“Cannabis has been of medicinal and social significance for millennia.
It is obtained from Cannabis sativa and the plant’s name reflects its ancient use—cannabis may represent a compound of Sanskrit and Hebrew words meaning ‘fragrant cane’, while sativa is Latin for cultivated.
Cannabis is also known as hemp.
Marijuana describes the dried cannabis flowers and leaves which are smoked, while hashish refers to blocks of cannabis resin which can be eaten.
Advances in cannabis research have paralleled developments in opioid pharmacology whereby a psychoactive plant extract has elucidated novel endogenous signalling systems with therapeutic significance.
Cannabinoids (CBs) are chemical compounds derived from cannabis.
This review discusses the basic science and clinical aspects of CB pharmacology with a focus on pain medicine.
Advances in cannabis research have ensured a future for these analgesic molecules which have been used since antiquity.”