Chapter 3.

CANNABIS IN CONTEXT: HISTORY, LAWS AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

Definitions

In 1978 the South Australian Royal Commission into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs issued a comprehensive discussion paper on cannabis ([1]South Australia 1978). It proposed a general and a specific definition of cannabis along the following lines. Cannabis generally refers to 'the cannabis plant and any preparations made from the plant, including the dried leaves and flowering tops, resinous material separated from the plant and refined oil' ([2]South Australia 1978, p.i).

Like the word 'marijuana', 'cannabis' is also used to refer specifically to the 'dried preparations of the plant itself' ([3]South Australia 1978, p.i). The words 'cannabis resin' and 'hashish' are used when referring to the resin of the cannabis flower. Cannabis is a Latin word meaning hemp. The expressions 'hemp' or 'Indian hemp' are particularly used in older documents cited in this chapter and refer to the whole of the cannabis plant.