Hop Into the Cannabis Time Travel Machine

- Going back in time to see when and how people have used cannabis throughout history.

When you first used cannabis, did you feel like you were the first person ever to use cannabis?

Unprepared endocannabinoid receptors likely made you feel a sense of divinity or supreme euphoria.

Thankfully, other people have also indulged in cannabis.

Sadly, cannabis doesn’t give you time travel powers.

But plenty of people have been using it throughout time. Here’s how.

The Original Medical Marijuana Doctor

Ancient Chinese legend says that emperor Shen Nung discovered several plants with significant healing properties. Those plants included ginseng, ephedra, and cannabis.

Since its introduction into their culture, cannabis has been used and cited as a medicine throughout history. Not only has that happened throughout Chinese history, but as well in Irish history.

That is, an Irish doctor, William O’Shaughnessy brought it into Western science by publishing a paper, “On the preparations of the Indian hemp, or Gunjah.” After this paper, other scientists soon began researching cannabis and it effectively found its way in Western medical thought.

It’s not only been used as a medicine for a long time, however, it’s also long been used recreationally.

The First Time People Smoked Weed

It’s difficult to know the exact first time that people first started using cannabis recreationally. However, a paper from 2008 gives us insight into the elusive answer. The report, which was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, examined 2,700-year-old stash of cannabis that “consisted of a processed (pounded) sample whose seed size, color, and morphology...suggest that it was cultivated rather than merely gathered from wild plants”

Not only was the cannabis cultivated, but the stash itself was “consistent with strains of cannabis with a high THC content and in an alternative taxonomy suggests it should be assigned to Cannabis indica Lamarck.” The stash was made up entirely of female cannabis parts that had been clearly selected for, primarily, the flowers.

When else have people or cultures used cannabis throughout history? Let us know your favorite cannabis history fact in the comments below!