# _Cannabis sativa_ L. as a Natural Drug Meeting the Criteria of a Multitarget Approach to Treatment
## 1 Introduction
The most ancient Chinese Pharmacopoea (written in the first century before the current era), the \"Shen Nung Pen Ts'ao Ching\", is the first historical evidence of the use of _Cannabis_ in traditional medicine. It includes all the traditional remedies used and orally bequeathed for over two thousand years when it was emperor [PERSON]'s (2700 years before the current era) reign [16]. The _Cannabis_ plant first arrived in Europe with Scythians or proto-Scythians moving from Central Asia about 3500 years ago [17]. Modern reports on medical marijuana date back to the nineteenth century, when the Irish doctor [PERSON] performed experiments on the pharmacological and toxic properties of _Cannabis_[18; 19]. He suggested Indian hemp as a treatment for tetanus and other convulsive diseases. In 1851, for the first time, _Cannabis_ was included in the third edition of the United States Pharmacopoea (USP) with the use of _Cannabis_ flowers as an analgesic, anticonvulsant, and hypnotic [20]. In the second half of the nineteenth century, there was a significant increase in the use of _Cannabis_ in medicine and research on its phytochemistry and pharmacology. At the beginning of the twentieth century, as the recreational use of _Cannabis_ grew, in 1937, the \"Marijuana Tax Act\" was introduced, and in 1941, _Cannabis_ was removed from the twelfth edition of the U.S. Pharmacopoea by the American Medical Association [19]. In the 1960s, the use of recreational _Cannabis_ increased throughout the Western world. The discovery of the chemical structure of \(\Delta^{9}\)-tetrahydrocannabinol (\(\Delta^{9}\)-THC), which was identified by [PERSON] and [PERSON], boosted multidirectional research on _Cannabis_[21]. The botanical definition of _Cannabis sativa_ L. has been a goal of many studies due to its morphological and chemical differentiation. The currently accepted classification distinguishes two subspecies--namely, ssp. _sativa_ and ssp. _indica_. Within each of them, there are two main varieties, cultivated and wild. The most important from a medicinal point of view is _C. sativa_ ssp. _sativa_ var. _sativa_ (so-called _C. sativa_) and _C. sativa_ ssp. _indica_ var. _indica_ (so-called _C. indica_). _C. sativa_ ssp. _sativa_ var. _spontanea_ (the so-called _C. ruderalis_) is rarely found and much less exploited. The plant develops both male and female specimens. Dried infloresences from female plants (_Cannabis flos_) are known as marijuana. It contains resin, which is a source of phytocannabinoids. Purified resin is known as hashish. So-called _C. indica_ is usually grown for recreational use, whereas so-called _C. sativa_ has recently gained much attention as a source of medical marijuana. The possibility of interactions between components of various _Cannabis_ products is high due to the richness of the compounds. Hitherto, over 100 cannabinoids have been identified in the _Cannabis_ sp., and the best known, famous, and responsible for its pharmacological activity are the psychoactive \(\Delta^{9}\)-tetrahydroocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) [22]. These cannabinoids are produced in the plant in acid form and require decarboxylation, which is caused mainly by a high temperature. There are also other cannabinoids in the plant, such as cannabigerol (CBG), cannabichormeme (CBC), cannabidivarism (CBDV), and cannabinol (CBN). However, the _Cannabis_ sp. comprises not only cannabinoids. The presence of over 600 compounds has been reported so far, with over 150 different terpen--including monoterpenes, sesquiterpenenes, and, also, di- and triterpen, as well as sugars, steroids, fatty acids, non-cannabinoid phenols, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, alkanes, and nitrogenous compounds [23; 24]. The grounds for the conclusion that there are interactions between _Cannabis_ plant components is that the _Cannabis flos_ extract has a higher potency than the individual isolated cannabinoids, which is called the \"entourage effect\" [22].