1961 and actively participated in the work on its text.

Currently, industrial cultivation of hemp in Russia is very difficult due to the many bureaucratic obstacles and strict requirements for the protection of crops. The sown area is small.

Recreational use

Hemp contains psychoactive substances , cannabinoids , in particular Δ ⁹ -tetrahydrocannabinol , and serves as a raw material for popular psychotropic substances ( marijuana , hashish ).

Chemicals that have a stupefying or healing effect are concentrated mainly in a sticky golden resin that is secreted from flowers on female plants. The function of the resin is to protect the flower from overheating and to preserve moisture during the breeding season ^[18] .

The circulation and production of these drugs is prohibited or restricted in many countries of the world. In some countries there are exemptions, for example, in the Netherlands (see also: Opium Law , Coffee Shop ), Czech Republic , Spain , Portugal ^[19] , Uruguay , Georgia and some US states and Canadian provinces. In the partially self-governing Free City of Christiania , geographically located inside the city of Copenhagen ( Denmark ), marijuana and hashish are easily accessible and not prohibited by the laws of Christiania, although they are prohibited by Danish law.

Social and physiological problems associated with cannabis consumption are not proven causal relationships and remain debatable ^[20] .

Sensimiglia

The unfertilized (segregated) inflorescences of female plants accumulate significantly more canabioids. Therefore, from the end of the 20th century, a separate direction in hemp breeding appeared, emphasizing precisely the increase in the number of inflorescences obtained and the increase in the content of canabioids in them. Today, the average percentage of their content varies from 11-22%. For comparison - in ordinary marijuana this percentage rarely reaches 3%. At the moment, several thousand varieties have been developed that differ in different contents and substantial ratios of THC, canabidiol and other canabioids, as well as with different taste and aromatic characteristics and psychotropic effects. Due to the greatly increased interest in the therapeutic properties of canabioids , many varieties appeared with an increased content of CBD , reaching in some cases a level of 20% or higher with a minimum THC content (less than 0.02%). It is worth noting that canabidiol has no psychotropic effects and even significantly reduces these effects from the THC contained in the feed.

Medical use

Medical use of cannabis is restricted in some countries, for example, in the United States in the District of Columbia (2010) and 16 other states: Alaska (1998), Arizona (2010), California (1996), Colorado (2000), Delaware (2011), Hawaii (2000), Maine (1999), Michigan (2008), Montana (2004), Nevada (2000), New Jersey (2010), New Mexico (2007), Oregon (1998), Rhode Island (2006), Vermont (2004), Washington (1998) ^[21] .

In clinical practice, purified preparations obtained from hemp plants or a modified active substance are used. This is because the concentration of active substances in the plant is extremely low for medical use. In particular, the therapeutic concentration in the treatment of oncology is 10 μmol / L of blood, and, for example, the concentration achieved when one cigarette is smoked from hemp is 0.074 μmol / L of blood. Thus, to obtain a therapeutic concentration of cannabinoids by smoking hemp, you need to be able to smoke 136 hemp cigarettes once and continuously smoke them until treatment is completed to maintain the concentration necessary for therapy ^[22] .

In mouse and other animal models of cancer, it was shown that although terpenoids (including cannabinoids) from hemp can have some oncostatic effect - but their consumption should be about 10% of the animal’s diet. ^{[23] [24]}

Actually, the active substances can be various hemp terpenoids ^[25] : some of the 5 common cannabinoids (about 70 varieties of cannabinoids are isolated from the plant ^[26] ), monoterpen (more than 12 varieties), sequiterpen (more than 14 varieties) . ^[24] In a mixture, such substances can have ^[25] mutually leveling effects, or many inappropriate side effects, therefore it is more efficient to use purified preparations rather than plant extracts. At the same time, for example, the presence of a mixture of several terpenes in a preparation can enhance the effect of individual cannabinoids - although it is not always clear how. ^[24] The use of cannabis substances for medical purposes for 2016 ^{[25] is} limited to individual cases. For example, to stimulate appetite in HIV-infected patients; to relieve nausea associated with cancer therapy; to stop the spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis; to reduce pain sensitivity. ^{[27] [28]}

Ceremonial use

The ritual use of hemp was already common in the Neolithic in northern Asia. The use of hemp as a sacred plant in the Ancient East is known. Herodotus mentioned the funeral rites of the Scythians , including fumigation of hemp seeds with smoke ^[29] .

According to the Polish researcher Sula Benet, hemp called “kaneh Bosm” (which, in her opinion, was mistakenly translated as “calamus” or “fragrant reeds”) is mentioned in the Old Testament as an ingredient in oil ^[30] .

Among nerds there are currently two points of view regarding cannabis taxonomy . Supporters of the first point of view, following K. Linnaeus, argue that the genus hemp is monotypic , that is, it contains only one species. Others, following the works of J. B. Lamarck , distinguish at least two species - “southern” and “northern”. Proponents of the second point of view consider the prevalence of narcotic substances in southern forms to be one of the important differences between these species.

It so happened that in the 1920s and 1930s, the second point of view prevailed in the USSR. At this time, it was generally accepted to understand species narrowly, that is, to distinguish many species where other taxonomists saw only one. Supporters of such a fractional understanding of cannabis species was N.I. Vavilov , as well as his students. In some editions of Russian botanical and agricultural literature, even now one can find the statement that the genus of hemp consists of three species: hemp (sowing), Indian and weed ^[31] .

An important milestone in the history of hemp taxonomy was the appearance in 1974 of a large review article by American scientists E. Small and A. Kronkvist ^[32] , in which the idea of ​​the hemp genotype was confirmed and substantiated. They proposed a simple and logical classification scheme for the only species of the genus, according to which it is divided into two subspecies, and those, in turn, into two varieties each:

• Cannabis sativa subsp. sativa - Hemp sowing subspecies sowing
  • Cannabis sativa subsp. sativa var. sativa - Hemp sowing subspecies sowing variety sowing
  • Cannabis sativa subsp. sativa var. spontanea - Hemp sowing subspecies wild sowing variety
• Cannabis sativa subsp. indica ( Lam. ) E.Small & Cronquist - Indian Hemp
  • Cannabis sativa subsp. indica var. indica - Hemp sowing subspecies Indian variety Indian
  • Cannabis sativa subsp. indica var. kafiristanica - Hemp sowing subspecies Indian variety Kafiristan

In this scheme, the subspecies differ in terms of the direction of selection (fibers and oil or narcotic substances). Within the subspecies, each pair of varieties is cultivated or wild plants.

In 2005, a detailed study of cannabis published by K. Hilling ^[33] was published, which used the latest method based on the analysis of DNA structure. The results of the study generally confirm the concept of Small and Kronkvist, however, the author proposed a new interpretation of the hemp genus systematics. Based on the analysis of the most extensive genetic material, he argues, in particular, that Indian and sowing hemp come from different centers of diversity, originally isolated from each other. Thus, according to Hilling, a gradual transition between these forms does not exist (at least from a genetic point of view). Therefore, there is no longer sufficient reason to consider them as subspecies, and therefore they should be considered separate species. The author goes even further and suggests distinguishing two more species, which, in his opinion, were also genetically isolated.

However, many taxonomists believe that Hilling's studies did not shake the concept of hemp genotype monotype at all, and continue to adhere to the most justified and widespread concept of Small and Kronquist.

According to modern classification, the genus Hemp includes one species with two subspecies:

• Cannabis sativa subsp. sativa - Hemp
• Cannabis sativa subsp. indica ( Lam. ) E.Small & Cronquist - Indian Hemp

Previously, a third species was distinguished - Cannabis weed ( Cannabis ruderalis Janisch. ), But now this combination does not have an independent rank and is synonymous with Cannabis sativa subsp. sativa .

• В китайской мифологии есть конопляная дева ( кит. 麻姑 ) — бессмертная фея, связанная с эликсиром жизни, символическая покровительница женщин.
• Геродот так описывает оргии скифов : «Они бросали конопляное семя на горячие камни и выли, и вопили от удовольствия». В Северной Африке конопля — источник счастья. В Индии (VIII—VI века до н. э.) жрецы- брахманы готовили крепкий отвар конопли, чтобы приблизиться к божеству.
• Первые экземпляры (черновики) Конституции США были отпечатаны на конопляной бумаге ^[34] . Позже, в 1930-х эта же страна фактически запретила промышленное использование конопли ^[35] .
• Согласно народной примете лучший день для посева конопли — 5 июня , в день Леонтия Конопляника: «Коноплю в поле сей и на рябину гляди — коли цвет в круги, и конопли долги».
• В разное время правительство разных стран принимало меры для поощрения выращивания конопли . Так например, в США в 1942 году был выпущен фильм Конопля для Победы , пропагандирующий выращивание. А в Англии в 1533 году король Генрих VIII издал «конопляный указ» ^{[ уточнить ]} , предписывающий в обязательном порядке каждому фермеру высеивать коноплю (по другим данным - налагающий налог на фермеров, отказывающихся выращивать коноплю или лён ^{[36] [37]} ).
• Изображение листа конопли стойко ассоциируется с наркотическими средствами. Поэтому, на униформе германских полицейских, участвующих в борьбе с наркотрафиком, используется знак в виде листа конопли. ^{[38] [39]}
• Изображение конопли можно увидеть на гербе посёлка Епифань , а также на гербе и флаге Кимовского района Тульской области .
• Изображение конопли также можно наблюдать на гербе города Сураж в Брянской области

• Марихуана
• Cannabinoids
• Тетрагидроканнабинол

• Конопля // Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона : в 86 т. (82 т. и 4 доп.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Ярмлоленко, А. В. Род 375. Конопля — Cannabis // Флора СССР : в 30 т. / гл. ed. В. Л. Комаров . - M .; Л. : Изд-во АН СССР , 1936. — Т. 5 / ред. тома В. Л. Комаров. — С. 483—484. — 762, XXVI с. — 5175 экз.
• Гельтман, Д. Д. Конопля — Cannabis L // Флора Восточной Европы / Отв. ed. и ред. тома Н. Н. Цвелёв . - M .; СПб. : Т-во науч. ed. КМК, 2004. — Т. XI. — С. 43—44. — 536 с. - 1000 copies. — ISBN 5-87317-160-2 .
• Посыпанов Г. С., Долгодворов В. Е, Жеруков Б. Х. и др. Растиниеводство / Под ред. Г. С. Посыпанова. — М: КолосС, 2007. — 612 с. — 20 000 экз. — ISBN 978-5-9352-0551-1 .
• Пыльнев В. В., Коновалов Т. И., Хупацария Т. И. и др. Частная селекция полевых культур / Под ред. В. В. Пыльнева. — М: КолосС, 2005. — 552 с. — 20 000 экз. — ISBN 5-9532-0316-0 .
• Шипунов, А. Б. К вопросу о систематике конопли ( Cannabis L.) // Теория и практика судебной экспертизы. — 2010. — № 19 . — С. 128—130 .
• Hilling KW Genetic evidence for speciacion in Cfnnabis (Cannabaceae) // Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. — 2005. — Т. 52 . — С. 161—180 .

• П. В. Галенков. «Коноплеводство Средневолжского края: на путь развития» Издание Крайконоплеводсоюза, Самара , 1931 г. (Проект «Старые Газеты»)
• Алексей Кондратенко «Золотой век конопли», Орёл, 1998
• Олег Види «Конопляная энциклопедия», Ипр, 2010
• Пенька — залог победы (с русскими субтитрами) Документальный фильм 1942 года производства Министерства сельского хозяйства США.
• Рекомендуемые методы идентификации и анализа каннабиса и продуктов каннабиса (пересмотренное и дополненное издание) : Руководство для национальных лабораторий экспертизы наркотиков / Секция лабораторного и научного обеспечиния Управления ООН по наркотикам и преступности . — Нью-Йорк : Организация объединённых наций , 2010. — 12 августа. — 62 с. — Дата обращения: 14.10.2015.