Ten Thousand Years of Cannabis Migrations: Brief Historical Notes on the Dawn of Marijuana

-The first traces of cannabis date back to 10,000 years ago –fibres residues – and were found by archaeologists in the ancient land of Mesopotamia, in today’s Turkey. 

- Research seems to show that cannabis came to us from Asia, more precisely from the Himalayan foothills. However, the oldest representation of this plant was found in Japan and it corresponds to the Neolithic period (10,000BC to 3,000BC). Hemp seeds were widely used in traditional Japanese medicine (Kampo), prescribed as a tea for stomach and intestinal illness.

-The first writings about medicinal uses of cannabis come from China, and they refer to seeds, leaves and flowering tops alike. They were written 3,000 years ago.

-The Hindu religion, which used it for its psychotropic powers, quickly spread its use across the Indian subcontinent. It soon arrived in Africa where it was used, like in other places, for its seeds, fibres and oil, but also in ritual settings.

-The ancient Romans, great merchants as they were, travelled to the East in search of spices and fabrics. They widely used hemp, both for manufacturing ropes, clothes and ornaments. They also used it for recreation.

-The Celts, Vikings and Middle Eastern Muslims also used cannabis for food, clothing, candle making and ropes for ships, as well as in many religious rituals.

-In the Middle Ages, Southern Indian doctors already knew how to make excellent sinsemilla crosses that rivalled the best strains from the North Indian provinces.

-In those days, not only magicians but also monks made magical elixirs with different properties, in which psychoactivity definitely had an important role.

-With the discovery of America, the demand spread throughout the colonies. It is thought that the cannabis strains, high in THC, cultivated in Colombia, Mexico and Jamaica are the result of multiple crosses of English, Spanish and Italian strains with original strains from India and Africa. Their adaptation to the climate also contributed to what these strains are like today.

-However, until the nineteenth century, the higher or lower content in THC of strains had a natural origin. That was when they started to cross them with the purpose of increasing their psychoactive properties.

Everyone knows what happened during the second half of the twentieth century. Marijuana growing underwent a revolution that can only be compared to that of the wine industry. But this extensive and modern history is no longer the subject of this post.