Recent Developments in Cannabis Chemistry

The marijuana plant Cannabis sativa contains a bewildering Introduction array of organic chemicals. As is true with other botanic species, there are representatives of almost all chemical classes present, including monoand sesquiterpenes, carbohydrates, aromatics, and a variety of nitrogenous compounds. Interest in the study of this plant has centered primarily on the resinous fraction, as it is this material that is invested with the pharmacological activity that is peculiar to the plant. This resin is secreted by the female plant as a protective agent during seed ripening, although it can be found as a microscopic exudate through the aerial portions of plants of either sex. The pure resin, hashish or charas, is the most potent fraction of the plant, and has served as the source material for most of the chemical studies. The family of chemicals that has been isolated from this source has been referred to as the cannabinoid group. It is unique amongst psychotropic materials from plants in that there are no alkaloids present. The fraction is totally nitrogen-free. Rather, the set of compounds can be considered as analogs of the parent compound cannabinol (I), a fusion product of terpene and a substituted resorcinol. Beyond the scope of this present review are such questions as the distribution of these compounds within the plant, the botanic variability resulting from geographic distribution, the diversity of pharmacological action assignable to the several