The History Of Marijuana

Marijuana is the flowering part of the Indian hemp plant Cannabis sativa, a weed-like species that grows wild and is also cultivated in many tropical and temperate parts of the world. Cannabis means “hemp” in Latin and is derived from the Greek word kannabis. Marijuana probably comes from the Mexican Spanish marijuana/marihuana (Mary’s leaf or plant) or from Maria and Juan (Mary and John). Among its many names, marijuana is commonly known as weed, ganja, mary jane, and pot.

For thousands of years, cannabis has enjoyed historical significance as a recreational drug, a useful fiber, an oil, an edible seed, and a medicine. It has been used to aid religious practices, alter mood (psychoactive effect), stimulate creativity, treat disease, relieve anxiety and boredom, enhance sensory experience and pleasure, rebel against authority, and go along with peer influence. That is a lot of work for one plant to do. This probably explains why cannabis has always been an important cultivated crop and is currently a cornerstone of controversial debate in all sectors of U.S. and international society.

Despite society’s focus on the marijuana “high,” cannabis historically has provided many meaningful industrial and medicinal values that are not attributed to its psychoactive effects. Researchers discovered that cannabis crops farmed as far back as 12,000 years ago yielded hemp, a distinct variety of the cannabis plant associated with little or no psychoactivity. The first evidence of the medicinal use of cannabis can be traced to a Chinese health publication from 5,000 years ago, which listed cannabis as an herbal remedy. Cannabis probably originated in central Asia.

HISTORY OF HEMP IN AMERICA

Let’s take a quick look at hemp and marijuana through American history, beginning with the colonists fresh from their trip from England.

The first American crop of Indian hemp was planted by English colonists in 1611 near Jamestown,Virginia. Cultivation of this plant for its fibrous content was mandated (ordered) by the colonists’ mother country, England, which relied on the hemp plant for sails, ropes, linens, and paper. The American climate was considered ideal for growing hemp, and the English looked forward to an abundant yield.When Sir Walter Raleigh suggested to King James I that the land might be better suited for tobacco, which was just being introduced to Europe, King James I “firmly corrected” the future tobacco baron and ordered the colonists to produce hemp.

After the American Revolution, American settlers continued to grow hemp of excellent quality in the land now known as Kentucky. Hemp fiber continued to be a cash crop, the source of rope that rigged many of the world’s sailing ships, and the rugged fabric that covered settlers’ wagons as they made their way westward. Canvas, another hemp product, was widely used for sails in the shipping industry. A remarkably durable cloth, it is one of the few that seawater does not rot or mildew. (The word canvas is rooted in “cannabis.”)

For centuries of American history, use of the cannabis plant as an intoxicant was rare. In fact, Kentucky pioneers cultivated tons of hemp without a single reference to its intoxicating properties. People probably didn’t know of the use of cannabis as an intoxicant. Entries from George Washington’s diary in 1765 show that he personally planted and harvested cannabis for both fiber and medicinal purposes. By the early nineteenth century, the medicinal use of cannabis spread from Asia and the Middle East to Europe, and finally to the Americas by the mid 1800s. A Western physician named W.B. O’Shaughnessey who was working in Calcutta, India, observed the use of cannabis there. After performing tests on animals, the doctor assured himself that cannabis was safe. He developed a solution of cannabis in alcohol, known as a tincture. When placed in the mouth, this tincture proved an effective analgesic (pain reliever). The doctor was also impressed with its muscle relaxant and anticonvulsant (seizure preventive) qualities and brought his “tincture of marijuana” to the United States after publishing his study results in 1839. Touting it as a nerve tonic, doctors began to prescribe tincture of marijuana for a variety of conditions. However, pharmacies posted a warning that large doses of this medicinal remedy were dangerous and considered narcotic (addictive). In addition, physicians found that cannabis stimulated the appetite. By 1887, dentists found hemp to be an excellent topical anesthetic for performing dental procedures on their patients.

Cannabis was also found to be a powerful disinfectant. In the early part of the twentieth century, marijuana and hashish (concentrated resin from the hemp plant) became popular with artists and musicians, who felt that marijuana enhanced their creativity. Moreover, all sorts of excessive behavior, including violence and mental illness, became associated with marijuana. In 1936, a movie called Tell Your Children was financed by a small church group who wanted to deliver a strong cautionary message to parents about the “evils” of marijuana in a mock documentary format. Soon after the film was shot, it was re-edited and released as Reefer Madness. Today, many of the “deviant” behaviors portrayed in this movie are known to be greatly exaggerated. In its time, however, Reefer Madness was viewed by many as proof of marijuana’s “menace to society.”

As a result of these and other concerns, the Marihuana Tax Act was passed in 1937 with the intention of making recreational marijuana too expensive to obtain legally.Although not specifically aimed at the medical or hemp industry, this act (along with other legal restrictions) created the conditions that led to the removal of cannabis as a prescribed drug by 1941 and to the end of the once-prosperous hemp industry by the 1950s. Despite this attempt at restriction, marijuana use spread to other subgroups, and in the 1960s it became a prominent symbol of the youth movement on college campuses. Since then, marijuana has steadily become more popular, and today it is the most widely used of all illegal drugs.

Within the last 30 years, medical research has discovered new and potentially beneficial therapeutic effects of marijuana and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary active ingredient in marijuana). For example, it has been found that marijuana can reduce internal eye pressure in persons suffering from glaucoma. Similarly, it alleviates the nausea and vomiting that are often caused by chemotherapeutic drugs used to treat cancer patients. Because of its appetite-stimulating effects, marijuana has also been shown to help people suffering from cancer and AIDS to maintain their weight.And, marijuana may be able to reduce the pain and convulsions associated with multiple sclerosis and epilepsy in some patients.