Cannabis, the Plant of the Unlimited Possibilities

Abstract

This review paper gives an overview of Cannabis Sativa, also known as hemp, which has been cultivated and used century's B.C. due to its medical, hallucinogenic and agricultural properties. Cannabis has been described in 1938 as the billion-dollar plant but has lost its value in the U.S. due to regulatory and legislative issues. Hemp has seen as new push In the U.S. with the introduction of the 2018 Farm Bill which allows on a federal level to grow hemp, pending on individual state regulations. Currently, industrial hemp production is allowed in at least 38 U.S. States under strict regulations. Today hemp is used in counties that do not have as strict regulations as the U.S. in a variety of applications such as beauty products, carpets, cooking oil, personal care products and textiles. Hemp can be considered as an alternative feedstock due to its low lignin and high cellulose level for biofuel application as an alternative to replace petroleum-based fuels and gases. In the U.S. hemp research in these areas has stalled due to the complexity of the law. Beside industrial application such as ropes, textiles, shoes, etc., hemp today is used in pharmaceutical and medical applications, by extracting Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabinoids from the leaves and fluorescence of the hemp plant that contain no more than of up to 0.3% of these compounds. The use of hemp plants with higher levels are strictly forbidden in most countries. Several extraction processes of cannabinoids from hemp are used They all use a solvent for extraction but differ in terms of efficiency, usage range and other factors influencing the extraction. Nonetheless, overconsumption of cannabis products can be associated with several side effects, that can cause serious physiological and psychological damage in the human body may cause serious damage.