Achievements of Ukrainian breeders to create medical hemp
Our achievements demonstrate that it is possible to create non-narcotic industrial hemp varieties with their destination for parallel use in the medical , of la s ( seeds and oil ), textile ( fiber , textile products ) and other purposes ( cosmetics , Zoo business and so on ).
Recently, interest in hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) has been increasing as an agricultural crop, the therapeutic properties of which are actively used in the medical field . All drugs made on the basis of hemp used for medical purposes in economically developed countries are made from plants with a high content of cannabidiol (CBD) (more than 5%) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (more than 0.3%). Such drugs have a dual effect: sedative and psychotropic. Significant CBD in plantsand the absence of either an insignificant amount of THC (not more than 0.08%) increases the therapeutic effect several times and allows the use of technical hemp for the prevention or effective treatment of diseases without threatening the psychotropic effect on the human body and the possibility of addiction.
Drug-free cannabinoids are successfully used in chemotherapy in patients suffering from cancer , neurodegenerative , autoimmune diseases , the antitumor effect of CBD is being actively studied. A sufficient amount of data has accumulated that cannabidiol is a potent inhibitor of cancer cell growth , which is also characterized by significantly lower activity of suppressing the growth of non-cancerous cells. In particular, extracts or extracts of plant cannabidiol made from technical hemp of a therapeutic nature are already used as an additional tool in the treatment of various types of cancer .
Topical issues of the effect of CBD on human immunity. The conducted experiments suggest that the above drug-free cannabinoid increases the non - specific antiviral and antitumor immune response of the human body.
That is why technical cannabis varieties with a changed composition of cannabinoids at the level of complete non-narcoticity today can become decisive both in the treatment of viral diseases and in strengthening the population’s immunity . Moreover, many natural cannabinoids ( cannabigerol - CBG, cannabichromene - CBC, cannabinol - CBN, cannabidivarin - CBDV, etc. ) also have therapeutic properties .
For the first time in the world, Ukrainian breeders managed to create non-narcotic technical hemp varieties that contain CBD up to 3%, and tetrahydrocannabinol (the world-controlled drug component of hemp plants) is less than 0.08%. Possessing such biological features, these varieties also form seeds , oil and fiber at the level of standard varieties listed in the “State Register of Plant Varieties Suitable for Distribution in Ukraine ”. In foreign technical hemp varieties of French , Finnish , Hungarian , Canadian , Italian and Romanian breeding , the CBD splitting range of plants is from 0.5 to 4.0%, and from THC from 0.3 to 1.5% (despite the fact that in the EU, tetrahydrocannabinol is limited to a norm of not more than 0.2%, and in Canada and the United States 0.3%). These varieties are used to obtain natural CBD from the plant biomass , but the THC content in the extract is concentrated up to 1% and higher.
The variability range of the Mriya variety listed in the State Register according to CBD is from 1.0 to 3.0%, and according to THC from 0.04 to 0.07% (according to the current legislation of Ukraine, the content of tetrahydrocannabinol should not exceed 0.08% ) That is, this variety is stable in cannabinoid composition ( high uniformity of the population ).
A hemp technical grade containing only cannabigerol - “Vic 2020” was also created by breeding. In plants, THC, CBD in minimal amounts and CBG of more than 1.0% are completely absent. The variety is absolutely neutral in narcotic activity as well as the variety "Mriya" has a powerful antiviral and anti-inflammatory effect .
Ukrainian breeders have created unique varieties that are not in the world , however, only in our country these varieties can not be claimed , since the current legislation does not regulate the possibility of processing leaves and inflorescences of technical hemp . Of course, it is economically profitable for pharmaceutical companies to treat people with expensive synthetic drugs, rather than cheaper ones made from plant materials .
Breeders can go further and create special-purpose hemp varieties with a high content of other non-drug cannabinoids - cannabichromene, cannabinol, cannabidivarin, etc. However, in parallel it is necessary to conduct tests to identify their therapeutic properties for the treatment of people with neurodegenerative , viral , oncological , and other severe , including chronic diseases . At the same time, Ukrainian hemp growers are categorically against the legalization of narcotic cannabis (the traditional name marijuana is replaced by “more tolerant” cannabis). In narcotic hemp, the amount of THC always exceeds CBD. Our achievements prove that it is possible to create non-narcotic varieties of technical hemp with their intended use for medical , food ( seeds and oil ), textile ( fiber , textile products ) and other purposes ( cosmetics , zoobusiness , etc. ). To do this, first of all, it is necessary to create an appropriate regulatory framework governing not only the possibility of processing all the components of the plant , raise the importance of hemp culture in agriculture and increase the level of processing of its products .