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By Brian Grimmer
Cannabis can get you high. One might describe the high as a
wonderfully euphoric state of mental bliss that balances between absolute
clarity of the task-at-hand and a total blurring-out of one’s external
awareness. For others the opposite may be the case, as the task-at-hand
blurs out and one’s awareness of the world around them increases ten-fold
within the euphoria. While these intentionally ambiguous and apposing
states may not be easy for the non-user to understand, for those who have
experienced the mental pleasures of cannabis, the above is accurate.
The learned individual understands that cannabis is a very utilitarian
plant with medicinal, industrial, and nutritional purposes in addition to its
most famous role as a recreational or spiritual intoxicant. With 10,000 year-
old artifacts as evidence, the plant’s status as one of the oldest cultivated
crops in the world is indisputable. Despite the above facts about the plant,
the origins of the word cannabis are a source of division among historians.
Like the effects of the plant when consumed, the word cannabis is
pleasant sounding word to the ear when spoken. Hemp, perhaps reflecting
the plant’s industrial usefulness is not as pleasant in its sound but is rather, a
very efficient word in that it is quickly spoken. The correct pronunciation of
cannabis, or hemp for that matter, is not difficult for the average reader to
master either.
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To understand the simple concept that one word can have many
meanings or definitions is a basic purpose of the dictionary. Each progressive
definition following a word is a less common, but nonetheless accurate and
correct application of the word. Further examination these multiple
definitions found within the dictionary for cannabis provide insight into the
origin of the word. With detailed examination given to these alternate
definitions, old names given to this plant by great cultures of the past can be
uncovered and explored further.
In these ancient cultures, experts dedicated to their trades and
profession found various uses for cannabis and documented their results in
ancient texts and tablets. Through historical research and archaeology,
today’s society is rediscovering how industrious and beneficial cannabis can
be when society agrees on a place for it within in said society. In many
aspects, cannabis has contributed greatly to the advance of humanity and its
culture from ancient times to modernity.
Many of the established societal issues surrounding cannabis use and
production in today’s world existed in some form during the Victorian Age. In
some cases, many of these same concerns also existed in ancient China.
Despite the multitude of years cannabis has served humankind, the social
factors of the past have influenced the views of modern society has
regarding the plant. These historic societal issues provide examples and
understanding of the etymology of cannabis. The etymology provides a
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historical roadmap to explore the effects cannabis has upon the societies of
the past and consequently their effect on society views of the plant today.
What is cannabis? Mirriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines
cannabis as - 1: hemp, 2: any of the preparations (as marijuana or hashish)
or chemicals (as THC) that are derived from the hemp and are psychoactive.
Miriam’s further informs the reader that the origin of the word cannabis is
Latin for hemp, derives from the Greek word kannabis (κάνναβης or
kánnavi s), and is akin to Old English hænep, meaning hemp. Lastly, the page
states the first known use of the word cannabis occurred in 1783. This means
that cannabis as an English word is only 228 years old, but has its roots in
ancient Greece via Latin.
Note that hemp is the first definition and repeated again in the second
definition. Hemp appears twice again within the word’s origins. Therefore, it
is accurate to say that hemp is cannabis. In examination of the word hemp,
the Miriam-Webster’s verifies this as its definition is as follows:
1a: a tall widely cultivated Asian herb
(Cannabis sativa of the family Cannabaceae, the
hemp family) that has a tough bast fiber used
especially for cordage and that is often separated
into a tall loosely branched species (C. sativa) and a
low-growing densely branched species (C. indica), b:
10,000 Years: An Etymologically Guided History of CannabisPage 4 of 21
the fiber of hemp, c: a psychoactive drug (as
marijuana or hashish) from hemp, and 2: a fiber (as
jute) from a plant other than the true hemp; also : a
plant yielding such fiber.
From this page, the reader also learns that there are multiple varieties
of cannabis – cannabis sativa and cannabis indica. Additionally, the origin of
the word ‘hemp’ is Middle English, from the Old English word ‘hænep’; akin
to Old High German word ‘hanaf’, meaning hemp, and the Greek word
‘kannabis,’ and that its first known use occurred before the 12th century C.E.
While the term hashish will be discussed later in this paper, this initial
inspection of Miriam-Webster’s definitions provide a brief etymology that
shows dated usage of the terms cannabis and hemp in Europe going back
centuries and an ancestry that goes back to ancient Greece.
Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist
circa 40-90 C.E. who resided in Rome, wrote about the medical qualities of
cannabis in the first century C.E. Discorides explained that the plant’s
‘juiced’ seed, when green, was useful for treating ‘pains of the ear’.”1 The
inclusion of cannabis sativa as a healing herb in Dioscorides’ De Materia
Medica ("Regarding Medical Materials"), an ancient five-volume medical text,
conclusively illustrates Greek society’s recognition of the plant’s value as a
medicinal herb. As the Greek Empire fell in decline, the medicinal knowledge
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of cannabis would pass successively through the Romans and onto Europe
and the Byzantines through Dioscorides’ texts.
Referred to by the German Byzantinist August Heisenberg as “the
Christianized Roman Empire of the Greek nation,”2 the Byzantines literally
and beautifully illustrated the medical value of the cannabis. Cannabis sativa
is one of 435 plants illustrated in the Vienna Dioscurides. An extravagantly
illustrated version of Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica crafted in the 6th
century as a gift for the Byzantine Princess Anicia Juliana, the Vienna
Dioscurides served as a medical reference for centuries.3 Proving the text’s
relevance and accuracy, the De Materia Medica still serves as a basis of
modern medical and therapeutic herbal knowledge.4
Miriam Webster’s etymology of cannabis ends with the Greek word
kannabis. The Greeks, being familiar with all qualities of the cannabis,
preferred alcohol as a recreational intoxicant. The Greeks did not often
consume cannabis for intoxication and research indicates the origin of the
Greek word ‘kannabis’ is the Scythian word ‘cannabis.’ 5 This would make
sense as Herodotus, a 5th century B.C.E Greek historian, wrote extensively
about the Scythians and their ways.6 Learning the language would be a
natural aspect of his studies of Scythian culture. Prior to Scythia however,
there existed Assyria, Akkadia, and Sumeria, these earlier civilizations were
successively located in southern Mesopotamia.
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According to British archaeologist, cuneiformist and Assyriologist
Reginald Campbell Thompson (1876-1941), who spent 50 years deciphering
19,000 Assyrian cuneiform tablets recovered from the mound of Kouyunjik,
an archaeological site in ancient ruins of Nineveh. Located across the Tigris
River from the modern Iraqi city of Mosul, Nineveh was ruined by invading
Scythians in 612 b.c, and ignored for more than 2000 years. According to
Thompon, cannabis was known as ‘azallu’ in Akkadian or Ancient Assryian,
and ‘A.ZAL.LA’ in Sumerian. Thompson also further noted that of 19,000 clay
tablets, 660 tablets related to material medica, and 30 citations in the
Kouyunjik tablets mention cannabis. During his studies of Assyrian cuneiform
Thomson, noted associations to the Hindu word for cannabis ‘ganja.’ 7
Researcher Sula Bunet(1903 – 1982) was a Polish anthropologist
studying Judaic customs and traditions who believed the Scythian word
'cannabis' was Semitic in origin due to its similarity to the Semitic word
'kanbos'.8 Bunet’s 1936 paper Tracing one word through different languages
states, “The Iranian Scythians were probably related to the Medes, who were
neighbors of the Semites and could easily have assimilated the word for
hemp. The Semites could also have spread the word during their migrations
through Asia Minor.”9 In 1980, etymological researchers at Hebrew University
in Jerusalem corroborated Benet’s research claiming the Old Testament word
‘kineboison’ (kaneh bosm) literally meant ‘hemp blossom’ which is the fruit
or buds of the cannabis plant. 10
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This translates to mean that scholars now acknowledge that the Holy
anointing oil contained cannabis extracts. In addition, these scholars
determined that cannabis is present in the original Hebrew and Aramaic
texts of the Old Testament and listed within said text as an incense tree. The
importance of this revelation to Christianity is that according to the Old
Testament scripture, Holy anointing oil was used by Hebrews to anoint all
priests, kings and prophets – Jesus was anointed this holy anointing oil when
he became a prophet.11 While this declaration obviously places the church in
the uncomfortable position of explaining Jesus’ and the Bible’s newly
discovered association with cannabis.
Deepening the biblical cannabis references, Professor Raphael
Mechoulam of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem suggests the following
etymology for cannabis: The Greek word ‘kannabis’ from the Arabic word
‘kunnab’ from the Syriac word ‘qunnappa’ from the word Hebrew pannag
which came from the Sanskrit word ‘bhanga’ and the Persian word ‘bang.’
Machoulam suggests that ‘pannag’, mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel
(27:17), is in fact Cannabis.12 In the King James Bible, the verse is as follows:
“Judah, and the land of Israel, they [were] thy merchants: they
traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey,
and oil, and balm.”
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The confirmation of Benet’s claims by the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem in addition to the new references highlighted in Mechoulam’s
research are sure to fuel the fires of passionate debate for those seeking a
biblical justification of cannabis. Several seemingly Christian-leaning activist
websites have cited Benet in support of their claims that anointing oil comes
from cannabis, not calamus, which is apparently the result of a mis-
translation.13 While offensive to some, a few humorists have poked fun at the
possibility that Jesus may have been an ancient hippy due to his getting high
from bathing in the supposedly cannabis-infused anointing oil during his
anointment as a prophet.14
Mentioned previously, Herodotus wrote about the Scythian culture in
the 5th century. He noted the Scythians cultivation of cannabis (hemp) as
well as its use in their personal hygiene practices. Instead of bathing in
water, Herodotus noted the Scythians would take woolen bags containing
cannabis seeds and set them upon red-hot stones in a closed tent.
Immediately, the bags of cannabis seed would begin to smolder and fill the
tent with the smoke. The Scythians would then proceed to inhale deeply and
rub their bodies to cleanse themselves in the smoke while laughing and
having a good time. In his writings, Herodotus noted that the vapors were
much more pleasing than those produced by incense burned in Greece
were.15
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Harvard Ethnobotinist Richard Evans Schultes noted in his 1979 book
Plants of the Gods, that ‘recent’ archaeological digs in central Asia
uncovered Scythian tombs matching Herodotus’ descriptions. Dating from
500-300 B.C.E. archaeologists excavated artifacts consisting of the remains
of tripods, tent materials and cannabis fruits and seeds with charcoal.
Schultes further states a general acceptance among scholars who subscribe
to the theory that Scythians are responsible for spreading cannabis
westward to Europe.16
Researchers like Benet and Mechoulam credit the Scythians for being
the bridging society that spread cannabis from central Asia into Europe, the
Middle East, India and Africa. In Africa, where cannabis is not an indigenous
species, it was the Egyptians and the Bantu who learned of cannabis. The
Khoikhoi, or as the Europeans labeled them Hottentots17 and the kaffirs of
South Africa are mentioned by Professor Ernest L. Abel in his book Marijuana:
the First 12,000 Years as a people who learned of the plant’s intoxicating
properties. Some of the negative connotations associated with cannabis-use
may be a result of early European reports from colonies in southern Africa. In
1658, the first governor of the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope, Jan
van Riebeeck wrote about Khoikhoi use. He noted the tribe’s extensive and
frequent custom of chewing on local hemp the tribe called dagga and
commented that the drug affects their brain like opium. 18
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In 1609, the Dominican priest, Joao dos Santos, in writing about the
kaffirs, a now-derogatory term that referred the natives of South Africa living
around Kafaria coined by the settling English and Dutch Boers, noted that
the natives chewed upon cannabis leaves the natives called bangue from
which a powerfully intoxicating’ drink of the same name was made.19
The Egyptians, who also invented beer,20 would also learn of the
textile and medicinal values of cannabis. By 2350 B.C.E., scribes in Memphis
were writing about cannabis. While some readers may doubt the accuracy of
certain deciphered hieroglyphs, it is a consensus among experts of Egyptian
hieroglyphs, that the Egyptian word for cannabis was ‘šmšm-t’ – pronounced
shemshemet. Although the ancient Egyptians used hemp for textiles and
cordage to make ropes, matting, and woven fabric in ancient Egypt,21 what
marks the Egyptians as particularly fascinating from a medical aspect, is
their practice of mummification and the resultant benefit of increasing the
society’s knowledge of medicine and human physiology.22 In his 2003 Doctor
of Philosophy dissertation for the University of Birmingham entitled
Pain,Disease and Analgesics In Ancient Egypt, Roy James Lane noted how
classical texts of the era such as The Odyssey and the Holy Bible often refer
to Egyptian medicine.23
With various preparations listed for treating a wide range a maladies,
Russo’s paper shows that the ancient Egyptians considered cannabis as an
important medical resource for the for their society. Scholars consider Ebers
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Papyrus (circa 1550B.C.E.) to be one of the most important medical texts of
ancient Egypt.24 Listed in the text is a preparation that can serve as a
disinfectant for malignant flesh. The preparation consists of ground cannabis
mixed with honey, ochre, hedjou resin and some ibou plant. Russo points out
that while the antibacterial qualities of honey are well known, there is a
definite lack of research into the antibiotic qualities of cannabis, let alone
any understanding the plant’s insecticidal or anthelminthic (the expelling of
parasitic worms – helminthes, such as flat worms, round worms tapeworms
and flukes – from the body) properties.25
One of the oldest preparations listed in the scroll Ramesseum III,
estimated to have been written in 1700 B.C.E., was a treatment for the eyes:
celery; hemp; is ground and left in the dew overnight. The patient then being
instructed to wash both eyes of with the preparation early in the morning.
Russo imparts that this type of usage suggests a similar medical approach as
that taken regarding the modern use of cannabis in treating glaucoma, or,
possibly, for anti-inflammatory effects.26
Before leaving Africa, in a most interesting side note, perhaps it is the
case of the Bashilange tribe that cannabis legalization opponents and
governments of the world fear the most. Doctor Ernest Abel, a professor at
Wayne State Univeristy, explains the Bashilange were an extremely warlike
people until usurpers to the throne introduced cannabis into the society
around 1850. Within 25 years of its introduction, the Bashilange transformed
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their warring society into one of peaceful co-existence and non-violence.
While some reversion to old ways did occur in time, life for the Bashilange
tribe continued to remain comparatively peaceful, as cannabis use became a
daily ritual in their lives.27
Following the trails of civilization’s expansion, the Scythians being
linguistic descendants of the Indo-Aryan people, were certainly in contact
with the Hindu peoples of the Indian sub-continent. Whether the Scythians,
or their ancestry are responsible for introducing cannabis to India is
debatable. What is indisputably the earliest cannabis reference in Indian
culture recognized to date, comes from the Compendium of the essence of
medicine. Written by the Bengali author Vangesena around 1050-1100
B.C.E., cannabis is referred to by the name ‘bhanga.’ In writing about
cannabis, Vangesena states, “Bhanga was a drug like opium whose mode of
action is to pervade the whole body before being absorbed and digested.” In
his writings, Vangasena prescribed cannabis under the names ‘indr¯a´sana’
and ‘tribhavanavijaya’ in two recipes that he claimed promoted a long and
healthy life. 28
By examining Hindu references to cannabis within the faith’s many
sacred texts, one can quickly conclude that Hindus regard cannabis in much
the same way as Christians regard the holy sacrament of wine. Verses within
the Atbarva Veda, written sometime between 2000-1400 B.C.E., exemplify
the reverence held for cannabis by the Hindu culture.29 The text lists
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cannabis as one of the five sacred plants of Hindu culture. Another sacred
Hindu text, the Raja Valabba, claims divine intervention as the source for
hemp. According this text, the gods, in an act of compassion, provided hemp
for the human race, so that they may find enjoyment, lose anxiety, and gain
sexual desire.30
With so many gods in Hinduism, the outsider can quickly be confused
with who is what and what is where. A basic rule in understanding the Hindu
theology of Hinduism is that Brahman is everything and everything is
Brahman.31 Across the many regions of India, the faithful appease the most
popular local form of God with offerings of cannabis. In Madras, the faithful
offer gifts of cannabis to Kama, the god of love, as well as Shiva, the
destroyer. Vishnu, the supreme god within the Vaishnavite tradition, is the
benefactor of local cannabis offerings in Bombay.32
During the early history of cannabis use in Indian society, it was
unlikely one could discern medicinal use from religious use. Touw points to a
reference within the Atbarva Veda regarding overcoming enemies and evil
forces; interpreting the verse to mean such ‘forces’ would have included
physical illnesses as well as ill spirits. As medicinal use broke away from
religious and secular use, medicinal applicability rapidly expanded through
thorough exploration.33 For the student, researching cannabis use in India,
Touw’s paper is a detailed, in-depth study providing valuable information.
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The breadth of Indian society’s medicinal and cultural preparations
that involve cannabis is astounding. An ancient beverage called ‘bhang,’
made from a combination of ground cannabis flowers, milk, ghee and spices,
is an integral part of Indian society and tradition. So strongly integrated into
the Indian society is the 4000-year-old tradition of cannabis use, that in
1894, J.M. Campbell wrote his Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report. Within
his report, he wrote about hemp’s among the Indian people:
"To forbid or even seriously to restrict the use of so gracious an
herb as hemp would cause widespread suffering and annoyance and to
large bands of worshipped ascetics, deep-seated anger. It would rob
the people of a solace in discomfort, of a cure in sickness, of a
guardian whose gracious protection saves them from the attacks of
evil influences, and whose mightly power makes the devotee of the
Victorious, overcoming the demons of hunger and thirst, of panic, fear,
of the glamour of Maya or matter, and of madness, able in rest to
brood on the Eternal, till the Eternal, possessing him body and soul,
frees him from the haunting of self and receives him into the Ocean of
Being.”
So alluring were the intoxicating qualities of Indian Hemp, as the
variant grown in India is colloquially called, its scientific name is Cannabis
indica. Shorter and less robust than Cannabis sativa or Cannabis ruderalis,
the plant is well suited for intoxicating its users. Victorian-Age England,
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familiar with hemp varieties suited for textiles, papermaking and rope
making, was shocked by the intoxicating power of Indian Hemp. With opium
being the drug of choice among English subjects back at home, there was
little desire to allow cannabis use in colonial India beyond its industrial and
medicinal applications; spiritual use had to be controlled. Despite Campbell’s
report, the colonial government in India planned to prohibit the consumption
of cannabis. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and taxation became the
chosen method of deterring cannabis use. 34 If the colonial government in
India had implemented the policy of outright cannabis prohibition, the cost
and success ratio of today’s prohibitionist policies infer that the enforcement
costs of prohibition would have significantly reduced the amount of profit the
colony generated for the crown. Perhaps representing a lesson for today’s
leadership to consider, the decision to tax cannabis helped keep India
profitable as colony and allowed the British Empire to prosper for another 65
years.
While England’s association with India involved Indian Hemp, China’s
treasures were tea and a white powder called opium. In China, the colonial
merchants saw cannabis as just another trade commodity like silk, spices
and other exotic items of interest. Archaeological excavations on the island
of Taiwan have uncovered 10,000-year-old pottery fragments embedded
with hemp fibers. These pottery shards demonstrate a 10,000 –year history
of cannabis utilization in China.35 Considering the Chinese harvested
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cannabis seeds for food, it’s not a far stretch for them to discover any
medical properties or benefits the plant, its fruit or seeds may have offer
along the way. 36
A significant aspect of Chinese culture is connected to cannabis,
however that connection is not as intertwined with the culture of China as it
is in Indian culture. In China, where the word for hemp is 麻 or má, the plant
served in its contemporary roles as a food product, industrial resource, and
medicinal herb. Accordingly, the people of China relied on Cannabis for many
more products than fiber. Ground into meal, roasted whole, or cooked in
porridge, cannabis seeds, along with rice, barley, millet, and soybeans, were
the staple grains for the citizens of ancient China. Ancient tombs often
contained sacrificial vessels filled with hemp seed and other grains to sustain
the deceased in the afterlife. The importance of hemp seed as staple food
source extended from prehistoric times into the first to second century
B.C.E., when more palatable cereal grains finally surpassed the hemp seed.37
With Confucianism’s focus on improving the self for the benefit of
society, spiritually, the use of cannabis in China was non-existent in
comparison to spiritual use in India. Instead, the Chinese focused on the
medicinal qualities of the plant. The Chinese consider cannabis to be one of
the 50 "fundamental" herbs in traditional Chinese medicine. According to the
Chinese Materia Medica, every part of the hemp plant; the dried flowers, the
achenia, the seeds, the oil, the leaves, the stalk, the root, and the juice can
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be used to make medicine. The flowers alone can be used treat over 120
different diseases.38
From a textile perspective, the oldest archaeological find of hemp
fabric in China dates from around 4,000 B.C.E. Rope and thread production
with hemp began early as well, with artifacts found in Chinese-occupied
Turkistan dating back to 3,000 B.C.E.39 Cannabis, in combination with silk,
pushed trade across the vastness of Asia. Using the Silk Road, a network of
trade routes that extended across the Asian continent to connect Asia with
the Mediterranean world, traders introduced the world to the qualities of silk
and hemp. The sheer expense of silk restricted its use to the wealthy who
could afford it’s luxuriate qualities. In responding to the predicament,
merchants commonly traded both hemp and silk.40
At one time, the Chinese referred to China the “land of mulberry and
hemp.” The mulberry tree was a food source for the silkworm, and hemp was
a source of food, medicine, and fiber.41 The resilience of this fiber brought a
major development to the world with China’s use and cultivation of cannabis.
Using hemp fibers recycled from old rags and fishnets, the Chinese made a
paper that was very durable and long lasting. Without this development,
humanity would still be writing on clay tablets, woven pages, or animal skins.
The Chinese invention of paper was an advancement that revolutionized
record keeping and communication around the world.
10,000 Years: An Etymologically Guided History of CannabisPage 18 of 21
Beginning in China over 10,000 –years-ago, the knowledge of cannabis
spread across the continent of Asia to the early cultures of Mesopotamia.
From central Asia, knowledge of cannabis began to spread south to India and
westward to Europe. Reaching Europe around 500 B.C.E., European cultures
learned to use cannabis in much the same manner as the Chinese did 7500-
years before in Taiwan. Eventually the Europeans would use hemp to weave
canvas sails and hemp ropes, eventually allowing Europe to discover and
conquer the New World.
The medical secrets of cannabis reached Europe and were employed
successfully during the Victorian Age, only to disappear again for nearly 80
years as the western society grappled with the moralities of spiritual and
recreational cannabis use. Today, the moral issues surrounding such use still
effect societal attitudes towards cannabis and use of the plant. With so much
to offer humanity, cannabis has truly gotten a bum rap.
1 Dioscorides, Pedanius. Goodyer, John (trans). "The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides (1655 translation of a 1st century text) Books 2 - 4." The Renaissance Man. Available from http://www.therenaissanceman.org/images/DIOSCORIDES-Books_2_-_4.doc. Accessed 3 May 2011.
2 Winnifrith, Tom and Murray, Penelope. Greece Old and New. New York: Macmillan, 1983. p.113.
3
"Byzantine Medicine." Claude Moore Health Sciences Library. Available from http://www.hsl.virginia.edu/historical/artifacts/antiqua/byzantine.cfm. Accessed 1 May 2011.
4 "Vienna Dioscurides." UNESCO. Available from http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en//ev.php-URL_ID=22639&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html. Accessed 8 May 2011.
5 Robinson, Rowan and Robert Nelson. The Great Book of Hemp. Rochester: Park Street Press, 1996. p. 89. Available at: http://books.google.com/books?id=w0qvkVGO0sgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Great+Book+of+Hemp&hl=en&ei=dk7vTd3hOKLkiAKTsfz0AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=benet&f=false. Accessed 4 May 2011.
6 Rawlinson, George ed. and tr. The History of Herodotus, vol. 3, Book 4, Chapters 2-36, 46-82. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1885. Available online: http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Scythians.html. Accessed 6 May 2011.
7 Russo, Ethan B. "History of Cannabis and Its Preparations in Saga, Science, and Sobriquet." Chemistry & Biodiversity 4 (2007): 1614-1648.
8 Robinson, Rowan and Robert Nelson.9 Benet, Sula. 1936. Tracing one word through different languages. Institute of
Anthropological Sciences, Warsaw. Reprinted 1967 In: The Book of Grass. George Andrews and Simon Vinkenoog (eds.) Grove Press, New York, "pp. 15-18.
10 Robinson, Rowan and Robert Nelson.11
Rogers, . Ultimate truth : book i. S.l: Authorhouse, 2009. p.123.12
R. Mechoulam, W.A. Devane, A. Breuer, J. Zahalka, A random walk through a cannabis field, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, Volume 40, Issue 3, November 1991, Pages 461-464. Available online: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0091305791903475. Accessed 5 May 2011.
13 "Cannabis in the Holy Oil?." Freeanointing.org. Available from http://www.freeanointing.org/cannabis_in_the_holy_oil.htm. Accessed 1 June 2011.
14 jesus_was_a_hippy.jpg – Available from http://mickeymalta.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/jesus_was_a_hippy.jpg. Accessed 1 June 2011.
15 Herodotus, Translated by Isaac Littlebury. The History of Herodotus. Vol. IV. London. 1737. p.380-381. Available from http://books.google.com/books?id=1uQaAAAAMAAJ&pg=PR1&dq=History+of+Herodotus+littlebury&hl=en&ei=jRfvTcvCIYnRiALBr6T1AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&sqi=2&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=History%20of%20Herodotus%20littlebury&f=false. Accessed: 3 May 2011
16 Schultes, Richard and Albert Hofmann. Plants of the Gods. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979. p. 49.
17 "Bring back the Hottentot Venus." South Africa Mail & Guardian. Available from http://web.mit.edu/racescience/in_media/baartman/baartman_m&g_june95.htm. Accessed 1 June 2011.
18 Abel, Ernest. Marihuana, the first twelve thousand years. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982.19 Ibid.20 Redford, Donald. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt: Beer. Oxford Oxfordshire:
Oxford University Press, 2001.21
Lane, Roy James. "Pain,Disease and Analgesics In Ancient Egypt." University of Birmingham, (2003): p. 1-300
22
Russo, Ethan B.23
Lane, Roy James.24
Gordetsky, Jennifer. "Mysticism and Urology in Ancient Egypt."University of Rochester Medical Center Department of Urology. Available online: http://www.urologichistory.museum/content/exhibits/historyforum/mysturo.pdf. Accessed 26 May 2011.
25
Russo, Ethan B.26
Ibid.27
Abel, Ernest.28
Wujastyk, Dominik. "Cannabis in Traditional Indian Herbal Medicine."Wellcome Library, London. Available from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/papers/cannabis.pdf. Accessed 28 May 2011.
29
Courtwright, David (2001). Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World. Harvard Univ. Press. p. 39. Avilable online: http://books.google.com/books?id=GHqV3elHYvMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Forces+of+Habit&hl=en&src=bmrr&ei=SD_wTdzHNIeCsQOey_2PDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false.
30
Touw, Mia. "The Religious and Medicinal Uses of Cannabis in China, India and Tibet." Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 13 no. 1 (1981). Available online: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/papers/cannabis.pdf. Accessed 16 May 2011.
31
Bhagavad-gi ta as it is. Los Angeles, Calif: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1984.32 Touw, Mia.33 Ibid.34
Blanchard & Matthew J. Atha MSc, Sean. "Indian Hemp and the Dope Fiends of Old England." UKCIA.org. Available from http://www.ukcia.org/culture/history/colonial.php. Internet; accessed 19 May 2011.
35
Abel, Ernest.36
Li, Hui-Lin (1974). "An Archaeological and Historical Account of Cannabis in China", Economic Botany 28.4:437–448, p. 444.
37 Keng, Hsuan. 1974. Economic Plants of Ancient N. China as Mentioned in Shih Ching (Book of Poetry). Econ. Botany 28 (4): 391-410.
38
Smith, Frederick Porter (1911). Chinese Materia Medica: Vegetable Kingdom. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press. pp. 90–91
39
Touw, Mia.40
"Approaches Old and New to the Silk Roads" Eliseeff in: The Silk Roads: Highways of Culture and Commerce. Paris (1998) UNESCO, Reprint: Berghahn Books (2009),
41
Robinson, Rowan and Robert Nelson.
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