A Brief History of Cannabis

  • 10,000-4,000 B.C.: Hemp fiber is used in Asia for clothing, roping materials, food sources, and early forms of parchment.
  • 3000 B.C.: Early evidence of the inhalation of cannabis smoke indicated by charred cannabis seeds found in a ritual brazier at an ancient burial site in present day Romania.
  • 2700 B.C.: First Recorded Use of Cannabis is documented in Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
  • 2500 B.C.: In 2003, a leather basket filled with cannabis leaf fragments and seed was found next to a 2,500- to 2,800-year-old mummified shaman in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China.
  • 2000 B.C.: Cannabis is used by Hindu’s in Northern India and Nepal. In Sanskrit, the plant is known as ganjika or Ganja in more modern languages.
  • 1500 B.C.: Cannabis is cultivated more widely throughout China and the far East. Around the same time, the Scythians, a nomadic civilization in the northern parts of the Middle East and West Asia, begin the cultivation of cannabis for cloth.
  • 1200-800 B.C.: References to Cannabis are mentioned in the Hindu sacred text Atharvaveda. Within the text, cannabis is referred to as “Sacred Grass”, one of the five sacred plants of India. During this time, cannabis is used in medicinal and ritualistic form as an offering to Shiva.
  • 700-300 B.C.: The Scythians (see above) leave Cannabis seeds in their Royal tombs as offerings to the Gods.
  • 500 B.C.: Scythian tribes begin to spread Cannabis into parts of Europe.
  • 500-100 B.C.: Hemp Seeds spread throughout the European Continent.
  • 100-900 A.D.: Hemp is used throughout the world as a fiber for creating ropes, clothing materials and as use for other various implements. The depth of Marijuana use as a mind altering substance is largely unknown.
  • 900-1000 A.D.: Use of Hashish spreads throughout Arabia. Scholars begin the debate of the positive and negative aspects of eating hashish, one of the first public forums on Cannabis.
  • 1000-1200 A.D.: Hashish use increases across the Middle East.
  • 1250-1300 A.D.: Arab traders introduce cannabis to the African continent for the first time.
  • 1600-1800 A.D.: Cannabis/Hemp is cultivated throughout the new world and around the world for its many beneficial social qualities.
  • 1776 A.D.: The Declaration of Independence is drafted on hemp paper. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp for cultivation. Benjamin Franklin owned and operated a hemp paper mill.
  • 1850 A.D.: In America, cannabis is used as a base for medicinal preparations. At the same time, on the other side of the planet, hashish becomes more readily available in Persian pharmacies.
  • 1926 A.D.: The use of cannabis for recreational purposes is banned in Britain.
  • 1930 A.D.: Henry Anslinger is appointed Commissioner for the recently created Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He begins a decade long campaign against the use and overall cultivation of Cannabis.
  • 1937 A.D.: Cannabis is made federally illegal in the United States under the legislation in the Marihuana Tax Act. Anslinger is one of the main motivating forces in the demonization and fear-mongering surrounding Cannabis.
  • 1980-Present: The Regan era “War on Drugs” strengthens the battle against cannabis. Marijuana becomes synonymously linked with drugs like cocaine and heroin, drugs which are dangerous and should be illegal, thus continuing to propagate the campaign of lies against a simple plant: Cannabis.
  • 1950-Present: Arrests for the simple possession of Marijuana increase at an alarming rate. Over nearly 750,000 people arrested a year presently.
  • 1950-Present: Positive effects of Cannabis are uncovered in the world of medicine. All studies lead to cannabis being better for both the planet and human beings than any other mind altering substance including tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutically manufactured prescription drugs.
  • 1950-Present: Hemp as a source of food and fuel continues to expose itself as one of mankind’s best options in reversing many of the negative effects of global warming and over-exploitation.

This timeline presents one question to the masses: When will we wake up collectively and realize that it is time to abandon the illusion and Free Ganja?!?!?