Global Ganja Report

In an historic move, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP) released the first installation of a two-part Cannabis Monograph (PDF) Dec. 10 that classifies marijuana as a botanical medicine, alongside many other widely accepted "Complementary and Alternative Medicines." Written and reviewed by leading experts, the monograph brings together an authoritative compendium of scientific data, including long-awaited standards for the plant's identity, purity, quality and properties. The monograph provides a foundation for health care professionals to integrate cannabis therapy into their practices on the basis of a full scientific understanding of the plant, its constituent components, and its biologic effects.

"The inclusion of cannabis in the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia returns the plant to its place alongside as a proven botanical medicine, which has been used for centuries by countries and cultures around the world," said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, which helped support the development of the monograph. "Health care professionals, researchers and regulators now have the tools to develop effective public health programs for medical marijuana and to further explore its therapeutic benefits."

The first cannabis monograph was introduced in the 3rd edition of the US Pharmacopoeia in 1851, where it remained until the 12th edition in 1942, making the AHP monograph the first of its kind in more than 70 years. Cannabis medicines were produced by Eli Lilly and other American pharmaceutical companies until the federal Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 sharply reduced US cannabis production and prescriptions.

AHP began development of a cannabis monograph in 2011 in part because of a need for validated standards to guide laboratory analysis for quality control of cannabis and related products. Much of the information was developed in collaboration with researchers at the University of Mississippi under the guidance of Dr. Mahmoud ElSohly, who oversees the only federally legal source of medical marijuana in the US.

The Therapeutic Compendium, the second installment of the cannabis monograph due out this spring, will document the thousands of years of medicinal cannabis use around the world and describe the totality of modern research on how cannabis treats a broad range of conditions and symptoms. It will encompass historical data, pre-clinical and clinical pharmacology, indications, contraindications, side effects, dosing, preparations, safety, use in pregnancy, and interactions with conventional medications, among other fields.

"The adoption of Cannabis into the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia as a safe, effective and low-cost botanical medicine is a testament to this human-plant relationship and a significant footprint on the trail towards acknowledgment as such by a much broader audience," said Dr. Michelle Sexton, one of the authors and reviewers of the Cannabis Monograph. Dr. Sexton is currently the medical research director at the Center for the Study of Cannabis and Social Policy.

The AHP was formed in 1995 to promote the responsible use of herbal products and medicines, constitutinh a worldwide network of botanists, chemists, herbalists, medical doctors, pharmacists, pharmacologists, and other experts in medicinal plants. AHP has published monographs for 28 different botanicals, including aloe vera leaf, American ginseng root, and echinacea. The organization expects to eventually publish more than 300 monographs, covering the most widely used Western, Ayurvedic and Chinese botanicals.  (ASA, Dec. 11)

Graphic: Herbal Remedies

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