字幕列表 影片播放 列印英文字幕 For centuries, marijuana has been used in a whole host of different cultures. But what you may not know is that its modern scientific foundations began in the 19th Century, just before its worldwide demonization started taking root. Marijuana seemed to be the pop culture drug of the 20th century. From the cannabis hysteria during the Jazz Age and the Great Depression, to the rock 'n' roll of the 1960s and 70s, it's not a drug we expect to see in earlier eras. But humanity's use of marijuana — according to the University of Sydney — dates back to at least 2800 B.C. It was introduced into ancient Greece, and Roman society as medicine from Asia. The Roman author and naturalist, Pliny the Elder, described its use in treating joint pain, gout, upset stomach in animals, and ear infections. However — according to New Scientist — marijuana use in the West was curbed after Pope Innocent VIII condemned it in 1484. But — according to a 1998 report by the Select Committee on Science and Technology in the United Kingdom's House of Lords — renewed interest in marijuana grew in the Western world during the 16th century. And by the start of the Victorian era in the early 1800s, the efforts of an Irish doctor were poised to inject marijuana into British medicine in a big way. The Irish physician William Brooke O'Shaughnessy was born in 1808 — most likely in Limerick — and studied medicine at Trinity College and the University of Edinburgh. He was unable to get a license to practice medicine in London after graduating, but after setting up his own laboratory, he became noted for his work analyzing the blood and feces of cholera victims. According to New Scientist, his work helped end bloodletting as a treatment for cholera patients suffering from dehydration. By 1838, O'Shaughnessy was an assistant surgeon in the Bengal Medical Service of the East India Company. While based in Kolkata, he learned of the recreational and medicinal uses of marijuana, which the native Indians called ganja. And when O'Shaughnessy was introduced to churrus — the resin produced from the plant — he thought he had found a viable medicine to experiment with. According to New Scientist, after experimenting on a variety of animals — none of which suffered any harm, regardless of the size of the dose — O'Shaughnessy used churrus to treat three male patients suffering from rheumatism. At first, the drug only seemed to affect one man, who became excessively chatty and hungry before falling asleep. That same patient later became cataleptic, while another broke into hysterical laughter. But when all three patients claimed to be relieved of pain the following day, O'Shaughnessy discharged them as cured. When he expanded his trials to include other diseases, O'Shaughnessy discovered that marijuana aided in cholera patients' natural recovery and relieved their diarrhea. It also appeared to arrest spasms in tetanus patients. Though, for rabies patients, it couldn't do much more than ease their passing. O'Shaughnessy was now sufficiently convinced of marijuana's value, and published his findings in the Provincial Medical Journal in 1843. "Cannabis opened a window into the functioning of our body." When O'Shaughnessy's paper electrified Victorian medical society, he was frequently contacted by his peers in London, eager to learn more. O'Shaughnessy went on to work with the telegraph in India — for which he was knighted in 1856 — and laid the foundations for intravenous therapy. Meanwhile, his work with marijuana placed the drug in pharmacology books throughout Britain and Europe. Per the 1998 UK House of Lords report, after marijuana was accepted as a viable medicine by Victorian Britain, it was primarily administered via oral tinctures — an extract dissolved in alcohol. According to Professor James Mills of Gresham College, marijuana was used as a general sedative, an aid in childbirth, a treatment for insanity, and even a treatment for painful menstrual periods. Among those who promoted marijuana's use for menstrual pain was the British physician, John Russell Reynolds. According to the journal, Advances in Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, he became a physician to the royal household in 1879. But this appointment has sometimes been misunderstood as Reynolds being Queen Victoria's personal physician. As a result, the book Women and Cannabis: Medicine, Science, and Sociology claimed that during Reynolds' tenure, the queen routinely took indica to deal with menstrual pain. But, as the House of Lords report noted, there's no proof that Victoria used any marijuana, especially since Victoria was 60-years-old by the time Reynolds began working for the royal family. While Victorian society found marijuana a useful treatment for everything from migraines to epilepsy, it wasn't always a reliable medicine. Synthetic pharmacology began to take off in the late 19th century, but the active ingredient in marijuana wasn't discovered until 1964. "Raphael Mechoulam isolated THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid that make users feel high." James Mills claims that all medical preparations of marijuana in the Victorian era were entirely organic, so the amount of THC in any given batch varied widely. As a result, the drug's effectiveness and side effects couldn't be reliably predicted. But — according to the National Museums Scotland — when Alexander Wood developed the modern hypodermic needle in 1853, it offered improved ways of administering treatments. And since marijuana isn't water-soluble, it was ill-suited for injection. Between such technological innovations and the development of synthetic drugs, marijuana and other herbal remedies gradually fell out of favor. Practical considerations and the drug's own limits drove marijuana's decline towards the end of the Victorian era. It simultaneously gained a sinister reputation in Britain and America. According to James Mills, the Allahabad newspaper The Pioneer reported on the growth and sale of marijuana and its effects on mentally ill patients in British-controlled India in 1891. The paper argued that "ganja" had more harmful effects than opium, pointing to the alleged widespread use of marijuana among asylum patients. The Pioneer's claims soon attracted attention in the British House of Commons, especially among anti-opium politicians. And while the government's initial policy on marijuana was taxation over prohibition, as more anecdotal reports became widespread in the 1890s, marijuana became a symbol of the evils of British imperialism in the minds of liberal politicians. A commission did carry out a study on marijuana's effects between 1893 and 1894, and found little to no evidence it was linked to insanity. But the commission did caution that excessive use could damage mental health — without actually defining the word "excessive."
B2 中高級 美國腔 How Marijuana Was Used In Victorian England 53 2 林宜悉 發佈於 2024 年 03 月 02 日 更多分享 分享 收藏 回報 影片單字