The History of Marijuana: Just The Facts

By Smokey Joe


Cannabis or marijuana is an indigenous crop of Central and South Asian regions, and its first documented use of marijuana dates to 3000 BC. Many Chinese and Asian relics found in grave sites and burial spots contain marijuana leaves and resin. Aside from Chinese and Eastern Asian regions, Ancient text 'Vedas' speaks of a plant that was worshiped and considered a medical relief 'Soma ' is associated to marijuana by many followers of text. Pot is found naturally in Himalayan Mountain Ranges, and is consumed and exported as a money crop. Areas that are connected with indigenous blow production includes Nepal, India, Kashmir, and Pakistan.

People have used marijuana for meditational purposes since ancient times, many Nepali friars still meditate utilising the plant, which helps them purify their mind and use it for concentration. It is well documented to once have been used as a medical herb across the history. Its extensive use commenced with exporting of pot seeds and plants for medicinal purposes to Northerly African Region, from where it made its way to Europe. This trade dates back as early as 500 A.D. In the western world it was employed as a good sources of fiber. Marijuana plants were cultivated in spades during tough times of WW2 as the supply of hemp to western world from asiatic sources was halted due to tensions created by the war.

In the 19th century many literary classics mentions marijuana and try to describe its psychological facts, the trance it induces and how it is consumed, Les paradis artificiels by Charles Baudelaire and The Hasheesh Eater by Fitz Hugh Ludlow are popular example of such literature.

In the United States, marijuana was employed as a pharmaceutical till 1942, It was used as a prescription drug to ease work pains, revulsion and seizures. Many of us used it for its exhilarating effects as well even at that time. A campaign was launched by Bureau of Narcotics that portrayed marijuana use as addictive and a strong mind stimulator. This finally gave birth to one of the most unproductive rhetoric film, Reefer Madness, which was produced by a church group. During the 1950s it was utilized by Beatniks as a stimulant in their own words, while in the 1960s it was employed by Hippies as a technique to struggle with the man. This was when Buddhist/South Asian influence was high in music and literature of that time, and many of us were rebelling against war and evolving a more tranquil life-style by meditating with marijuana and Buddhist way of life, the modification of marijuana use like their Buddhist teachers (as mentioned above) was natural.

In 1970s Marijuana was classified a schedule I drug, which fundamentally meant being the most abused drug and no medical use whatsoever. Most of the Marijuana made its way through the south border of United States of America from Mexico, but political pressures and actions by authority ceased the trade to a large extent. In the 1980s Reagan Administration applied a no toleration policy which exterminated all of drug trade from southern borders, which ended in indoor cultivation, California being the hotbed for production. These tough policies led to reduced Marijuana usage in the late 1980s. Weed was legal in India until 1980s, though it was made illegal by the political pressures by the United States and the administrations strict policies. 1990s once more saw a rise in marijuana consumption, especially with highschool students.

Discussions have triggering since the 1990s about the medical properties and potential usage of the Plant. And since that time, over 15 states in the United States have either legalized medical usage of Marijuana or decriminalized it.




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