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History of Cannabis

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History of Cannabis
The History of Cannabis

Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana or hemp, has had a long and tumultuous history. Hemp has many uses, not just the commonly known use as a psychoactive drug. Hemp can be used to create things such as cloths, textiles, and paper. People using hemp dates back all the way to the 4th millennium B.C. This paper will show that cannabis’ uses adjust to the time period it is in, but no matter its use it is consistently prevalent through early civilizations to modern times. Hemp was first used to create textiles and rope in China in 4000 B.C; these were hemps first conventional uses. Then in 2727 B.C. the Chinese documented the first use of cannabis as a medicine. They used it to treat a variety of aliments including malaria, constipation, and absent-mindedness. Emperor Shen Nung who was widely considered the father of Chinese medicine was the one who discovered the medicinal qualities of the plant. (NarcoNon) China and the Scythians continued to cultivate the plant for food and hemp to weave cloths. Cannabis started making appearances in historical holy texts around 1200 B.C. It first appeared in the Hindi sacred text Atharvaveda, It was mentioned as “sacred grass”. Being one of the five sacred plants in India cannabis was regularly used as an offering to Shiva. Cannabis’ next appearance in a holy text was in a Persian text called Zoroastrian Zend-Avesta, it was called the “good narcotic”. The Scythians also used cannabis seeds as an offering to God as well as burying many of their own with the seeds, which were considered holy. Around 500 B.C cannabis was also mentioned in the Jewish Talmud. Around 0 A.D hemp began to spread all over Europe and the Middle East. This led to cannabis becoming a popular thing to smoke among the Arab communities around 900 A.D. Smoking cannabis became popular among the Muslim community because they were not permitted to drink alcohol due to their religion
Cannabis first made it to America in 1492



Bibliography: ProCon. (n.d.). Historical Timeline - Medical Marijuana - ProCon.org. Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000143 Marijuana history. (n.d.). Narconon | Drug Rehabilitation | Drug Education. Retrieved October 21, 2012, from http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/marijuana-history.html Marijuana (Weed) History and Facts. (n.d.). Brainz — Learn something new today.. Retrieved October 21, 2012, from http://brainz.org/420-milestones-history-marijuana/ Erowid. (n.d.). Erowid Cannabis Vault : Timeline. Erowid. Retrieved October 21, 2012, from http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_timeline.php

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