Loosening the Grip: A Handbook of Alcohol Information

by Jean Kinney

History Unlike nicotine and alcohol, which have been part of the American landscape since colonial times, marijuana is a far more recent arrival. Derived from the plant cannabis sativa, marijuana is native to central Asia. Anthropologists and historians have traced its spread throughout the world. It was known in China as early as 3000 b.c.e. The conventional wisdom is that it was never widely used for its psychoactive effects, and it was considered an inferior medicine. The response in India, a millennium later, was more enthusiastic. Cannabis was adopted both as a sacred plant and as a medicine capable of curing all major ills while also promoting vital energy. From India, cannabis spread to Persia in the eighth century b.c.e. While it was known in both ancient Greece and Rome, records suggest that the major interest was for its fiber to manufacture rope. Apparently, in terms of pleasure, it was dismissed as a poor substitute for wine or beer. The reception of cannabis in the Middle East was more positive, especially as the rise of Islam had led to a ban on alcohol. The term “cannabis” comes from the Persian kanabas. The extract from the plant was called hashish, which is Arabic for “grass.”