Cannabis in Khmer medicine
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In the popular medicine of Cambodia, as the ethnobotanist Marie Alexandrine Martin recorded it in a chapter published in 1975, cannabis went into decoctions, infusions, alcoholic extracts and cigarettes. These were taken for loss of appetite, poor digestion, the troubles that follow childbirth, malaria and other complaints. Martin wrote that across the region the plant was held to be "of analgesic value, comparable to the opium derivatives", and that it "can be added to any relaxant to reinforce its action".[1]: 70
In Cambodia the remedies used the whole plant, male or female, by which Martin meant all its vegetative and reproductive parts. Female flowers were often added in small amounts "to give the sick person a feeling of well-being".[1]: 70 The medicine men of Cambodia (kru: thnam), she wrote, no longer shared the distrust of hemp found among some of their colleagues in neighbouring countries. She put this down to their being used to it and knowing the proper amounts to prescribe.[1]: 74 A patient taking these remedies was not held to food taboos, as was often the case with other treatment.[1]: 71
Remedies
The Cambodian remedies Martin describes are set out below in her order, with her Khmer terms, which name the complaint or the effect sought.[1]: 70–71
| Complaint or purpose | Preparation | How it was taken | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loss of appetite | Decoction of the plant; or a mixture of male and female plants, smoked | A glass before each of the two main meals of the day, usually for one day only | 70 |
| Polyps of the nose (rɯ h do:ng) | Cigarettes of hemp and the stem of Cananga latifolia (chkaê sraêng) | Smoked daily | 70 |
| Digestion (rumliəy mho:p, "to dissolve food") | Hemp boiled with the fragrant bark of têpiru, a myrtle of the forests, and of sâmbɔ lvêng, a Cinnamomum | A glass before each meal | 70 |
| Well-being of the mother after childbirth (sruəl khluən) | Infusion of the tops (cong) of male and female plants, about ten to a litre of water | One small glass before each meal, "for fear of intoxication" | 70 |
| Too little milk to nurse | Hemp with the stems of a Cinnamomum (sâmbɔ lvêng) and creepers: Tetracera loureiri (dâng kwən), Walsura villosa (sdok sdao) and an Illigera (vɔ: kro:c) | Not stated | 70–71 |
| Stiffness after childbirth (chɯ: khluən, chɯ: ch'ɤng) | Alcoholic extract of hemp with the bark of Aegle marmelos, a Mitragyna (khtom), a Cinnamomum (sambə lvêng), Walsura villosa and, with a query, a myrtle (têpiru) | Not stated | 71 |
| Complications after the birth (təəh), which Cambodians put down to food taboos broken in pregnancy | Alcoholic extract or decoction of hemp with the bark of a Mitragyna, Aegle marmelos (preah phnəv), Annona squamosa (tiəp khmae), Psidium guajava (trâbaêc) and Antidesma ghaesembilla (dângkiəp khdam) | Three times a day until the mother is well, among other preparations | 71 |
| Malaria | One kilogram of male and female plants, inhaled (câmha:y); or the same amount of hemp with water | Inhaled twice a day until the crisis ends; the preparation with water, held less effective, in doses of 2 cc before each meal | 71 |
| Biliousness (thla: tɯk prâma:t) | Cigarettes or pipes of hemp and tobacco | Smoked | 71 |
According to Martin, Cambodians held the digestive drink to be stronger than injections, which they otherwise counted the most effective remedy of Western medicine.[1]: 70 In medicines, Cananga latifolia (chkaê sraêng) could take the place of hemp, though it need not. It too produced a reaction (chuəl), but not a serious one.[1]: 68
Across the region
For the region as a whole, Martin describes a decoction of cooked leaves dried in the sun, several grams to a bowl of water. It was taken for migraine and stiffness, and before sleep and meals to relax the nerves. She wrote that this action was recognised "both by the peasants and by the official pharmacopoeia of these countries", but not every remedy she lists, since popular medicine "sometimes includes magical elements".[1]: 70
Her chapter also describes remedies from Thailand, where cannabis could be used in medicine from December 1971 only together with other plants, and a few from Laos, where medicinal uses seemed few to her, perhaps because of the opium derivatives available there. In Vietnam, traditional medicine drew on Chinese medicine and used mainly the seed kernels.[1]: 67, 72
Remedies for intoxication
In Thailand, Martin writes, a user who wished to undo the effects of hemp went to the medicine man for a root. Cambodian smokers preferred to eat large amounts of sugar or sweetmeats, or acidic food, and bathed often during the cure.[1]: 69