“The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them.”
– Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria by RafkinsWarning
The English Patient
In the middle of the 19th century, Queen Victoria had very hard pregnancies taking a toll on the young royal. In turn she was not thrilled with pregnancy at all. Searching for something to ease her symptoms during her first pregnancy in 1840, the Royal Physician Sir John Russell Reynolds tried many cure’s of the time including opium and cocaine extracts to no avail…
That is until his friend W.B. O’Shaughnessy came back into town introducing the wonders of Indian Hemp to J.R. Reynolds…
This new Indian Hemp made into a tincture eased the Queens pains so much that it was used during her labor later that year with great success… Sir J.R. Reynolds went as far as to note that the Indian hemp had “no ill effect on the baby”…
Queen Victoria under her physician J.R. Reynolds, continued her cannabis treatment for menstrual cramps, morning sickness and all during her pregnancies including during labor of her 7 children.
Queen Victoria continued to use the indian hemp tincture throughout her life…
“Being pregnant is an occupational hazard of being a wife.”
– Queen Victoria
Sir John Russell Reynolds (1828–1896) by Joseph Hodges
Royal physician Sir J.R. Reynolds continued his studies into cannabis and used his Indian hemp tinctures with great success through out his life…
In March 15, 1890 “The Lancet” a weekly medical journal published a article from “W.W” negatively depicting cannabis…
Sir Reynolds would have none of it, writing a defense of cannabis to the paper the very next week…
“Therapeutical Uses and Toxic Effects of Cannabis Indica”
by Royal physician Sir J.R. Reynolds
The Lancet, March 22,1890
One of the main points Sir J.R. Reynolds came to was securing a reliable source for medical cannabis…
“1. That the drug is one which, by its nature and the forms
of its administration, is liable to great variations in strength.
For practical purposes, its active principle has not been
separated, and extracts, as well as tinctures made from the
extract or from the plant, cannot be made uniform; because
the hemp grown during different seasons, and in different
places, varies in the amount that it contains of the thera-
peutic agent. It is desirable, therefore, that it should always
be obtained from the same source”
This lead to one conclusion for the British Royalty… Medical Cannabis must be grown in Royal gardens throughout the world…
The Royal Gardens in Kew, Surrey, England
cannabis indica sample grown in 1896 at The Royal Gardens in Kew
Cannabis sample grown at The Royal Gardens in Kew, Surrey, England 1896
the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Australia
Cannabis grown in 1901
A cannabis plant on display at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Picture: Daniel Solander Library at the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, Australia.