A Brief History of Marihuana

Weed 101

No, we didn't misspell marijuana. Marihuana was the original name until William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper magnate, changed the spelling. At the time, there was a lot of animosity towards Mexicans and Mexican-Americans by white people. Hearst played on this by changing the spelling in all of his newspapers to look more Mexican. The public read it as marijuana and that's how it's spelled today. On this site, we'll use the original spelling. Maybe we can start the reversal of that dick move by Hearst.

Marihuana is known all over the globe and by many different names. Here are some: Cannabis, Weed, Pot, Mary Jane, Green, Ganja, Dope, Joint, Herb, Blunt, Reefer, Bud, Stinkweed, Nugget, Chronic, Skunk, Boom, Blaze, Block, Boo, Broccoli, Burrito, Burnie, Charge, Gangster, Hay, 420, Rope, Ashes, Schwag, Wacky Tobaccy, Spliff and more.

420, 4:20, or 4/20 (pronounced four-twenty) is cannabis culture slang for marijuana and hashish consumption, especially smoking around the time 4:20 pm, and also refers to cannabis-oriented celebrations that take place annually on April 20 (which is 4/20 in the U.S.). So on 4/20 at 4:20, there is some serious smoking going on around the country.

In 1971, five high school students in San Rafael, California, used the term "4:20" in connection with a plan to search for an abandoned cannabis crop, based on a treasure map made by the grower. Calling themselves the Waldos, because their typical hang-out spot "was a wall outside the school", the five students (Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz, and Mark Gravich) designated the Louis Pasteur statue on the grounds of San Rafael High School as their meeting place, and 4:20 pm as their meeting time. The Waldos referred to this plan with the phrase "4:20 Louis". After several failed attempts to find the crop, the group eventually shortened their phrase to simply "4:20", which ultimately evolved into a code-word the teens used to refer to consuming cannabis.

Another version of the history of 420 is that marihuana contains 420 active ingredients that get you high. This is not the correct answer if you're taking a test.

THC - Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is one of at least 113 cannabinoids identified in cannabis. THC is the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis.

CBD - stands for cannabidiol. It is the second most prevalent of the active ingredients of cannabis. While CBD is an essential component of medical marihuana, it is derived directly from the hemp plant, which is a cousin of the marihuana plant.

It's also important to know about the types of marihuana: Indica, Sativa, Hybrid and Ruderalis. Strains of marihuana come from these categories and there are thousands of strains, with hundreds named newly every day. See the Strains menu tab for a few of the more well-known ones.

Indica - Cannabis indica originated near Afghanistan, in the Hindu “Kush” region. It tends to be shorter and resemble a bush because it comes from a mountainous area. The leaves are fuller, rounder and darker than Sativa and the buds grow in clumps. Indica is considered a strong weed because it produces large amounts of THC and low amounts of CBD. It is considered a strong weed. Indica tends to be relaxing and sedating. Users may end up on the couch just chilling. It creates a 'Body High' therefore it is sometimes used at night, before bed. Due to its' sedative effects, people who suffer from insomnia use it.

Sativa - Cannabis sativa originated from warmer climates like Mexico and South Africa. It tends to grow very tall with long, thin leaves. It will flower under certain light conditions, which requires darkness for more than 11 hours a day. Sativa has lower levels of THC compared to Indica, and higher levels of CBD, giving it more equal levels of both chemicals. Because of its' energizing effect, people tend to use Sativa strains in the morning. Some claim it allows them to focus more and be more creative. Sativa is thought of as a 'Head High' versus the 'Body High' of Indica. Because of its' mood lifting and energizing effects, Sativa tends to be used by people who have depression or exhaustion. It has also been described to relieve some of the symptoms of ADHD and other mood disorders.

Hybrid - These strains are the most commonly grown today by cross germinating Indica and Sativa. The hybrids are usually described based on the dominating effect they have. For example, a Sativa-dominant strain will be more likely to provide energizing effects and a 'Head High'.

Ruderalis - Cannabis ruderalis was first discovered in southern Russia and is another species of marihuana. Ruderalis grows shorter than Indica and Sativa and has thin, fibrous stems with large leaves. It will flower depending on the age of the plant rather than light conditions, meaning it is an 'Auto-Fowering' plant. Ruderalis is rarely used for recreational purposes because it has very low levels of THC compared to the other strains. It is more commonly used in medicinal marihuana.

There are certain types of weed strains that are more common than others and some that are coveted for their extraordinary effects. With the ability to make hybrids that blend the effects of both indica and sativa strains, there are now “designer strains” of weed that are bred for maximum quality.

New types of weed sometimes have interesting names, which are usually based on their effects, origin, or the way they appear or smell. Some examples include: Purple Urkle, Willy’s Wonder, Permafrost, Pineapple Express, Strawberry Cough and Island Sweet Skunk.

The History of Pot

We found this information on www.History.com

Marihuana has a long history of human use. Most ancient cultures didn’t grow the plant to get high, but as herbal medicine, likely starting in Asia around 500 BC. The history of cannabis cultivation in America dates back to the early colonists, who grew hemp for textiles and rope. Political and racial factors in the 20th century led to the criminalization of marihuana in the United States, though its' legal status is changing in many places.

The cannabis or hemp plant originally evolved in Central Asia before people introduced the plant into Africa, Europe and eventually the Americas. Hemp fiber was used to make clothing, paper, sails and rope, and its' seeds were used as food.

Because it’s a fast-growing plant that’s easy to cultivate and has many uses, hemp was widely grown throughout colonial America and at Spanish Missions in the Southwest. In the early 1600s, the Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut colonies required farmers to grow hemp. These early hemp plants had very low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical responsible for marijuana’s mind-altering effects.

There’s some evidence that ancient cultures knew about the psychoactive properties of the cannabis plant. They may have cultivated some varieties to produce higher levels of THC for use in religious ceremonies or healing practices.

Burned cannabis seeds have been found in the graves of shamans in China and Siberia from as early as 500 BC.

The USA & Ganja

Hemp is made from the fibers of the cannabis plant and historically has been used to make a broad variety of products, from rope to cloth to paper. As you can imagine, it was an important product in the New World as the American colonies were being established. It was so important, in fact, that in 1619, Virginia passed a law requiring hemp to be grown on every farm in the colony. At the time, the crop was also considered a proper form of currency in Virginia, as well as Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were hemp farmers, perhaps not successful ones. Betsy Ross’ prototype American flag was made from hemp fibers. The paper used for the Declaration of Independence was also made from hemp fibers.

As new products were imported or developed to replace hemp—cotton was surely a welcomed change to the itchy fibers of hemp shirts—the plant fell out of popularity. By the end of the Civil War, the United States’ hemp production had passed its peak, but a different version of the plant was on the rise. Marihuana was becoming an increasingly popular ingredient in medicines and tinctures.

The drug started gaining traction in the U.S. in the 1910's after Mexican refugees brought marihuana with them as they fled the violence of the Mexican Revolution. In the 1930's, it became popular among the hepsters, the black jazz community made up of “hep cats” like jazz singer Cab Calloway, who had a hit with his song "Reefer Man."

In the 1930s, Prohibition was repealed in the middle of the Great Depression. Straight-laced bureaucrats looking for another target turned their attention to marihuana, which, at the time, was mostly being used in the Mexican and black communities. They painted the drug and the communities using it as a threat to the already crippled country and began the process of banning it. Twenty-nine states had outlawed marihuana by 1931, and in 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act was passed, essentially making the plant illegal in the United States.

Mary Jane and the new America

We found this information on www.ThirdWay.org

Since 1970, marihuana has been illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act, listed as a Schedule I drug. That means for the purposes of federal law, marihuana has no currently accepted medical use and has a high potential for abuse—just like heroin, LSD, and ecstasy.

At that time, marihuana was also illegal under the laws of every state. But over the last two decades, the map of state marihuana laws has undergone a significant transformation. California was the first state to legalize marihuana for medical purposes in 1996. Other states gradually started to follow suit, and what began as a trickle has now become a flood. In the last few years, the number of states passing laws to allow the legal use of marijuana in some form has skyrocketed.

When President Barack Obama was sworn into office, only 13 states had legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes and none allowed its' recreational use. By the time Donald Trump was inaugurated, those numbers had grown to 28 states (plus Washington, D.C.) where medical marijuana is legal and eight states (and D.C.) where recreational use is permitted.

And Vermont’s state legislature became the first in the nation to pass a recreational legalization bill (though it was vetoed by the Governor and sent back for changes), and several other states have begun to consider their own legalization proposals. Though marihuana remains illegal at the federal level for any purpose, attitudes towards its' legalization at all levels are changing, and changing quickly.

In recent years, we’ve seen ballooning support in public opinion polls, substantial policy shifts in the White House, a willingness to address the issue in Congress, and state policymakers taking it up in growing numbers. As more states enact and implement legal marihuana programs, there is a growing urgency for federal policy change to ensure that states regulate as responsibly and safely as possible.

Roughly 201 million Americans (60% of the country) currently live in states where marihuana is legal for general medical use—up from 62 million ten years ago and 32 million ten years before that. And nearly 70 million (21%) live in states where recreational use by adults is also allowed, up from 12 million in 2012 and 0 in 2011. All told, roughly 98% of Americans live in a state that has legalized some form of marihuana—up from 0% just 21 years ago.

In the long, long ago.

According to The Genus Cannabis, an industrial handbook on marihuana edited by David K. Brown, evidence of the hemp plant being used in medicine and recreational enjoyment can be found in societies as diverse as ancient China, Rome, and Egypt, and it also pops up regularly in archaeological sites from Neolithic Europe.

We've clearly known about hemp and its potential affects for a seriously long time. The Greek historian Herodotus reported that the Scythians strewed hemp "seeds" on hot stones, inhaled the vapor, and would "shout with pleasure" at the results.

The identity of a particular drug called nepenthe in Homer's Odyssey, the famous ancient epic about the tragic Trojan War, has caused a lot of controversy over the centuries. Nepenthe is described as a drug that banishes sorrow, and Helen of Troy, she who launched a thousand ships, serves it to herself and her guests to cheer them up. Various ideas have been posited for what nepenthe actually might be, but one theory is that it's cannabis.

If the only exposure to the Arabian Nights of Scheherezade you've ever had is Disney's Aladdin, prepare to have your eyes opened. The Disneyfied tale is one of many in the collection of stories supposedly told by Scheherezade to her husband the Persian king in order to distract him from killing her. And cannabis — in the form of bhang — appears in several of the stories, often to sedate or intoxicate characters at key moments. Sir Richard Burton, the translator of the famous 1885 edition, inserted an entire editor's note about cannabis and what it was meant to do.

We mentioned that marijuana used to be spelled marihuana. We also found evidence that it was spelled mariguana when the Mexicans came north from the Mexican Revolution. We'll stick with marihuana for several reasons. The most prevalent is the definition of mariguana in the Urban Dictionary.

In the Urban Dictionary, mariguana is: 1. a dead iguana (preserved by a taxidermist) filled with marihuana and smoked to produce an effect similar to that of a marihuana cigarette or joint.
2. a live iguana filled with marihuana and then burned so that the smoke may be inhaled to produce an effect similar to that of smoking a marihuana cigarette.

Reefer Madness

No mention of the history of marihuana would be complete without the story of one of the worst movies ever made, "Reefer Madness."

The 1936 complete shambles of a film now known as Reefer Madness has become a cult classic as one of the worst films ever made in any language, and now attracts huge audiences, both because of its' ridiculous message (that weed can cause everything from suicide and madness to assault and, even worse, a liking for jazz music) and because it's absolutely horribly made. Part of that isn't the fault of the original makers, a church group who financed the propaganda film themselves; it's because a later director, Dwain Esper, acquired the rights, and decided to insert all kinds of new sexy shots into it, making an already loony film even more bonkers.

It's hard to make out but here is the Tag Line for the movie... "Public Enemy #1 Women cry for it... Men will die for it!"

From Wikipedia:

Reefer Madness (originally made as Tell Your Children and sometimes titled as The Burning Question, Dope Addict, Doped Youth, and Love Madness) is a 1936 American film about drugs revolving around the melodramatic events that ensue when high-school students are lured by pushers to try marijuana—from a hit and run accident, to manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape, hallucinations, and descent into madness from marijuana addiction. The film was directed by Louis J. Gasnier and featured a cast of mainly little-known actors.

More History to come.

The 420 Business