Marijuana: uses, effects, and regulatory perspectives

Cannabis in ancient history: From no courage necessary to the courage to explore the mind.

Cannabis cultivated in ancient China as hemp for fiber and cannabis for medicine.

Cannabis spread to India, where it is used as a religious sacrament as well as a medicinal herb.

Cannabis spread to Europe with the Scythians, who used it also as a mind-altering substance.

By the end of the Hellenistic and Roman eras, cannabis use becomes widespread, and issues like conflict and greed have yet to come into the picture.

Cannabis in Europe: The beginnings of conflict and greed.

Cannabis is used medicinally and mentioned in scientific texts.

The Age of Enlightenment gives rise to the exploration of the herb.

Cultivation of hemp as a cash crop begins during the Age of Colonization, planting the first seeds of conflict.

D. As a cash crop, cannabis presents a potential for greed.

The Modern Era: Courage, Conflict, and Greed Convene

A. Culture clashes and European hegemony cause cannabis to be stigmatized in Western Europe, North America, and even in Greece and Turkey.

B. Criminalization of the drug leads to the creation of a black market economy.

C. Conflict and violence characterize the evolution of cannabis during the 20th century, while pharmaceutical companies profit off a greed-driven business model.

D. Great courage becomes necessary to re-educate the public.

Abstract

The archaeological record shows first known cultivation of cannabis in the prehistoric era, with conscientious use of hemp in ancient Taiwan and China from 10,000 BCE. Hemp was used for the earliest known manufacturing of paper, as well as for fibers used in rope, clothing, and weapons materials. The female cannabis plant was likewise being studied and used in ancient China. Doctors prescribed it, along with many other herbs, to treat a wide variety of ailments.

From China, cannabis spread to ancient India, Central Asia, and the Greco-Roman world. In India, the first noted use of cannabis as a religious sacrament was recorded in the Vedas. Exploration of the mind-altering properties of cannabis took spiritual and mental courage. There was not yet any conflict associated with the plant. It was being used both for hemp fiber and for the medicinal properties of the herb, and occasionally the seeds would be used as a source of food and oil.

Hemp and cannabis use spread throughout the Middle East, Persia, Central Asia, and Africa. Arabian literature refers liberally to the use of hashish, a preparation of hemp resin. Using cannabis as a mind-altering substance as well as a medicinal salve took some courage, but it was not taboo. Famous works of literature and poetry mention the effects of cannabis as if it were no different from alcohol.

The earliest beginnings of potential conflict began in the early modern era, during the European Age of Exploration. Hemp became more valuable and in demand, for its use as a fiber necessary for sailor ropes, sails, and other utilitarian materials. Thus, farmers in the feudal system were forced to grow hemp. The mandate to grow hemp also spread to the European colonies in the New World. As a cash crop, hemp started to become part of the capitalist greed-based economy that was based on colonial exploitation and European hegemony.

Cannabis use continued to be widespread throughout the Arab world, but its use as a recreational drug was also starting to become more common in the New World among farmers. When the first wave of Mexican immigrants to the United States moved across the border after the Mexican Revolution, the stigma against the drug began. The drug became a source of social and political conflict. Before long, the United States and Europe started to look at cannabis differently. It was still considered a medicinal herb, but the recreational uses -- that is, using it to get high -- were becoming banned. Napoleon was the first to officially ban cannabis. By the early 20th century, recreational use of cannabis was becoming increasingly taboo.

In the United States, the passing of the Harrison Act restricted the use of cannabis even as a pharmaceutical substance. The drug became criminalized, along with other medicinal drugs like opium. Criminalization created tremendous conflict. It helped establish a black market economy, which persists until this day. Greed-based public policy related to the war on drugs has also caused conflicts related to cannabis. For example, the pharmaceutical companies have benefitted from the criminalization of cannabis. Because cannabis is a free plant, and is relatively easy to grow, it would cut into the profits of pharmaceutical giants. Criminalization serves the best interests of the military-industrial complex in the "war on drugs," and it also serves the best interests of the pharmaceutical industries. It is currently taking great courage to overcome the conflict and greed-driven economy. Gradually, states and individual countries are decriminalizing cannabis and re-educating the public.

One Paragraph Description

This essay outlines the chronological and cultural history of cannabis with a focus on the themes of courage, conflict, and greed. It details the medicinal uses of cannabis as well as the functional uses of hemp, prior to the modern era. Then, it addresses the social and political problems with criminalization of cannabis. In the modern era, conflict and greed have necessitated courage in re-educating the public about the cannabis sativa plant.

Essay

Cannabis is one of the oldest cultivated plants in human history, and has been cultivated in many different geographic locations. It has not always required much courage to do so, as until only the last hundred years has the plant been stigmatized and criminalized. The earliest known examples of cultivated cannabis are found in the bio-archaeological records in Eastern Europe, China and Central Asia. References to cannabis cultivation start to appear in Greece and ancient Rome by the first millennium BCE. Cannabis was initially grown as a utility plant, and not necessarily used as a medicine or sacrament. By about 3000 BCE, cannabis was being used medicinally and religiously. The cannabis plant itself has changed a little, with modern horticultural techniques rendering the possibility to isolate desirable compounds and traits. Some varieties of cannabis yield tough and fibrous materials ideal for fabrics, ropes, and paper. Others possess more psychoactive properties and are more suitable for medicinal use. Only recently has cannabis taken on political overtones, having come under scrutiny and mislabeled as a narcotic. The prohibition on drugs seems to be rapidly coming to an end, though, as the United States appears to be liberalizing its drug policies on a state-by-state basis. Several countries around the world have started to liberalize their policies so that cannabis can once again be studied and researched for what it is: a simple but versatile plant. It is requiring great courage to overcome the biases against what is really just a simple weed.

The "earliest probable extant evidence of hemp use" has been located in prehistoric dwellings unearthed in what is now the Czech Republic, dating from 25,000 BCE (Head 1). Hemp was also being cultivated in ancient Taiwan and China by about the tenth millennium BCE according to the archaeological record, with the bulk of evidence pointing to hemp being used for rope and clothing (Gumbiner). In fact, most hemp varieties are the male of the cannabis plant and do not typically have psychoactive properties. Hemp has been cultivated for its utility in rope, cloth, and other fibrous materials. It has been described as the first known "war crop," given the use of hemp in stringing bows that were definitively used in warfare in ancient China (Gumbiner). Ancient Chinese records also detail the uses of hemp in the earliest forms of paper manufacturing.

Chinese herbalists and historians began denoting the psychoactive properties of female varieties of cannabis several thousands of years later. Shen-Nung, the Father of Chinese Medicine, wrote about cannabis in massive medical tomes like the Pen Ts'ao (Gumbiner; Head). Cannabis was therefore listed in the Chinese pharmacopeia as a plant that could be used to treat a number of different ailments from pain relief to the treatment of absent-mindedness (Gumbiner). Both the male and female plants offered an extensive range of uses including the oil from the seeds ("Marijuana Since the Beginning of Time," 1). Within the next thousand years, trade with the Chinese meant that hemp and cannabis both became relatively widespread. Chinese doctors seemed to be aware of the potential psychoactive properties of cannabis, but remained more intent on its application for physical, rather than mental ailments. For example, references to its use come with the caveat that "if taken in excess, will produce hallucinations," ("Marijuana Since the Beginning of Time" 1).

Although the Chinese doctors used cannabis to treat ailments, there was no evidence that the herb was used as a religious sacrament until cannabis spread to India. Likewise, there is written evidence that hemp and cannabis were both being used in ancient Egypt but only medicinally as opposed to as a mind-altering substance. For example, the ancient Egyptian Ramesseum Papyri mention the use of hemp preparations to treat medical ailments from eye problems to menstrual cramps (Head 1). In India, "entire systems of medicine were being built up around" the use of cannabis preparations (Turner). Because the herb had psychoactive properties, it was valued and respected in India. Cannabis was "prescribed for a variety of ailments, including dandruff, headaches, mania, insomnia, venereal disease, leprosy, whooping cough and tuberculosis," (Turner, 1998).

Moreover, by the time cannabis cultivation and use spread to India, it was being increasingly often used for religious and psychedelic functions. Undoubtedly it required courage to explore the often intense and nearly hallucinogenic states that the cannabis drug might induce. "It wasn't until India came upon cannabis that it became a widespread religious and medicinal intoxicant," (Gumbiner 1). The most important Indian texts, the Vedas, mention cannabis as a religious sacrament. The Atharva-Veda, which is one of the four ancient Hindu Vedas, refers to hemp as a "sacred herb" in Book XI, 6:15-16 (cited by Head 1). The term "ganja," now a common colloquial name for cannabis, is a Sanskrit word (Head). Preparations of ganja known as bhang continue to be commonplace in India, where cannabis is used both for medicinal and psychoactive uses. Cannabis was still being used for standard medical needs, but was also being used as a religious sacrament and psychoactive substance used by shamans (Head). "Most cultures viewed Marijuana as a gift, or treasure, from the Divine Sprit, to be used during ceremonials, at which time it was either burned as incense, ingested for deep meditative and heighten awareness," ("Marijuana Since the Beginning of Time" 1). Explorations of the mind require spiritual courage.

Throughout the world, cannabis has been and remains both a wild weed as well as a cultivated crop (Mercuri, Accorsi, and Mazzanti). Cannabis was spread to Europe most likely by the Caucasian tribe the Scythians, of which Greek historian Herodotus wrote. "The Greeks and the Romans cultivated hemp mainly for medicinal use, although there are a few references to its use as a social lubricant at banquets to promote hilarity and enjoyment," (Turner 1). Pliny the Elder wrote about cannabis, especially the use of hemp for clothing and other pragmatic functions (Mercuri, Accorsi, and Mazzanti). Cannabis was certainly cultivated in a conscientious and relatively widespread manner throughout the Roman Empire (Mercuri, Accorsi and Mazzanti). Even then, no conflict or greed interfered with cannabis cultivation.

Cannabis and hemp were both being used, mainly for clothing and fiber, in the Middle East, throughout the Jewish and Arabian world as well as ancient and medieval Persia. The Talmud mentions cannabis by 500 CE ("10,000-year History of Marijuana use in the World"). Arabian and Persian cultures developed the resin preparation of cannabis known as hashish, and by 900 CE, the "pros and cons of eating hashish" were already being debated by scholars as the popularity of the drug spread ("10,000-year History of Marijuana use in the World"). The earliest recorded use of cannabis as a recreational drug was around the 12th century CE in Arabian and Persian cultures, and the plant is mentioned in literary classics like 1001 Nights ("10,000-year History of Marijuana use in the World"). The original assassins used hashish, whole monographs were penned about it, and Marco Polo also wrote about the psychoactive properties and social functions of cannabis ("10,000-year History of Marijuana use in the World"). Via Arabian cultures, cannabis spread to Western Europe and throughout Africa and Central Asia. This did not require courage, and it did not entail conflict yet, either. However, greed would soon enter the picture.

During the 16th century, hemp became a valuable crop especially during the burgeoning stages of globalization and exploration. This could be the beginning of the use of cannabis in a greedy cash crop fashion. In 1533, King Henry VIII went on record fining farmers if they did not raise hemp for industrial use ("10,000-year History of Marijuana use in the World"). Colonial governments likewise mandated the cultivation of cannabis in the colonies, as in Brazil as well as in North America. Although most recorded uses of hemp were for fiber, it was also being used for its psychoactive and medicinal properties. For instance, a book called the Anatomy of Melancholy mentions cannabis as a treatment for depression in 1621, and in 1764 The New English Dispensatory suggested the use of cannabis roots to the skin as a treatment for inflammation ("Marijuana Since the Beginning of Time"). It was during the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century that scientific nomenclatures and classification systems emerged in earnest, leading to the documentation of cannabis as cannabis sativa by Linnaeus.

Conflicts surrounding cannabis began with Napoleon, who issued one of the first known prohibitions on marijuana, after French soldiers started smoking hashish after a military campaign in Egypt ("10,000-year History of Marijuana use in the World"). Thus, European hegemony was in part to blame for the stigmatization of cannabis. A hundred years after Napoleon, a ban on hashish was issued almost simultaneously in both Greece and Turkey. Generally, though, throughout the world there were no strict taboos on using cannabis. In fact, cannabis was mentioned in most major medical texts in Europe, the Middle East, and Far East, and the New World. The Queen of England's own physician prescribed cannabis to her in 1898 ("10,000-year History of Marijuana use in the World"). It was dispensed in the same pharmacies that issued other drugs, and offered to treat a wide variety of ailments, as it is today. Yet soon it would require great courage to start medical marijuana dispensaries, after the greed-based conflicts that characterized the use of the drug in the 20th century.