The cannabis plant was once considered a remedy and is now demonised as a drug. Read interesting facts about cannabis and marijuana.

 

 

The History of cannabis

 

There are three main types of marijuana: Cannabis Sativa, Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Ruderalis. Cannabis Sativa grows very tall. Cannabis Indica is small and bushy and grows in colder climates (Eastern Europe and Russia). The best known Cannabis Indica cross is Skunk. 

Cannabis Ruderalis is the most robust hemp plant. It produces flowers even in low light. 

 

Cannabis was cultivated in China in 4000 BC. The hemp plant (Chinese: ma) was initially used to make fabrics for clothing. Later, the Chinese discovered the hemp seed as a foodstuff. The stalks and seeds were used to produce hemp oil. The first reference to the medicinal use of cannabis in China comes from the Chinese ruler Fu His (approx. 2900 BC). At that time, cannabis was a popular medicine that possessed both yin and yang.

 

However, the ruler Shen Nung (2700 BC) is credited with discovering the medicinal healing power of the cannabis plant. In addition to cannabis, he discovered the two other important herbs ginseng and ephedra.

 

The first written record of cannabis as a medicine dates back to 1500 in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. (Rh-Ya).

 

In the 12th century BC, the Egyptians used cannabis to treat glaucoma, inflammation and as an enema. The mummy of Ramses II was found with cannabis pollen. 

 

Bhang, a drink made from cannabis and milk, has been used as an anaesthetic and stimulant in India since 1000 BC.

 

In ancient Greece (around 200 BC), cannabis was prescribed for pain, oedema and inflammation.

 

According to the New Testament, Jesus Christ used chrism, an oil made from cannabis, to induce his spiritual visions. 

 

In the 16th century (AD), Muslim doctors prescribed marijuana to reduce sexual desire. 

 

In 1611, the cannabis plant was brought to North America, where it became the most important crop for the production of fabric.

 

The American President George Washington (1745-1775) described his interest in the medicinal use of hemp in his diary. He grew cannabis himself at Mount Vernon. 

 

In 1799, Napoleon's troops brought marijuana from Egypt to France. The plant was subsequently valued as a painkiller and tranquilliser in Europe.

In the 1840s, marijuana became one of the main remedies in Western medicine.

In 1850 cannabis was entered in the US Pharmacopoeia.

 

In the later 19th century, cannabis was used to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms of opium addiction.

 

At the beginning of the 20th century, cannabis was popular in Asian countries for asthma. bronchitis and loss of appetite.

 

In 1911, cannabis was declared illegal in Massachusetts alongside prostitution, gambling, professional boxing and oral sex. 

 

Cannabis was added to the list of banned substances in the United Kingdom in 1928.

 

It was not until 1942 that marijuana was removed from the American pharmacopoeia and thus lost its therapeutic legitimacy altogether.

 

 

Marijuana has been decriminalised in the Netherlands since 1976. After 1980, the first coffee shops appeared, in which the sale of small amounts of marijuana was initially tolerated and later officially permitted.

 

On 5 November 1996, California became the first US state to legalise medical marijuana.