Let’s Brush Up On Your

Marijuana History

Cannabis (also known as marijuana and

hemp) is indigenous to Central and South

Asia.

Contemporary uses of cannabis are as a

recreational or medicinal drug, and as part

of religious or spiritual rites; the earliest

recorded uses date from the 3rd millennium

B.C.

The Chinese Emperor Fu His (ca. 2900

B.C.), whom the Chinese credit with

bringing civilization to China, seems to

have made reference to Ma, the Chinese

word for Cannabis, noting that Cannabis

was a very popular medicine that

possessed both yin and yang.

Around 2000 B.C., the Egyptians used cannabis to

treat sore eyes. And then a century later, doctors in

India could be found mixing marijuana with milk to

use as an anesthetic. In 200 B.C. the Greeks used

marijuana to remedy earaches.

During the Middle Ages, hemp was central to any

herbalist’s medicine cabinet. William Turner, the

naturalist considered the first English botanist,

praised it in his New Herball, published in 1538.

It was in the early 1,600’s when Jamestown settlers

brought the marijuana plant, commonly known as

hemp, to North America and throughout the colonial

period, hemp fiber was an important export.

Such notable used for cannabis slowed to a

screeching halt and was temporarily removed from

history after 1937, when the Marihuana Tax Act

effectively banned the drug in the United States.

Marijuana Is Actually A

Misunderstood Substance

It is a good thing that debates have

paved the way to discover that it has

many good uses more than what's

been described since Congress passed

the Controlled Substances Act in

1970 that classified marijuana as a

drug with “no accepted medical use”.

It was in the same year that NORML

(National Organization for the

Reform of Marijuana Laws) was

founded as a nonprofit, public-

interest advocacy group whose

mission is to end marijuana

prohibition.

Marijuana history was made in America on

November 5th, 1996 when voters in California

passed a state medical marijuana initiative

known as Proposition 215.

The legislation permits patients and their primary

caregivers, with a physician’s recommendation,

to possess and cultivate marijuana for medical

use.

Today 60% of Americans support legalizing

marijuana for medical use, according to an April

2010 AP-CNBC poll.

Many more states now allow the usage of

marijuana for certain medical condition thus

giving birth to the term medical marijuana and

are now paving the road for the legal cannabis

industry.

Many medical studies have shown that

marijuana has the ability to help people

suffering from a variety of medical

conditions.

Tumor cells growing in some areas in the

body have been scientifically proven to

decrease through marijuana use.

In fact, many of states are willing to let it

help the American economy by imposing

taxes on it.

People who have been supporting the use

and growing of marijuana are expecting

that the law changes will soon make their

dream happen.

Many marijuana supporters continue to

lobby the widespread legalization of the

plant so that many people can reap its

benefits.

People may have to wait before the

decision on legalizing marijuana may

happen in all states of America as

different kinds of research are still

being done to explore thoroughly its

use and effect.

As depicted by marijuana’s mixed

history, these researchers are also keen

on trying to stay away from the plant's

controversial past.

And internationally, there are quite a few

countries where people can use marijuana

freely.

Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Germany,

Holland, and Israel are just some of the

countries where people can use marijuana

recreationally and without worrying about

legal consequences.

At the present, the states of Colorado and

Washington are now giving its residents

certain freedoms on the recreational use of

marijuana.

Marijuana history in America is just starting

again due to the changes in state laws that

allow for medical marijuana and dispensaries

to be in business as long as laws are complied.

Let us know what you think.