Are Cannabis Roots Useful?
Cannabis roots have been used for a very long time for their medical properties. 2700 years ago, the roots were already mentioned in the Shennong pên Ts’ao ching, a Chinese work on plants.
The roots had several uses. Crushed to extract the juice or boiled, the roots were used to relieve difficult deliveries and as an antihemorrhagic to stop postpartum bleeding. They were used to reduce pain and swelling of bruises. The roots were also used as a diuretic. Diuretics are substances such as coffee alcohol, or drugs, that increase urine secretion and are used in the treatment of hypertension or heart failure.
As the Shennong pên Ts’ao ching reveals, the roots were crushed and dried to make a paste used to reduce pain from broken bones or caused by surgery.
Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist who wrote a 37-volume encyclopedia called Historia Naturalis between 77 and 79 AD. Pliny the Elder listed 900 plants, including cannabis. He also mentions cannabis roots in Book 19: "The root of cannabis, boiled in water, is useful when the joints are seized, but also in cases of gout and attacks of this kind."
In the 1st century AD, the Greek physician and botanist Pedanius Dioscorides mentioned the use of poultices of boiled hemp roots to treat inflammation.
More recently, the British physician William Salmon recommended in the 18th century mixing hemp roots with barley flowers and applying it as a poultice for the treatment of sciatica and hip pain. Until the early 20th century, American doctors recommended decoctions of hemp roots and seeds for the treatment of inflammation and venereal diseases. In Argentina, cannabis roots were reportedly used until the 1960s to treat fever, dysentery, and gastric disorders, among other things.
Are Cannabis Roots Used Today?
In recent years, American dispensaries have begun to offer their patients preparations based on cannabis roots to treat certain pathologies. Cannabis root extracts are found in lotions, massage oils, and lip balms. Some patients prepare hemp root tea themselves at home. To obtain this tea, the roots are dried and ground with herbs in a slow cooker for at least 12 hours before being filtered.
After boiling and drying the ground roots, it is possible to grind them into powder to obtain an extract that can be used as a base for tinctures or liniments. The dried and powdered roots can be used in the preparation of dry poultices to soothe and facilitate the healing of burns and cuts as the ancients did. With this preparation, it is also possible to treat skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis.
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Liz Filmer
