Do you know where cannabis comes from? There is a scene in the movie Dazed and Confused that I first saw in high school in which one of the characters has just smoked a joint with his friends and begins to tell a story about the history of cannabis. This character rants on and on about how George Washington had weed farms and how Martha Washington would roll him joints when he came home at the end of the day. I assumed it was fodder for the movie until I started learning more about the history of cannabis, which oddly enough holds a bit of validity.

"George Washington was a known advocate for the growing of hemp as a cash crop." (Paleschuck, 2021). Many farmers in America grew hemp to create clothing, ropes, parachutes, sails, and paper. And that wasn't even the beginning of cannabis history!

Cannabis From Asia to Europe

It has been discovered that cannabis originates in Asia as far back as millions of years ago. "Cannabis, also known as hemp or marijuana, evolved about 28 million years ago on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, according to a pollen study published in May 2019. A close relative of the common hop found in beer, the plant still grows wild across Central Asia." (Lawler, 2019). It makes total sense why some beers like IPAs have a dank, cannabis-like smell to them.

Since hemp and cannabis have been notorious in our global history as having medicinal properties, it's no surprise that it was used in the middle ages in Europe and has even been noted as used by William Shakespeare for their creative output. "Hemp was central to any herbalist's medicine cabinet. William Turner, the naturalist considered the first English botanist, praises it in his New Herball, published in 1538." (Martin Booth as quoted in Procon.org).

Since its growing popularity in Europe, more specifically in France, it was becoming the "cool" thing for foreigners to try as a recreational drug. "Contemporaries of Washington, both Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, were ambassadors to France during this era and may have partaken in the hashish trend while abroad." (Paleschuck, 2021). As history has told us, Benjamin Franklin was a huge beer advocate. I can't help but wonder if cannabis use as an aid or even catalyst to some of his inventions and creative ideas.

Cannabis From Europe to America

Even though Jefferson, Washington, and Franklin were theorized to have experimented with cannabis as a recreational drug, they were not the first ones to bring it to America. "The Jamestown settlers brought the marijuana plant, commonly known as hemp, to North America in 1611, and throughout the colonial period, hemp fiber was an important export." (Segal as quoted in Procon.org). America got off track with hemp's reputation due to prohibition laws that began getting passed in the early 1900s. The association of hemp and cannabis with immigrants, Mexicans, and African Americans negatively took hold throughout the American government, painting a narrative that cannabis was for people of different races, backgrounds, and socioeconomic classes. Hence why the stigma around cannabis use is still being chipped away today.

Now that we know the abridged history of cannabis, it's hard to believe that even in 2021, Americans are fighting hard to get cannabis legalized in every state for even just on a medicinal, healing level. It makes me wish George Washington could come back to help us advocate for more acceptance across the nation. Unfortunately, we don't have time machines, but we do have a plant that will probably outlive all of us and continue to provide healing and supplies to the next generations.

Resources:

Booth, Martin. Cannabis: A History. Procon.org. 2005. https://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/historical-timeline/.

History.com. History of Marijuana. 2019, October 10. https://www.history.com/topics/crime/history-of-marijuana.

Ives, Mike. Where Does Weed Come From? A New Study Suggests East Asia. The New York Times.

2021, October 27. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/18/science/asia-marijuana-cannabis-weed.html.

Lawler, Andrew. The oldest evidence of marijuana use was discovered in a 2500-year-old cemetery in peaks of western China. Science.org. 2019, June 12. https://www.science.org/content/article/oldest-evidence-marijuana-use-discovered-2500-year-old-cemetery-peaks-western-china.

Paleschuck, D. A. (2021). The Creation of Cannabis Stereotypes. In Branding Bud: The commercialization of cannabis (pp. 31–31). essay, Quick American Publishing.

Segal, Ph.D., Bernard. Perspectives on Drug Use in the United States. Procon.org. 1986. https://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/historical-timeline/.