Marijuana is also called hemp, pot, weed, and cannabis, and it has been in the history of human use. Many ancient cultures do not cultivate the plant for the recreational purpose to get high, but treat their illnesses and serve as their herbal medicine. Different versions of when was marijuana discovered, but many conclude that it started in Asia way back 500 BC. Weed has been there for a long time, and it remains until now.
Discovery of Marijuana
The marijuana cultivation history in America has been living ever since the early colonists, where they grew rope and textiles from hemp. During the 20th century, due to racial and political aspects, the United States faced much criminalization of marijuana, although its legalization varies from state to state.
Marijuana evolved first in Central Asia before introducing different countries in the world like Europe, Africa, and America. Its fiber was mainly used to produce paper, clothes, rope, sails, textiles, and the seeds considered food. This plant grows fast, has many purposes, and easy to cultivate. It immediately went famous and grew widely in America and Spain for their missions on the Southwest. Connecticut, Virginia, and Massachusetts colonies in the early 1600s teach their farmers how to cultivate marijuana.
The first marijuana plants were found to have low THC or tetrahydrocannabinol levels. THC is the chemical that makes someone high and has euphoric effects. Besides, there is some evidence that states ancient people already know the psychoactive effects of marijuana plants. In some cases, they have grown different varieties with higher THC levels to be used in healing practices and religious ceremonies. Some burnt seeds are found in Siberia and China’s shaman’s grave in the early 500 BC.
Medical Weed
During the 1830s, an Irish doctor named William Brooke O’Shaughnessy, which studies in India, found that marijuana extracts can reduce vomiting and stomach pain in people who experience cholera. And on the late 1830s, some weed extracts were already sold in various doctors and pharmacies around the United States and Europe to treat stomach pain and other illnesses.
Scientists later found out that THC is the source of the medicinal properties of marijuana. Even when it is considered the psychoactive component that makes you high and can alter the mind, it still interacts with the brain’s different areas, which promotes hunger and reduces nausea.
The United States FDA has allowed two drugs that contain TCH, namely Syndros and Marinol, and both are prescribed pills that help treat nausea caused by appetite loss in AID and chemotherapy side effects.
Recreational Marijuana
Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, has described a huge Iranian nomad group in Central Asia as an inhaler of smoke from marijuana flowers and seed to get high. After 800 AD, many have used Hashish, a purified form of marijuana smoke, using a pipe all over the Middle East and some parts of Asia. This popularity pertained to the spread of the Islamic religion. Islam’s Quran does not allow drinking alcohol and other intoxicating compounds, but they never prohibit weed.
It was not until the early 1900’s when the United States started using marijuana for recreational purposes. The Mexican Revolution is responsible for introducing weed to the American culture by smoking it. It was the immigrants who taught them. There were a tremendous unemployment rate and social unrest during the Great Depression of Mexican immigrants, and they fear weed, which they think is a form of evil. And because of this, 29 states did not allow the use of marijuana by 1931.
Marijuana Tax Act
This Act of 1937 is the first-ever United States federal law that criminalizes the use of marijuana. The Marijuana Tax Act imposed an excise tax on the transfer, sale, and possession of any weed products and effectively criminalizing all marijuana plant uses except for industrial. Samuel Caldwell, a fifty-eight-year-old farmer, was the first-ever person that gets prosecuted because of this Act. He was sentenced to have four years of hard labor when he was caught selling weed on October 2, 1937. He was arrested after the day the Act becomes effective. Throughout World War II, industrial weed remained cultivated in the United States after the Philippines encouraged domestic cultivation.
Legalization of Marijuana
There are many laws regarding marijuana because, until today, many states are still hesitant to legalize this plant because of its psychoactive substance. However, some research shows its effectiveness in treating various diseases. Here, you can look back on different laws that were implemented regarding this plant.
President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, abolished the Marijuana Tax Acts, and listed weed as a Schedule I drug and ecstasy, LSD, and heroin. The Acts states that they contain a high potential for drug abuse and do not has medical benefits. It was still part of his War on Drugs and considered hemp as a gateway drug.
In 1972, a report from the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse states, “Marijuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding.” Even though the report states to lower the penalty fees for small amounts of weed possession, President Nixon and the rest of his officials did not mind this report.
As the first state, California legitimizes weed for medical use by people who suffer from severe conditions. Until last June 2019, when Washington DC, alongside 11 states, made marijuana legal for recreational purposes.
Under United States federal laws, weed is still illegal. The status still evolved, and there is still an ongoing controversy about this topic in the US and many countries.
The Wrap-Up
Cannabis has many side effects, both physical and mental aspects. It is why many states are still reconsidering its legalization status. It is known when was marijuana discovered, and it has existed even in ancient times. While many people can experience only short-term effects of mood swings and euphoria, some can experience very high feeling after using wee like fear, panic, and anxiety. If you already know how to use marijuana and often use it, you will be more acquainted with its effects. No matter where and when marijuana originated, it is essential to be responsible, especially that too much THC can make you high and alter your mind in many ways.
