The work which was designed to determine the effect or changes in intraocular pressure of rabbits made to consume or inhale burnt cannabis sativa was done in the Anatomy and Neurobiology Department of Imo State University, Owerri. One year old thirty male rabbits weighing between 2.5 and 3.0kg were used for the experiment. The animals were separated into three groups labeled A, B and C respectively (each group containing ten rabbits) and were subjected to same environmental conditions and fed normally. The reports of the veterinary doctor who examined the animals prior to the experiment proved the rabbits were all healthy, and therefore recommended for the experiment that took four days to be rounded up. Ten grammes (10g) of Cannabis Sativa was well mixed in a food preparation divided into ten parts and effectively administered to the ten rabbits in group “A”. Each rabbit in group “A” therefore received one gramme (1g) of the cannabis sativa orally. A different mode of administration of the substance (cannabis sativa) was adopted for the group “B” rabbits (ten in number) which were harboured in a confinement and made to inhale ten grammes (10g) of cannabis sativa burnt in the limited space. The group “C” rabbits which were also ten in number were only made to serve as the control. Apart from not being fed with or exposed to inhale burnt cannabis sativa, they were subjected to same conditions of nurturing with groups “A” and “B” animals. The results of the very rewarding experiment showed that cannabis sativa could influence the intraocular pressure of rabbits when consumed in a food preparation. The change observed in the intraocular pressure of the rabbits in group “A” was that there was a decrease in their intraocular pressure from an initial value of 13.1mmHg to 7.5mmHg on day-one of the experiment. The results on the second, third and fourth days were similar to that of day-one, as the intraocular pressure of the rabbits lowered from 13.5mmHg to 7.5mmHg, 13.6mmHg to 7.5mmHg; and from 10.0mmHg to 6.2mmHg respectively. The intraocular pressure changes observed in group “B” rabbits demonstrated that when burnt cannabis sativa was inhaled by the rabbits, it rather induced a rise in the intraocular pressure. The pressure rose from 9.0mmHg to 13.1mmHg, 13.0mmHgto 15.6mmHg 15.2mmHg to 17.5mmHg, and from 15.6mmHg to 18.5mmHg on the first, second, third and fourth days respectively.
