42 Canna-Facts

Chances are we all suffered enough misinformation about cannabis in high-school drug ‘education’ classes, so here are 42 actual facts about the stuff, including how likely you really are to get hooked…

1. There are hundreds of compounds in cannabis, but the two active chemicals are cannabidiol (CBD) — which appears to impact the brain without getting you high— and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — which most definitely gets you high. (Source)
   
   
2. Good things come in threes, like the three main cannabis types. Indica is known for its sedative effects, making you feel relaxed, physically heavy and lethargic – the so-called “body high”. Sativa is stimulating and invigorating, offering more of a “head high”. Hybrid cannabis is the best-of-both option, combining Sativa and Indica for an intriguing lucky packet of effects. (Source)
   
   
3. Common terms for cannabis include marijuana, weed, reefer, pot, herb, ganja, grass, broccoli, dope, herb, 420, blanch, Mary Jane, flower, skunk, boom, sinsemilla, bhang, dagga, smoke, hash, tar, and ashes. Maybe you heard your dad dropping a few of these before. (Source)
   
   
4. The leaves, stems, flower buds and extracts from the cannabis plant can be smoked, vapourised, eaten, brewed in a tea, orally sprayed, infused into food/drinks, put into a tincture, taken as a capsule, or topically applied as creams or transdermal patches. (Source)
   
   
5. Terpenes are aromatic oils found in cannabis that give each strain its unique flavour. Think citrusy, spicy, floral, herbal, woody and, uhh, cheesy... They also play an important role in the feeling each strain produces, meaning selecting a strain is more than a matter of going, “Hmmm, Cookies and Cream [a hybrid, by the way] sounds delicious” – many users now choose according to their therapeutic benefits. (Source)
   
   
6. Even though sometimes it can feel more like two years, the average length of a high is about two hours, typically kicking in 10 to 30 minutes after ingestion. While the full effect of cannabis usually disappears completely within 24 hours, THC can be detectable in your blood for several days after use. It all depends on your individual tolerance, metabolism and how much of your stash you went through. (Source)

7. Spiders high on marijuana build messy webs, are easily distracted, and give up easily. However, spiders high on LSD spin highly geometric webs, even more so than when they are sober. Humans high on marijuana can’t spin webs at all. (Source)
   
   
8. The effects of cannabis vary from person to person: you may feel relaxed and happy, giggly, talkative, hungry, trippy and a little slow. Or if you're not used to it, you may feel dizzy, nauseous, sleepy, confused, anxious or paranoid. (Source)
   
   
9. Women really do love flowers… Cannabis is a powerful female aphrodisiac; studies have shown that women are twice as likely to experience ‘satisfactory’ orgasms when using marijuana before sex. (Source)

10. You can’t get high from eating raw cannabis. A chemical reaction called decarboxylation has to take place first to activate the THC and other cannabinoids. This is done by heating cannabis to a specific temperature for a certain length of time. (Source)
    
    
11. To cook with cannabis, activate it by baking it in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 120°C. After this, you can infuse the roasted bud into butter or oil, and then use in a recipe. Careful licking the spoon.
    
    
12. No matter how much you smoked that time when you were 17 and thought you were a goner, dying from a cannabis overdose is practically impossible. To overdose, you’d need to smoke nearly 680kg of cannabis (about 800 joints) within 15 minutes. In which case, carbon monoxide poisoning would be the cause of death. No one is that much of a stoner. (Source)
    
    
13. Cannabis is one of the oldest cultivated crops in human history. Historians have traced its use to as far back as 10,000BC. Ancient cultures didn’t use the plant to get high, however, but as a form of herbal medicine, a food source and to make rope and textiles. (Source)
    
    
14. Cannabis seeds contain all the essential amino and fatty acids. They are one of only a handful of substances that man can live off indefinitely with no other food. (Source)
    
    
15. In 2003, Canada became the first country in the world to offer medical marijuana to patients suffering from pain. (Source)
    
    
16. Weed was legal in India until 1985, when pressure from the American government forced a ban on it. Interestingly, many states in the US have begun to legalise weed now, and yet, it is still illegal in India. (Source)
    
    
17. Weed is only completely legal in Uruguay and Canada. (Source)
    
    
18. Britain is the world’s largest exporter of medical cannabis, the majority of which (around 90 tonnes) is produced at a government-backed, 18-hectare grow operation in the countryside. (Source)
    
    
19. You’d think that Jamaica or Netherlands has the highest percentage of the population using cannabis, but it’s actually Iceland, with almost 18% of its population reportedly consuming the psychoactive plant. (Source)
    
    
20. More than half of the United States has legalised marijuana for medical use. (Source)
    
    
21. The cannabis industry is leading the charge in female empowerment. In 2018, women held 27% of cannabis leadership positions in the US – a significant margin over the national average of 23% across all other businesses. (Source)
    
    
22. Men and women react differently to cannabis. Females are more sensitive to THC during ovulation but are then able to build a tolerance much more easily than men. (Source, Source)
    
    
23. You can still get arrested for growing cannabis in South Africa. The new ruling states that only private consumption is legal; you’re not allowed to buy or sell cannabis. The legal quantity that adults are allowed to grow is still undetermined, so probably don’t go planting a field just yet. (Source)
    
    
24. The best-supported medicinal use of cannabis is as a treatment for chronic pain, but it also reduces nausea, increases appetite, soothes anxiety and even reduces epileptic seizures. It is a good muscle relaxant and has been reported to lessen tremors in Parkinson’s disease. It has also successfully been used to help with fibromyalgia, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, and most other conditions where the final common pathway is chronic pain. (Source, Source, Source)
    
    
25. Cannabis and cannabinoids are helpful in treating cancer symptoms and the side effects of therapies but it can also kills cancer cells themselves. There is a large body of evidence showing that cannabinoids can reduce cancerous tumour growth... (Source)
    
    
26. …But heavy cannabis smokers are at risk for some of the same diseases as cigarette smokers, for example, respiratory ailments. (Source)
    
    
27. Cannabis is an excellent antidepressant for two reasons: the THC binds to the same receptors as the brain’s natural anandamide, or ‘bliss molecule’ and CBD slows the brain’s breakdown of anandamide. (Source)
    
    
28. Apparently, “420” emerged as stoner code at San Rafael High School in California in 1971. A group of students who called themselves the Waldos would meet up to smoke at 4:20 every day, using the code 420. The code soon spread, as did a whole bunch of urban legends about its origin. (Source)
    
    
29. Cannabis can be harmful if you use it irresponsibly, but it’s not nearly as destructive as alcohol. With legalisation and wider accessibility, blazing will replace boozing for many users – and save many lives and livers. (Source)
    
    
30. A highly promising area of cannabis research is using it to help PTSD in veterans who are returning from combat zones. Many veterans and their therapists report drastic improvements. (Source)
    
    
31. Around 10% of regular cannabis users become dependent on it. Your risk of getting addicted is higher if you start using it in your teens or use it every day. (Source)
    
    
32. Short-term use of cannabis can impair thinking and coordination. Avoid the usuals: heavy machinery, marriage proposals and online shopping. (Source)
    
    
33. Cannabis is fast becoming the darling of the skincare industry. It has anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties, so it can treat a variety of skin issues from psoriasis or eczema to cold sores and acne. (Source)
    
    
34. By 2023, the South African domestic market for cannabis and related products – excluding consumer CBD products – will be worth a cool R27 billion. (Source)
    
    
35. Cannabis is losing its seedy rep. The cannabis industry target audience is moving towards a more sophisticated customer who is looking for a diversity of products with different effects, potency levels, and prices. There is also a growing demand for luxury products. (Source)
    
    
36. In the United States, the cannabis industry is the fastest-growing job market. While the rest of the labour market appears to be tightening up, the cannabis industry is seeing accelerated job creation. (Source)
    
    
37. The global legal cannabis market is expected to reach USD 146.4 billion by the end of 2025. (Source)
    
    
38. Money may not grow on trees but it does on cannabis plants – it’s already the largest cash crop in the United States, exceeding corn and wheat combined. (Source)
    
    
39. Weed is not exactly “green”, after all. For every half a kilo of cannabis grown indoors, approximately 2000kg of CO2 is released into the atmosphere. (Source)
    
    
40. You’re wrong if you think stoners are never successful, many famous politicians, writers, innovators, actors, and musicians have used cannabis: Michelle and Barack Obama, Bob Dylan, Maya Angelou, Rihanna, Bill Gates, Cameron Diaz, Hunter S. Thomson, Carl Sagan, Snoop Dogg, Abraham Lincoln, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Phelps, Bob Marley, Drake, Cheech & Chong, Kirsten Dunst, The Beatles, Seth Rogan, Steve Jobs, Whoopi Goldberg, Willie Nelson, Peter Tosh, Jay Z, Matthew McConaughey, Lady Gaga, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe and many, many more. (Source)
    
    
41. Shakespeare smoked the stuff! Forensic technology has revealed the residue of cannabis in the pipes found in his Stratford-upon-Avon garden. (Source)
    
    
42. In the '60s and '70s, staff and presenters at the BBC apparently smoked cannabis openly before broadcasts of news programmes and even children's programmes. (Source)