The Botany of Desire

Andrew Greenleaf

Prof. Kaczmarczyk

SCI1005        

Nov. 2, 2016

The Botany of Desire

In Michaels Pollens film, “The Botany of Desire”, he tells the story of four plants; the apple, the tulip, the marijuana plant, and the potato, and the human desires that link their destinies to our own.  The question Pollan raises is, who is really in control? Are we, humans, choosing humanly desirable plant traits, or are these plants deceiving humans into helping them grow by enticing them with sweetness, beauty, and intoxication.

        Marijuana is a special plant on this list.  In 1964 in a lab, Jerusalem, Raphael Mechoulam discovered what makes marijuana special, Tetrahydrocannabino (THC).  For a plant that has been around for thousands of years, it wasn’t till 1988, more then 20 years after the compound that makes humans high was discovered that we found out what causes this human desire. Allyn Howlett found the answer. Deep inside the brain, there is a network or chemical receptors that can combine to THC like a key to a lock. When THC combines to the receptors, humans feeling for hunger, pain, and memory are altered. These feelings of intoxication are what have caused cannabis to desire by humans around the world.

        Before Humans began cultivated the much beloved cannabis. Marijuana plants grew wildly up to 12 feet tall. Marijuana evolved when growers cross-bread cannabis sativa with cannabis indica to make a plant adaptable for indoor growth.  This created a plant that was short, fast, and strong.  Pampered by their growers, marijuana is by far more potent today then generations ago. Marijuana smokers desire for a stronger and longer lasting high has caused growers to produce cannabis plants that produce a more concentrated amount of THC.