A Timeline of Cannabis History
Cannabis has a rich history that is intertwined throughout humanity. It is not a plant that just popped up in the 1930s as the government may have many believe. Cannabis goes back through ancient times. The ancient Romans, Egyptians, and Chinese all have used cannabis in one form or another. From hemp to marijuana cannabis has been intertwined throughout society's history for as long as we can remember. First being used as cannabis in the form of hemp, sails and ropes along with other fFabrics were crafted by individuals making possible the exploration of the planet. Dating back to 2900 BC a Chinese Emperor who went by the name of Fu Hsi made a reference to marijuana. He stated that it contained both of the properties of Yin and Yang.
Nearly 1,400 years later in 1500 BC we can find the first known written reference to medical marijuana. It was located in the Rh-Ya which is a 15th-century reference to the book of the Chinese pharmacopeia. Cannabis made many advancements throughout society over the next 1,500 years. From the Egyptians discovering the effectiveness of cannabis in treating and helping to ease the symptoms of inflammation and glaucoma in 1213 BC all the way to being used in multiple medical applications in ancient Greece by 200 BC.
By 1 AD cannabis was highly recognized for the extremely beneficial medicine that it was. Ancient Chinese text had a list of more than 100 ailments in which cannabis was recommended as a treatment. In 1611 all the way up through 1762 settlers arriving in North America at Jamestown can be attributed for helping to bring hemp and marijuana with them. In fact, there was actually penalties for individuals that did not grow hemp.
By1937 lobbying special interest groups and political power crazed leaders had concocted a scheme to attempt the complete eradication of marijuana. This scheme also was aimed at attacking minorities of America. I am referring to none other than the 1937 signing of the MJ Tax Act which enacted marijuana prohibition in the United States of America on a federal level. Since then the United States of America has been bullying countries around the world into supporting marijuana prohibition.
Today in 2016 we live in a world where marijuana laws are changing not only in the United States of America but in other countries around the globe. Four states in America have adopted legal retail recreational marijuana laws while more than half of the United States has adopted medical marijuana laws. The war on drugs or the attempted eradication of marijuana was a campaign based on greed and profit. This is being shown to the people more and more every day. Surprisingly we're not so mad about the past but we do demand that we are allowed to live out our futures and that includes safe, legal access to purchase and grow our own cannabis.
