10,000 years of marijuana: a study of history

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Proof exists that marijuana has been used in cultures for thousands of years

From Tibet to Siberia and from Egypt to China, marijuana has been a part of cultures for tens of thousands of years. It has been used for a variety of reasons, depending on each culture, and a recent study looks to remove the shroud that has covered marijuana for too long.

The study was published in the Journal of Cellular Physiology and takes a comprehensive look at the relationship between humanity and cannabis. It points out that cannabis seeds were found in pieces of broken ceramic in Japan and that, when tested, those fragments were found to be 10,000 years old.

In 2,700 B.C., a Chinese emperor and the father of Chinese medicine, described marijuana as a “first-class herb” that was not dangerous.

Texts that have been dated to around 800 A.D in Vedic, an ancient language related to the Vedas of Hinduism, reveal that cannabis was an integral part of religious rituals, as well as for its “analgesic, anesthetic, antiparasitic, antispastic, and diuretic properties” and “as an expectorating agent, as an aphrodisiac, to treat convulsions, to stimulate hunger, and to relieve from fatigue.”

In areas such as Ukraine, Siberia and Germany, archeologists have found remnants of cannabis in the graves of the nomadic warriors, the Scythians. These remnants date back to around 450 B.C.

In Arabic medicine, hemp seed oil was used to treat ear infections, intestinal worms, neurological pain, fever, vomiting, skin diseases and flatulence.

In ancient Greece, citizens ate cakes made with hemp seeds in order to capture “their property to induce relaxation, hilarity and euphoria, but with the collateral effect to induce thirst, sluggishness and a difficulty to digest.”

The researchers said in their report, “Plurimillennial history of Cannabis medical use teaches us all we should know about its pharmacological potential and the pathologies that would mainly advantage from its application. All we must do now is [invest] our efforts into informative research, collecting more statistically significant data and conclusive scientific evidence about both its medical benefits and negative effects.”