The History of Cannabis

The history of cannabis is long, interesting, and stretches back longer than many people may believe. Throughout this history, cannabis has developed a beneficial relationship with humanity, and the two’s futures have become slowly intertwined. Humanity recognized the benefits of cannabis way before the current movement that was sparked during the 20th century. In fact, cannabis seeds have been in the Earth’s soil since before the times of Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and Alexander the Great.

Ancient History

The original cannabis plants appear to have originated in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains in south-central Asia. According to most scholars, cannabis was discovered by humans 5,000 – 6,000 years ago, however many believe that the plant has been on Earth far longer than this (6). Cannabis seems to have evolved over time, with the most significant evolution being the development of trichomes and the production of cannabinoids. The cannabis plant most likely developed these as a self-defense mechanism against other animals that may have wanted to eat the plant (6). However, other theories exist about the driving force behind the plant’s transformation. Michael Pollen the author of “The Botany of Desire”, suggests that in order to be more appealing to humanity, the cannabis plant evolved to be more beneficial to humans (6). The plant did this by producing desired chemicals and by being more usable industrially. As a result of this relationship, cannabis has essentially guaranteed it’s survival by becoming allies with the most powerful species on Earth.

Whatever the reason for the cannabis plant’s evolution, humans began to quickly realize it’s medicinal and industrial applications. Scholars believe that cannabis was first used as a medicine between 4,000 – 5,000 years ago in places such as China, India, and Romania (2,6). The plant was also known to be used in religious ceremonies and some scholars say references to cannabis can be found in multiple religious text. A plant known as “kaneh-bos” or “kaneh-bosm” may even be mentioned in the Bible, in the book of Exodus (6,8) As well as the Bible, possible references to the cannabis plant can be found in the Talmud (Jewish text) and by the ancient Greek historian, Herodotus. The plant was also known to be widely used across the Roman Empire (8).

1600s-1930s

Our story picks up in the early 1600s as cannabis is making a name for itself in colonial America. Early Americans saw the benefits of industrial hemp and the plant was widely grown in the American colonies. Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia even had laws requiring farmers to grow hemp on their farms (5). Cannabis was even used as an official medicine in the United States and other parts of the Western world beginning in the early 1800s (6).

In 1753, “Cannabis sativa Linnaeus” was officially classified under Carl Linnaeus’ famous taxonomical classification system, which is still used today to classify all living things. The plant is included in the “Cannabaceae” family along with hops. However, after further analysis, modern scientists believe that cannabis should be part of the “Cetidaceae” family alongside plants such as the Hackberry Tree (6).

At the time, Linnaeus classified the cannabis plant as a single species, as opposed to 3 (6). In 1785, however, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck believed the cannabis plant had more than 1 species, stating the plant he found in India should be called “Cannabis indica” (6). Today, there is a wide variety of opinions on whether Sativa, Indica, and Ruderalis are 3 separate species or 1. The current global opinion by many global Biologists is that the plant should be classified as a single species, due to the amount of varieties among cannabis (6).

In the early 1900s things began to take a turn for the worse for the cannabis plant. Primarily driven by political and racial factors, cannabis began to be outlawed throughout the United States (5). Some say this was due to the cannabis plant’s infringement on the cotton and paper industries (7). Others believe that a fear of Mexican immigrants during the Great Depression led to the prohibition (5). Either way, in 1937, negative perceptions reached a boiling point with the passage of the “Marihuana Tax Act of 1937”, which severely limited the medical and industrial applications of cannabis in the United States, and made personal possession illegal (4).