Cannabis

Duvall, associate professor in the geography department at the University of New Mexico, offers a helpful and insightful analysis about the plant (genus) Cannabis, known alternatively (to name a few) as hemp, weed, and bhanga, but which is otherwise little known or understood for its actual horticultural attributes. He examines the history of the plant, its dissemination internationally and it complex applications in various cultures for differing purposes. He demarcates the distinction between Cannabis sativa (hemp cannabis) and Cannabis indica (drug cannabis), noting that the latter contains the psychoactive ingredient THC, the principal virtue of which, he notes quoting a French naturalist from the 1700s, is "to derange the brain." Horticulturally Cannabis is an exceptional plant valued highly for its use in rope making and fiber production. The current confusion that exists about this otherwise horticultural mainstay arises from its varied uses, in its equally varied forms and social contexts. Duvall makes the case that Cannabis is a powerful plant and one that needs to be better understood. He clarifies the confusion over its various names and roles while lending needed ballast to the current conversation. The book brings light to what Duvall calls the shades of meaning in "the human-Cannabis relationship which has unfolded through vast sweeps of space and time." (Feb.)