Do you know
where medical marijuana first came from? And for those who have watched
“Pineapple Express”, no, medical marijuana did not get banned the way according
to the movie. Since I was a kid, I remembered most of what growing up meant was
finding out a lot about my past and where I came from. I asked my parents about
my ancestry and even until today I still ask my parents about the stuff I did
as a kid that I maybe forgot. Just like every living person, marijuana also has
a timeline of when it was discovered and first used.
Marijuana,
also known as cannabis, dates back to 2900 BC, when Chinese emperor Fu Hsi
describes marijuana as a common and popular medicine, in the Marijuana Historical Timeline. Marijuana was first used
medically. But not until 1500 BC was when the Chinese documented its first
reference to marijuana in the Rh-Ya. The Rh-Ya is a missionary journal; the
Chinese Pharmacopeia. In 1450 BC the popular plant must have spread worldwide,
because the book of Exodus references Holy Oils made from six pounds of
Kaneh-bosem, which was later identified by respected etymologists, linguistics,
and botanists to identify the Kaneh-bosem as cannabis.
Hemp: Chinese
The Chinese Character for hemp, as shown above, was invented by Ts'ang Chieh in 2700 B.C. Hemp refers to the use of a cannabis plant for its strong fibers and hemp seeds; most commonly used for clothes and food.
Once marijuana became more and more
popular, more cultures around the world have documentation of marijuana being
used medically. Egyptians used cannabis for Glaucoma, inflammation, and enemas
in 1213 BC; it is said that cannabis pollen was found on the mummy of Ramesses
II who died in 1213 BC, and in ancient Egypt people could’ve gotten
prescriptions for medical marijuana for Glaucoma, etc. In 1000 BC a drink
containing Cannabis and milk was used in India to treat a wide variety of human
maladies; the drink was called Bhang.
Fast forwarding to 1 AD, drug
recipes were discovered along with ancient texts written by the Chinese that
suggest cannabis was not a big deal back then. The Chinese symbol that was
interpreted was “Ma”, which was the sign for marijuana as most people suggest.
Most of what we know about marijuana’s past can be dated back to just the
Chinese culture because of how much the Chinese have on Medical Marijuana.
Although China, which is half way
around the world, was the first to discover marijuana, marijuana was brought to
North America from 1600-1899 by the Jamestown Settlers, but was commonly known
as hemp and was used as an important export at the time. At that time
marijuana, or hemp, was used throughout the States and was even cultivated by
popular historical figures such as George Washington, written in his diary, and
Thomas Jefferson. Both were said to have cultivated the crop but there is no
evidence of Jefferson smoking tobacco or cannabis. In the 1840’s marijuana
became mainstream in the West, noted by a French Doctor who studied the affects
of marijuana; marijuana suppressed headaches, increased appetite, and helped
people sleep.
To this day marijuana is used
worldwide and is rather seen in a negative way to others than in the positive,
medical way that people in the past once saw marijuana. Now a day’s marijuana
is used both recreationally and medically but is hard to regulate between
government because of how illegal marijuana became. With the help of
technology, marijuana use has changed significantly over time and has been
altered even more to give people an even bigger “high”.
