Doctors in 1800s Knew Difference Between THC and CBD Strains

Prior to cannabis prohibition in the United States in 1937, physicians used cannabis as medicine. Evidence of cannabis used medicinally has been documented for 5,000 years.

In the US, doctors prescribed cannabis since 1840. Cannabis first appeared in the U.S. Pharmacopeia in 1851. In his book Seeing Through the Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth About Marijuana, Dr. Peter Grinspoon writes:

Starting in the 1840s, cannabis was an increasingly common and accepted medication in the United States, often in the form of tinctures, produced by mainstream pharmaceutical companies such as Parke-Davis and Eli Lilly… Cannabis was widely embraced by medical institutions of the day, such as the medical societies, and between 1840 and 1900 more than one hundred papers were published in the Western medical literature discussing and recommending its clinical use for various ailments.

Don Wirtshafter, collector of cannabis artifacts and founder of the Cannabis Museum in Athens, Ohio, told The Spokesman-Review , “Pharmacists understood the difference between THC and CBD and used them for different diagnoses.” The article goes on to explain that drug companies Eli Lilly and Parke-Davis worked together to try to create pure THC and CBD strains of cannabis.

The American Medical Association testified in Congress against cannabis prohibition in 1937, but were ultimately unsuccessful. The seeds of cannabis prohibition had been sewn since the end of alcohol prohibition in 1933. Dr. Grinspoon writes in Seeing Through the Smoke, that “the massive law enforcement bureaucracy that had sustained [alcohol prohibition] was desperately in need of justification and funding. You just finished one war, and what do you do with a huge army? Either dissolve it or start another war. Cannabis was the perfect target.” Harry Anslinger, head of the new Federal Bureau of Narcotics had created a fear-mongering propaganda campaign against what he called “marihuana”, including an unintentionally funny film called Reefer Madness, featuring characters who commit acts of violence after smoking cannabis.

After 80 years, cannabis is now legal for medicinal purposes in some states and recreational purposes in others. Physicians are re-learning the value of cannabis products, and once again are legally able to prescribe what was once considered a useful medicine.