Only the female plant produces cannabinoids, which is reliable for the psychoactive effects on the human body when consumed. Cannabinoids are only excluded from the female plant as a sticky golden resin and is important for the plant as a form of protection against heat and also is thought to preserve moisture while the plants undergo reproduction. The main cannabinoid responsible for the psychoactive effects is known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC.
             The cannabis plant is believed to have originated in central Asia, and the first archeological evidence of cannabis dates back to 10,000 years ago in Taiwan where the decorations of clay pots contained strains of cannabis fiber. The first documented use of cannabis was under the Chinese Emperor Chen Nung about five thousand years ago. He recommended cannabis to help diseases such as rheumatic pains, constipation & malaria. Although the euphoric effect of cannabis was known to the ancient Chinese, it did not play a major roll in their social lives. Cannabis did not play a role in Europe or the United States until the middle of the 19th century. It was not until then that a British professor at the Medical College of Calcutta, India studied and introduced western civilization to the medical importance of cannabis. Professor W.B. O'Shaughnessy provided pharmacists with cannabis when he returned to England in 1842 and up until 1900 over one hundred papers recommending cannabis had been published in western medical writings. Cannabis was officially criminalized in the United States in 1937 by the Marijuana Tax Act. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics under Harry Anslinger made the public believe marijuana caused violent crimes, psychosis, addiction, and mental deterioration. The purpose of the law was to dishearten recreational usage and made the possession or cultivation of the plant fineable. Although the law was not against the medical use of cannabis, the Marijuana Tax Act made further ...