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The history of cannabis is intertwined with the history of human civilization. Some authors even suggest that the dawn of humanity coincides with the consumption of this plant. So much so that the human body has an endocannabinoid system.
Press magnate William Randolph Hearst demonized the plant by calling it “marijuana” instead of “hemp” or “cannabis” to keep his readers unaware of what he was referring to.
In 1937, the USA prohibited cannabis for any purpose. Industrial hemp production ceased, wood replaced hemp for paper production, and it vanished from pharmacies.
Summarizing this story in such a small space is challenging. The plant is native to the desert region southeast of the Caspian Sea. Cannabis belongs to the Cannabaceae family, dating back about 100 million years. But what has truly defined this plant is its relationship with humanity. This long history begins with primitive humans who gradually discovered edible and therapeutic plants, starting to cultivate them from the Neolithic era. Cannabis spread from its original wild centers to areas populated by humans. This love affair lasted thousands of years until the 20th century when it turned into hatred and prohibition. We don't know who the first cannabis consumer was, but some authors claim that the beginning of humanity is related to the start of cannabis consumption, which was crucial for our evolution. So much so that our bodies have an endocannabinoid system.
Cannabis is native to Central Asia and began to be cultivated in the Neolithic era (7000 BC-3000 BC), spreading eastward to China and later westward to Europe. It reached Europe during the Neolithic period and spread further west later on. Cannabis was domesticated for various purposes, from food to religious rituals. During the Chalcolithic period, it spread further across Europe, reaching the Atlantic façade (Kebors, France) and the southern Iberian Peninsula. During the Iron Age, cannabis was used in burial ceremonies of the Hallstatt aristocracy. It was also burned and inhaled to achieve mystical states.
The plant continued to spread thanks to the expansion of Globular Amphora, Corded Ware, and Bell Beaker cultures. Pollen analysis indicates the presence of cannabis in northern Greece and Italy, as well as the western Mediterranean, since the Neolithic period. At the Abrigo de los Carboneros (Totana, Murcia), a Chalcolithic burial of a woman was found covered with a hemp mat, and her head was wrapped with a hemp band. Cannabis was known not only for its fiber properties but also for its entheogenic properties. Yamna culture braziers with cannabis used for religious rituals were discovered. Thus, we can assure that cannabis spread thanks to Indo-European tribes from 4000 BC to 1000 BC. Later, hybrid cultures emerged, expanding further thanks to horses and carts, with cannabis seeds traveling with them.
Cannabis was well-known in China and India, mentioned in the Vedas as Indra's favorite drink. It appears in 1st-century Chinese medical treatises. It was used by Egyptians, Assyrians, Scythians, Greeks, and Carthaginians. It was employed in the Roman Empire to liven up social gatherings.
During the Middle Ages, in the 6th century, the Constantinopolitanus, a botanical book, included a drawing of the cannabis plant (the oldest known drawing of the plant). Aetius of Amida wrote a 16-volume medical encyclopedia, the Tetrabiblos, which included cannabis. From the 7th to the 14th century, it was used in Islam until hashish became associated with Sufis and assassins. A similar thing happened in Europe from the 5th century when Christianity began to prohibit any entheogenic substance, viewing it as Satanic. Cannabis was used in witch ointments and was explicitly banned in a papal bull by Innocent VIII in 1484.
But it didn't disappear. It was too important a plant to be ignored. Its primary use was for fiber production for clothing and ship ropes. Paper for books was made from hemp. It was also used as food thanks to its seeds, and some apothecaries and doctors used it as medicine (Hildegard of Bingen, William Turner, Pietro Andrea Mattioli, or Dioscorides Taberamontanus, among others).
However, the knowledge of its psychological properties wasn't lost in Asia or Africa. Although hemp entered America in the 16th century primarily for fiber production, enslaved laborers were more interested in its psychoactive properties. The massive arrival of slaves to Brazil began in the second half of the 16th century. Angolan slaves brought cannabis to the northeast Brazilian plantations. It's uncertain when cannabis was introduced for recreational purposes in America, but it would have been cultivated sometime after 1549. Portuguese colonists allowed them to grow maconha among the sugar cane. Words for marijuana in Brazil include maconha (of Angolan origin), liama, and diamba, linguistically similar to their African origins. Cannabis was used by the enslaved population for religious and festive purposes during their short periods of inactivity. By the 18th century, it became a concern for the Portuguese Crown. Indigenous and rural mestizos adopted cannabis consumption for medicinal and social purposes without attracting the attention of the upper class. This consumption spread from Brazil to the Caribbean by the late 19th century.
In the 19th century, cannabis consumption regained popularity in Europe, thanks to Napoleonic troops in Egypt. The first laboratory study on cannabis was published in 1803 by Dr. Virey, who unsuccessfully tried to find its active ingredient. Early hashish consumers were writers, poets, and artists who believed hashish could enhance their creativity. By 1835, painter Boissard and Moreau de Tours founded the Club of Hashish Eaters to conduct psychological research and hoped to use cannabis to treat mental illnesses. Members included Baudelaire, Dumas, Gautier, Merimee, Musset, Delacroix, Meissonier, Nerval, Daumier, and Flaubert. The Hashish Club associated cannabis consumption with an alternative, oriental culture, contrasting positively with regular bourgeois life.
Cannabis has always been linked to those opposing the dominant society, whether in the East or West. It was associated with outcasts: criminals, prostitutes, slaves, Sufis, slackers, assassins, and other disreputable people. It was also linked to sailors and common soldiers who spread its seeds to unconquered territories, even reaching the most remote Pacific islands.
Hemp didn't adapt well to the Industrial Revolution's requirements; no technology developed for harvesting until the 20th century reduced labor costs. Ship ropes by the century's end were made of wire, and steamships eliminated the need for hemp sails. In the late 19th century, cannabis entered European pharmacopeias without resistance from health authorities. However, the development of synthetic substances like aspirin, chloral hydrate, and barbiturates, chemically more stable and reliable than cannabis, accelerated its decline as a pharmaceutical product. International cannabis control began with the 1925 Geneva Convention.
For early 20th-century American society, cannabis was blamed for the "depravity" of blacks and Mexicans. Press magnate William Randolph Hearst used his media empire to publish articles claiming that blacks and Mexicans became desperate beasts under marijuana's influence. Hearst used "marijuana" instead of "hemp" or "cannabis" to confuse his readers about the substance. His sensationalist campaigns influenced the hemp prohibition. At the time, most cannabis information came from Hearst's local sensationalist newspapers. Between 1916 and 1937, any car accident involving a cannabis cigarette dominated headlines for weeks. Mexicans were accused of spreading the vice among young people at school gates.
In 1936, director Dwain Esper made a film, *Marihuana*, about cannabis's "pernicious" influences. The film depicted young people turning to crime or "sinfully" bathing nude after smoking it. Another film that year was *Reefer Madness*, directed by Louis Gasnier, part of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics' campaign led by Harry Anslinger. The film showed youngsters committing murder, prostitution, rape, terrorism, and suicide after trying marijuana. The opening warned: "The events you are about to witness could happen to you."
In 1937, the USA banned cannabis for any purpose. Many factors contributed to cannabis's downfall and removal from the market. By 1933, alcohol was re-legalized in the USA, leaving most police forces jobless. Cannabis prohibition kept them active. Industrial hemp production ceased, replaced by other materials (cotton, wood, or oil). The petrochemical industry eliminated cannabis as a raw material, and wood fiber replaced hemp for paper production. Du Pont patented a chemical treatment for wood pulp. It was removed from all national pharmacopeias. The reason was that cannabis couldn't be synthesized at the early 20th century, making it hard to dose. Since it isn't water-soluble, its effects are slower than other new drugs (barbiturates or benzodiazepines).
Then Came Prohibition
Global prohibition was achieved in 1961 at the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Legislation aimed to eliminate global cannabis use within 25 years. The conference included a WHO note stating no justification for cannabis's medical use. Ironically, in 1964, chemists Rafael Mechoulam and Gaoni from the University of Jerusalem isolated cannabis's active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Its complex molecular structure delayed THC synthesis, introducing a new class of compounds distinct from others, with proven therapeutic efficacy. Since then, over 1,000 cannabis compounds have been estimated, with more than 400 isolated and at least 60 identified as therapeutic.
In 2013, Uruguay became the first country to legalize the sale, distribution, and cultivation of cannabis. In 2018, Canada followed, becoming the second country to legalize recreational cannabis. Their legislation permits the organization of cannabis sales for both recreational and medicinal purposes. Thus, the history of cannabis is a story of human hypocrisy.
From a plant integral to human culture and development, cannabis became demonized and prohibited, largely influenced by social, economic, and political factors. Yet, its potential benefits and uses continue to be rediscovered and recognized, as seen in the recent wave of legalization and medical research. Despite the long-standing stigma and legal battles, cannabis remains a significant and controversial part of human history, reflecting our complex relationship with nature and society.
Source: eldiario.es