Cannabis is known to be one of the leading healing medicines of the ancient world. For example, the ancient Chinese first used the hardy leaves as fiber, but then discovered its complex and positive attributes and reserved the resource for anesthetic purposes. The old Indian practice of drinking a fresh raw cannabis, milk, and almond drink called Thandai, or Bhang, is still practiced today. The drink is often consumed at religious festivals such as Holi, and in some cities, the state of India distributes cannabis to make the drink. Westerners for over a century in their pilgrimages eastward have remarked on the tasty and nourishing drink.
The first use of the cannabis plant is contested within the ethnographic and ethno geographic studies of cannabis, though there is consensus that it was slowly cultivated agriculturally from its discovery in the wild. The first empirical evidence of cannabis usage was in India and it is estimated around 11,000 BC to 1,700 BC in India, China, and the Middle East. The first written record of cannabis usage is found in a book of medicine by an early Chinese emperor about 5,000 years ago, though some note the first use of medical cannabis to be about 4,000 BC. Material evidence exists as early at 1,000 years ago in Asia of early use of the nutritious, strong, and water-resilient hemp fiber for food, medicine, textiles, rope, spiritual rituals, and more.
Cannabis is known by many to be one of the lead healing medicines of the ancient world, and is still widely used today for both medial and recreational use. Virtually, no medical risks nor deaths have resulted, despite legal restrictions in many places. It came West in the 1800’s, when it was listed in the US Pharmacopeia until the 1930’s for over 100 ailments. It was perhaps a favorite for our grandparents and great grandparents for cough, analgesics, and tonics and was available over the counter at just about every local drugstore. You could even buy it from companies such as Sears and Roebuck and Co.
However, there is a history or decline leading to its meager usage today, especially in the West. In the US, the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937 was part of the politically and racially driven prohibition craze and was the beginning of the end. The drug was gradually discouraged by federal propaganda and later prohibited. Cannabis medical products were removed from the US Pharmacopeia in 1942, so up until then Americans could still be written a prescription for the drug. The FBI even linked the herb to insanity and mentioned a direct correlation between cannabis and violence, death, as well as general impurity. All of these claims were also racially motivated and linked to people of color. So, cannabis has essentially existed as a medicine for 3,000 years, although only illegal in this country for about 60 years.
President Nixon announced the “War on Drugs” in 1971, which increased the role of the federal government in fighting drug use through tighter criminalization laws and no-knock warrant policies. In 1972, The Food and Drug Administration classified marijuana under the Schedule I category alongside heroin, LSD, and ecstasy. At the time, tobacco was known to be a “gateway” drug to cannabis, but now the pattern is actually reversed, with marijuana use more often preceding tobacco use. There is evidently less stigma around the use of marijuana, as two out of every five Americans say they are in favor of regulating the drug similar to alcohol. In fact, over 100 million Americans have tried marijuana themselves. The quest for answers continues.
