4. Conclusion

This review has demonstrated that Cannabis is one of the highly consumed prohibited drug substance although it has been legalized in some countries such as Canada for recreational and medicinal use due to cannabinoids present in it. Arguably, there is a rise in the rates of cannabis consumption across the world and with various designed techniques that enable the consumption of this drug. Some of the identified techniques include smoking, vaporizing techniques, skin and mucosal surface absorption with each method offering exceptional and dissimilar outcomes. Nonetheless, this drug is in many ways considered dangerous for human consumption but there is limited number of research that has expressively reported the perceived cannabis toxicity and its cancer precursor characteristics. Although various authors have linked cannabis to human throat cancer and cancer of the respiratory tract system, there is luck of substantive evidence that establishes the mechanisms by which cannabis and its cannabinoids induces cancer. Instead, other toxic compounds produced during cannabis smoking such as carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons like benzanthracene, benzene and phenols, toxic gases and reactive oxygen species have been identified to be present in cannabis smoke and therefore likely to initiate cell mutations among smokers which eventually initiate cancer. On the contrary, cannabis has found application in the medical field in the management of cancer patients to relieve pain, inflammatory bowel disease, epilepsy, neurological problems and psychiatric disorders. Besides, cannabis has been identified as a potential lead in finding the cure for treating Covid-19 diseases because of its high potency as antiviral agent even though more scientific studies and clinical trials are necessary.