Author(s):

Dehnnet Abebe

Abstract: The cannabis or hemp plant has been known thousands years ago in almost all parts of the world, and involves three main strains; Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. Cannabis enters East Africa by the Arabian merchants. It was certainly used in Ethiopia by the 13^th century where it likely entered via trade routes across the Red Sea. In Ethiopia cannabis is cultivated in Alemaya, Shebendia, Shashemene and Debre Berehan areas. The cannabis plant consists of hundreds of chemical constituents called cannabinoids, which can be extracted out by different methods of extraction which are further isolated using chromatographic methods of separation. Δ9-Tetrahydrocanabinol, cannabidiol and cannabinol are the most prevalent natural cannabinoids. Δ9-Tetrahydrocanabinol being psychoactive determines the potency of cannabis plant. The cannabinoid content of cannabis plant depends of cannabis strain, growth stage at the time of collection, season of collection, environmental conditions where cannabis is grown. The plant was used for several purposes in different parts of the world in the past for decoration, food source, medicine, and fiber. Currently cannabinoids provides various therapeutic benefits for the treatment of several clinical conditions like chemotherapy induced nausea/vomiting, muscle spasticity, Alzheimer’s disease, eating disorders, and glaucoma. However the clinical evidence for the use of cannabinoids for long term management of glaucoma is not strong enough.

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