[Therapeutic use of Cannibis Sativa L. in Arab medicine]

Arab scientists were various centuries ahead of our current knowledge of the curative power of hemp (Cannabis sativa L., Cannabaceae). Modern scientific literature ignores their contribution on the subject. We review in this paper the therapeutic uses of the plant in Arabic medicine from the 8th to the 18th century. Arab physicians knew and used its diuretic, anti-emetic, anti-epileptic, anti-inflammatory, pain-killing and antipyretic properties, among others.