Marijuana Medicine: A World Tour of the Healing and Visionary Powers of Cannabis

by Christian Rätsch

Overview

A comprehensive survey of the therapeutic, historical, and cultural uses of cannabis in traditions around the world.

• The most complete visual record of cannabis culture ever published.

• Christian Ratsch is one of the world's foremost ethnopharmacologists and is the current president of the German Society for Ethnomedicine.

Marijuana Medicine explores the role of hemp in medicinal systems spanning the globe. Cannabis has accompanied the development of human culture from its very beginnings and can be found in the healing traditions of cultures throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Even today it is an important part of many Asian healing traditions: in Ayurveda cannabis is praised for its tonic and aphrodisiac qualities and in traditional Chinese medicine it is cited as a superb antidepressant. It also remains a significant part of the healing and visionary traditions of Latin American curanderos and Brazilian, Nepalese, and Indian folk medicine. Modern research has confirmed the effectiveness of marijuana's application in treating such diseases as asthma and glaucoma. Christian Ratsch profiles the medicinal, historical, and cultural uses of cannabis in each of these societies and medical systems, providing remedies and recipes for those interested in how cannabis can be used to treat specific conditions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594776595
Publisher:	Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Publication date:	03/01/2001
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	23 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Christian Rätsch, Ph.D. (1957 – 2022), was a world-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist who specialized in the shamanic uses of plants. He is the author of The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants and coauthor of Plants of the Gods, Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas, and Witchcraft Medicine. He lived in Hamburg, Germany, and lectured around the world.
Christian Rätsch, Ph.D. (1957 – 2022), was a world-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist who specialized in the shamanic uses of plants for spiritual as well as medicinal purposes. He studied Mesoamerican languages and cultures and anthropology at the University of Hamburg and spent, altogether, three years of fieldwork among the Lacandone Indians in Chiapas, Mexico, being the only European fluent in their language. He then received a fellowship from the German academic service for foreign research, the Deutsche Akademische Auslandsdienst (DAAD), to realize his doctoral thesis on healing spells and incantations of the Lacandone-Maya at the University of Hamburg, Germany.

In addition to his work in Mexico, his numerous fieldworks have included research in Thailand, Bali, the Seychelles, as well as a long-term study (18 years) on shamanism in Nepal combined with expeditions to Korea and the Peruvian and Colombian Amazon. He also was a scientific anthropological advisor for expeditions organized by German magazines such as GEO and Spektrum der Wissenschaften (Spectrum of Sciences).

Before becoming a full-time author and internationally renowned lecturer, Rätsch worked as professor of anthropology at the University of Bremen and served as consultant advisor for many German museums. Because of his extensive collection of shells, fossils, artifacts, and entheopharmacological items, he had numerous museum expositions on these topics.

He is the author of numerous articles and more than 40 books, including Plants of Love, Gateway to Inner Space, Marijuana Medicine, The Dictionary of Sacred and Magical Plants, and The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants. He is also coauthor of Plants of the Gods, Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas, Witchcraft Medicine, Pagan Christmas, and The Encyclopedia of Aphrodisiacs and was editor of the Yearbook of Ethnomedicine and the Study of Consciousness. A former member of the board of advisors of the European College for the Study of Consciousness (ECSC) and former president of the Association of Ethnomedicine, he lived in Hamburg, Germany.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Dr. Lester Grinspoon

Foreword by Dr. William A. Emboden

Preface

Translator's Note

Acknowledgments

Introduction


Bum Shankar!
Ma
Kamanin
Vijaya
Bhanga
Myan rtsi spras
Kancha
Penka
Nascha
Azallu-Qannapu
Smsmt
Kannabion--Cannabis
Hashish
Hanaf
De Hanf-Cannabus
Hempe
Distillates
Home Remedies
Dagga
Kif
Ganja
Kinnickinik
Marijuana
Maconha
Dilutions
Dope
THC and Analogs
Perspectives for Hemp and World Health


Glossary

List of Diseases and Medical Systems

Hemp Substitutes

Organizations

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

The historical, medicinal, cultural, and visionary uses of marijuana (Cannabis sativa) in Africa, Asia, India, Europe, and the Americas is discussed in this visual tribute to a versatile plant. The dialog is clear and engaging, yet maintains a scientific approach. Complete with very good photography, this has to be the most complete pictorial and informative presentation of Cannabis.

American Herb Association

Marijuana Medicine is the most complete visual record of cannabis culture ever published.

Branches of Light

This ethnohistorical study, first published in Germany in 1992, traces the medicinal uses of the cannabis plant by many people in many eras. Nine US states have now moved to legalize marijuana in the treatment of ailments such as cancer, AIDS, and glaucoma, putting the states at odds with a federal government that continues to forbid its use. Though the war on drugs makes the topic politically hot, R<:a>tsch's work is not a political treatise, but a cross-cultural survey that allows the facts (and the plant) to speak for themselves. He includes remedies and recipes in his profiles of the uses of cannabis across the globe. An anthropologist, R<:a>tsch is president of the German Society for Ethnomedicine. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"Marijuana Medicine is the most complete visual record of cannabis culture ever published"

Spring/Summer 2001 Branches of Light

"Ratsch has produced a masterful overview, filled with an enormous scholarship."

Spring/Summer 2001 The Book Reader

"Marijuana Medicine is the most complete visual record of cannabis culture ever published"

"Ratsch has produced a masterful overview, filled with an enormous scholarship."

"The historical, medicinal, cultural, and visionary uses of marijuana (Cannabis sativa) in Africa, Asia, India, Europe, and the Americas is discussed in this visual tribute to a versatile plant. The dialog is clear and engaging, yet maintains a scientific approach. Complete with very good photography, this has to be the most complete pictorial and informative presentation of Cannabis."

From the Publisher

"Ratsch has produced a masterful overview, filled with an enormous scholarship."

The Book Reader