It was legal, had powerful, positive effects on health, and helped to treat certain diseases. Cannabis was used in the past by the major pharmaceutical companies which, however, cast it all aside when other products (more much more dangerous, but more profitable) came to light.
Those researching the medicinal properties of marijuana have always concluded that this product ought to be included amongst those used for the treatment of certain ailments and diseases. Their arguments are based on scientific and historic evidence; years ago (at the beginning of century) there were already those who were doing so, no less than some of the main (and most powerful) American pharmaceutical companies today.
To create their cannabis-based medicines these companies used original seeds from a range of different origins (although most came from India) that later, circa 1910, were cultivated on American soil, such that when World War I broke out the country was self-sufficient in its marijuana crops dedicated to therapeutic use.
Yet, before they put their products on sale, in 1850 the “Pharmacopeia” of the United States, an official book that established the norms for prescribed and freely sold medicines, had already included marijuana as a treatment for many ailments (from tetanus to typhus, to rabies, dysentery, addiction to opiates, leprosy, incontinence and uterine bleeding).
At least 6% of medicines created around 1919 contained extracts of cannabis of one kind or another. But this was nothing strange, as most of the medicines of the time contained such active ingredients (which called for aggressive marketing between companies to distinguish themselves), all basing their composition on diverse plants.
“We are marketing a fluid extract of cannabis sativa grown in the United States. It has been tested by experienced doctors and obtained from the best Indian cannabis.” The description of “Fluid Extract Cannabis Americana, is a clear example of the natural manner in which these products were sold. Cannabis Americana, specifically, was created and placed on sale by Parke, Davis & Company, an American laboratory that today is a subsidiary of Pfizer, a leading biomedical research company created in Brooklyn in 1849.
Bristol-Myers Squibb was another of the companies that decided to market marijuana-based products. It was founded in 1858, commencing operations under Edward Robinson Squibb, a doctor known for the production of pure, high-quality medicines (many of them herbs). Squibb supplied marines who fought in the war and travelled on unhealthy vessels.
Squibb sold cannabis in powder, tablets, fluid extracts and dyes, and in his initial years alone had 15 cannabis products on the market, a number bested by Parke Davis, with 27, and Eli Lilly (who also contributed to the creation of “Cannabis Americana”), with 23. The latter company, founded in 1876, is today one of the largest multinational pharmaceutical firms.
Circa 1930, the demand for cannabis-based medicines picked up, and these companies wanted to increase their work to produce more powerful and reliable products. Parke Davis and Eli Lilly used them to create successful analgesics, anti-spasmodics, and sedatives.
Meanwhile, Grimault & Company began to sell marijuana cigarettes as a remedy against asthma. They were called "Indian cigarettes," completely legal in the United States at the time, and even reached France - perhaps aided by the investigations of a psychiatrist in the 1840s, Jacques Joseph Moreau, who found in marijuana the best remedy to cure headaches, improve sleep, and increase appetite. The indica cannabis cigarettes were considered apt for the treatment of breathing and circulation, as well as to fight nervous system maladies.
These companies used cannabis to treat epilepsy, a number of problems suffered by women, migraines, tapeworm, mental diseases, and a range of addictions. At the same time they were used as an aphrodisiac, they were also used to treat sexually transmitted diseases.
Some even created cannabis products for veterinary use, specially designed for pets; Parke Davis sold marijuana extracts so that the veterinarians could use them as analgesics and sedatives.
Among the companies that started out in the art of creating cannabis-based medicines, only Abbott - which marketed four medicines based on the plant circa 1935 - today has a division, AbbVie, that produces a pill based on synthetic THC. Pfizer has stated that it abandoned this research line years ago. The same is true of Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb which, for now, prefer not to specify whether they will work this sector again. Other pharmaceutical groups have gained ground in this field, like GW Pharmaceutical and Insys Therapeutics, which are actively working on cannabis research.
Why is it that those who paved the way have eschewed marijuana? According to the experts, because they prefer to sell other much more profitable products (and even take advantage of the nonexistence of some). The pharmaceutical companies have also become one of the main forces opposing the marijuana legalisation movement, along with companies that sell alcohol and don't want to compete with legal cannabis companies.
The abandonment of cannabis went paralleled the accelerated development of much more profitable medical products (especially as of 1942), which were much more expensive (and with much more detrimental effects), like aspirin and morphine, as well as drugs derived from opium, which began to supplant marijuana in the treatment of pain and other problems (supported, also, by governmental policies, above all in the United States).
Nevertheless, the historical precedents demonstrating the salutary properties of cannabis are one more argument for those calling for in-depth research, who are convinced that their demands will ultimately be heard. More and more citizens prefer to avoid chemical-based pharmaceuticals and treat themselves with natural cannabis by-products.