Channeling: Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy; The Grandfather Of All Cannabis Research

In the spirit of St. Patrick's day, I thought it would be the perfect time to honor William O'Shaughnessy, an Irish man, who is a true pioneer in cannabis.

He was born in Limerick, Ireland October 31, 1809 and died January 8, 1889.

During his lifetime, he became a physician and pharmacologist that contributed abundantly to the forefronts of cannabis research along with many other huge contributions and accomplishments.

He was among the first to study the relationship between cannabis and the endo-cannabinoid system in our bodies.

It's known that there was a period of time before prohibition where cannabis was widely used among different cultures and available from pharmacies for medicinal purposes between 1840-early 1900's. His research shifted the perspective on cannabis being purely psychedelic and recreational to one with legitimate medicinal potentials and applications.

He first began studying at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland before transferring to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, which was one of the best medical schools in the world at the time.

There, he studied chemistry, anatomy, forensic toxicology and graduated in 1829.

Thereafter, he went to India and this is where he really began to delve into cannabis research while working at a hospital in Calcutta, India.

It gets a little controversial here because he was experimenting on not only a variety animals, but also adults and children.

However, acceptable or not, he was able to help a lot of people from different ailments including a 40 day old newborn from having repetitive convulsions...

O’Shaughnessy was able to stop the convulsions (febrile seizures) that a 40 day old infant was suffering from. This led him to declare that “the profession has gained an anti-convulsive remedy of the greatest value”.

In recent years cannabis has become a more accepted medicine to treat conditions like epilepsy which often feature potentially fatal convulsions. Many of the these patients are in fact, children.

In 1839 O’Shaughnessy published "On the preparations of the Indian hemp, or gunjah (Cannabis Indica), their effects on the animal system in health, and their utility in the treatment of tetanus 6 and other convulsive disorders." & in 1844 published "The Bengal Pharmacopoeia."

Here are just a few of his many famous notes and research findings...

“All classes of persons, including the lower Portuguese, or ‘Kala Feringhees,’ and especially their females, consume the drug; that it is most fascinating in its effects, producing extatic (ecstatic) happiness, a persuasion of high rank, a sensation of flying, voracious appetite, and intense aphrodisiac desire.”

While recording a failed treatment of hydrophobia in a terminally ill person, O’Shaughnessy notes one of the fundamental arguments for this medicine: even if it failed at curing the actual root of the illness, “at least one advantage was gained from the use of the remedy- the awful malady was stripped of its horrors”

If the illness was terminal, at least cannabis could enable the physician to “strew the path to the tomb with flowers.” essentially, helping the person die in a more peaceful and painless manner.

Overall, O’Shaughnessy believed that even if cannabis was not a cure for such ailments it would be beneficial as part of a treatment.

One of the statements that I believe was so far ahead of his time was this one...(mind you, this is being written and researched in 1839)

He writes, “As to the evil sequelae so unanimously dwelt on by all writers, these did not appear to me so numerous, so immediate, or so formidable, as many which may be clearly traced to over-indulgence in other powerful stimulants or narcotics, alcohol, opium, or tobacco.”

Here, he is downplaying the negative side-effects of cannabis compared to the side-effects from the drugs mentioned above, which is something we're currently researching more and more into.

As much as cannabis has been labeled a "gateway" drug in modern western medicine, we've seen it do quite the opposite over the course of time by helping people to get off of more intense medications, stimulants, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.

It was even known that Queen Victoria was prescribed cannabis to aid with her menstrual cramps by her personal physician Sir Russel Reynolds. He began promoting cannabis' medicinal use after reading and studying W.B O'Shaughnessy's research.

There is truly a plethora of information out there on O'Shaughnessy and if you could even believe it, cannabis research is only one of his many brilliant contributions to society. Some will even argue that it was one of his minor contributions overall.

He made a huge impact in telegraph communication that eventually led to him being "knighted" by Queen Victoria for his works.

He was a professor of chemistry and natural philosophy at a college in Calcutta and also climbed the medical ranks in India to become a surgeon major.

Lastly, but absolutely not least, his cholera research led to some of the first experiments in treatments by intravenous injection, a precursor to the modern day IV drips.

O’Shaughnessy is still impacting cannabis research to this day.

It's said that when Dr. Tod Mikuriya reprinted O’Shaughnessy’s paper as the lead article in Marijuana: Medical Papers 1839–1972 (published in 1973) it helped reinvigorated the modern day medical interest in cannabis.

James Mills, the author of the Cannabis Britannica, wrote that he wasn’t surprised O’Shaughnessy was perhaps the first doctor “to find out for himself exactly what the impact of cannabis substances was rather than to rely on hearsay or on recycled versions of other writers’ compilations.”

Overall, I encourage EVERYONE to research this man and all he contributed to the cannabis knowledge that we are still building off of and learning from today.

I couldn't possibly cover it all here, but he is a true pioneer for cannabis and a genius of our time. I truly believe he is one of the greats and does not get the proper acknowledgement or recognition that he deserves. I'm so thankful to shed a small glimpse of light toward his many accomplishments and life-changing contributions. I hope you all enjoyed this valuable piece of history in honoring

Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy!

I hope everyone had a beautiful and blessed St. Patrick's day!

With love and gratitude,

The Marijuana Medium