Introduction: 

Cannabis is considered under Federal law as a class I Controlled Substance, although in many states it is legal under medical marijuana laws.   This monograph will concentrate on cannabis’s topical efficacy citing both historical and contemporary uses.  I have only recently begun working with cannabis topically and am pleased at its analgesic properties.  Anecdotal reports from users indicate that it helps alleviate mild to sever muscle spasms.  Due to issues of legality, its medicinal attributes have only recently begun to be studied in depth. Prior studies were based largely upon its negative characteristics with recent research focusing its potential medicinal value. 

As herbalists, our materia medica encompasses many different plants. Cannabis sativa L. is just that, a plant that has chemical constituents and actions, like the hundreds of other plants that we use in our clinical practices.  As laws change and there is greater acceptance of its medicinal value, I believe that it will return to a place in our materia medica.  Recently the American Herbal Guild (AHG) surveyed its professional members on the medical use of cannabis.  Seventy-nine percent of AHG members reported that if there were not a legal moratorium on cannabis they would use it clinically.[1]  Twenty states now have medical marijuana available to residents and in two other states it is considered legal, this is an opportune time to increase our knowledge of its positive and negative traits.