Marijuana History
Marijuana originated in the middle east
(Taiwan, Korea). China plays an
important part in Marijuana's history.
Hoatho, the first chinese physician to
use Cannabis for medical purposes as a
painkiller and anesthetic for surgery. In
the Ninth Century B.C., it was used
as an incense by the Assyrians Herbal, a
Chinese book of medicine from the
second Century B.C., was first to describe it
in print. It was used as an
anesthetic 5,000 years ago in ancient china. Many
(*) ancient cultures such
as the persians, Greeks, East Indians, Romans, and the
Assyrians for many
things. These were what they used it for: the control of
muscle spasms,
reduction of pain, and for indegestion. Imagine that if they
still practiced
this, instead of taking an Alka Seltzer after you had mom's
Chili or Tacos,
you might be sitting in the living room on the LAY-Z Boy,
smoking a joint or
however they would take it.
The folk medicine of Africa and Asia have
used it as an herbal preparation. A "mythical" and
"legendary" pharmacist and
emperor Shen Nung thought using it as a
seditive was all right. In 2,700 B.C.
that same "mythical" emperor
said it helped female weakness, gout,
rheumatism, malaria, beri-beri (?),
contipation, and absentmindedness. In
1979 (A.D.) Carlton E. Turner visited
China and found marijuana was not
in use in formal medical places. J. D. P.
Graham of the Welsh National
School of Medicine wrote, "One not need take
to seriously the anecdotal use
of it's use for many purposes in China or by the
Hindus in the
pre-Christian Millennia ...and by the Arabs!" In 1890 in
England's
"Lancet" said cannabis extract was good for neuralgia, fits,
migraine and
psychosomatic disorders but not for rheumatic conditions. It is not
easy to
tell the dosage because of the variations in potency and the
irregularity in
absorbtion. The time delay before the onset of the possible
effects of
marijuana lowered it's popularity as a medicine as did the
introduction of a
variety of new and better medicines like aspirin, morpheine
(habit forming),
chloral, barbituates tranquilizers, and when it got on the list
of drugs
thought by the world community to require legal restrictions. Our
first
President, George Washington, grew cannabis on his plantation. The
cannabis he
grew was more fibrous and is better known as hemp. Hemp was used
to make rope,
twine, paper and canvas (the word "canvas" comes from Cannabis)
and
was an important crop in the american colonies. In Jamestown, Virginia it
was
grown for it's fiber qualities in 1611. (Snyder, 1985) The U.S.
Pharmacopeia had
it listed as a useful medicine from the year 1870 to 1941. A
Pharmacopeia is
"a book of directions and requirements for the preparations
of medicines,
generally published by an authority; a collection or stock of
drugs." This
tells us the U.S. Pharmacopeia was an authority on the use of
drugs for medical
purposes, and said that the use of marijuana for said
purposes was helpful. The
U.S. Pharmacopeia last listed cannabis ("the
dried flower tops of the
pistillate plants of cannabis sativa") in
1936.(Lovinge,1985,p434) That
years epitome of the pharmacopeia and the
national formula described the drug
for physicians thus:"a narcotic poison,
producing a mild delirium. Used in
sedative mixtures but of doubtful value.
Also employed to color corn
remedies." The next pharmacopeia released in 1942
(I gather they were
relaesed every six years) did not have cannabis sativa in
it. "The 1937
U.S. dispensatory said:"Cannabis is used in medicine to
relieve pain,
encourage sleep, and to soothe restlessness. We have very
little definite
knowledge of the effects of therapeutic quantities, but in
some persons it
appears to produce a euphoria and will often relieve
migrainic headaches. One of
the great hindrances to the wider use of this
drug is the great variability and
the potency of different samples of
Cannabis which renders it impossible to
approximate the proper dose of any
individual smaple except by clinical trial.
Because of occasional
unpleasant symptoms from unusually potent preparations,
physicians have
generally been overcaustious in the quantities administered. The
only way of
determining the dose of an individual preparation is to give it in
ascending
quantities until some effect is produced. (The Book suggested using a
fluid
extract - powdered cannabis in solution, 4/5 alcohol - three times a
day,
starting with two or three minims.)"(Lovinge,1985,p434)
Extracts,
tinctures, and herbal packages of cannabis manufactured by many
drug companies,
was available in any pharmacy until 1941 when "The two main
professional
directories of drugs in the United States" dropped it.(Snnyder
1985,p38) It
is still used as a medicine in the Middle East and Asia, and is
completely legal
in Amsterdam. Since the 19th Century, it has been recognized
as as intoxicant in
Europe, and an intoxicant for many centuries in
Central and South America, and
in Asia. "An 1870 Book called "The Hasheesh
Eater" by Fitz Hugh
Hudlow, discussed the intoxicating properties
of
marijuana."(Snyder,1985,p39) Mexican farm workers emigrating to the
United
States smoked marijuana regularly, and the surrounding
population..."
quickly followed. California and Utah were the first to call
it a narcotic and
outlawed it completely except for mecial purposes "From
1914 to 1931, 29
States, 17 of them West of the Mississippi made it a
criminal offense to possess
or use it."(Snyder,1985,p40) An army report from
1925 concerning the Panama
Canal Zone said it wasnt habit forming and no
steps should be taken to keep it
from being sold or used. The Uniform States
Narcotic Act said all states should
control drug distribution. "By 1937
marijuana use was restricted by
law" (Snyder,1985,p42) and the Marijuana Tax
Act was signed by President
Roosevelt. This act was made to collect more
taxes and locate people selling
marijuana. You had to pay $1 for medical use
and $100 for recreational use as
tax. This was a large factor why doctors
quit using it as a medicine. "The
Narcotics Drug Control Act of 1965
increased the existing penalties for selling
and distribution of marijuana
and heroin..." (Snyder,1985,p46) The National
Organization for the Reform
of Marijuana Laws (NORML) was founded in 1970. Just
the facts Ma'am: It is
illegal to own or sell marijuana. It is a misdemeanor not
a felony. Penalties
vary widely in each state, for growing and selling it is
almost always a
felony. It can cause cancer in the lungs and the throat IF
smoked. "Among the
reasons to suspect potentially injurious effect of
cannabis use on the lungs,
pointed out it "the almost ubiquitous
occurrennce of throat discomfort and
irritation associated with marihuana
smoking" (Lovinge,1985,p15)but the same
carinogens are present in tobacco
smoke. Marijuana takes away the discomfort
and nausea associated with
chemotherapy taken to stop the growth of cancer.
It also helps people with
glaucoma and it keeps them from going blind. It
doesn't lessen feelings and
pain, it heightens them. Users say they hear
things better, and they see details
they have never seen before. If made
legal, it could be regulated by the U.S.
government (Food and Drug
Administration?) as to how potent it would be. Or
there could be a
"government monopoly on it controlling the cultivation,
importation,
manufacture, wholesale distribution, and retail sales. Controls
could also be
placed on the quantity, potency,, amount, price, time and place of
sale, and
age of buyers. This would do away with black market activity, cost of
law
enforcement and tax revenue."(Snyder,1985,p89) It would also keep alot
of
people out of jail/prison and save the government money. Interview with
a
marijuana user. Q: Do you think Marijuana has had any long lasting effects
on
you? A: None besides the effects regular cigarrette smoke does to your
lungs.
Scientific facts prove there are none except the carcinogens
produced by the
smoke. It doesn't cause brain damage like your teachers tell
you. Q: How do you
take it? A: Smoke it. I use pipes, bongs, & papers. Q:
How often? A: Quarter
ounce a week, 15-18 joints a month. Q: How much does it
cost? A: $200 an ounce,
$2,500 lb...and thats minimum quality. Q: How can you
tell quality? A: Smoke it.
Q: How are "Thai Sticks"? A: Better than
average. $65 1/4 ounce Q:
Where do you think most marijuana is grown? A:
80% of all (in US) marijuana is
grown in the US. 20% from Mexico &
Jamaica In Alaska & Utahyou can have
up to an ouce legally. The biggest
growinng states are the Carolinas, &
Texas. It grows wild in some
places. And cows wont eat it. Q: Do you grow any?
A: Yes Q: How many at 1
time (the most)? A: 12...check them once a week. Q: Are
you in NORML? A: Yes,
South Florida chapter. I'm the secretary. Q: Whats the
highest price you've
ever seen? A: $150 1/4 ounce. Q: Is sinsimilia good? A: Yes
$100-125 ounce.
thats usually imported. Q: can you use a plant more than once?
A: no. you
kill the male plants as soon as you find their sex, and harvest the
females.
Q: What kind do you grow? A: Average weed. Q: How do you get the seeds
or
what you need to grow them? A: They are in the stuff I buy. Q: Whats the
best
kind? A: Depends on how it's grown. Q: Do you think alot of people smoke
weed?
A: If it was legal & sold for the same price as tobacco (since
when does
tobacco cost $200 an ounce?!?!) it would make 2.1 BILLION! Tobacco
makes 3.1
billion, and alcohol make 1.6 billion. (I have NO idea how much 1
ounce of
tobacco costs, but it can't be more than $10. Marijuana sells for 20
times that
much! That would be OVER 40 BILLION!) Q: Would it be better if
legalized? A:
Yes, another taxable income for the government. Prices
would go down. The crime
factor would be gone. It would take the money out of
the hands of criminal and
put it in the hands of the government. It's not
addictive, you can't overdose
unlike alcohol, but the smoke does cause
cancer. Q: Would less people use it if
legalized? A: no. Q: How much is
caught by the government? A: 2% of total in
U.S. Basically thats the
government admittinng that they are losing the war on
drugs. Q: How does it
smell? A: Usually good, sometimes bitter. a sweet smell.
Q: THC makes you
high right? A: yes, they have found it causes no long lasting
effects. Water
Pipes/bongs remove 80% of the smoke Q: Do you eat it? A: No,
eating uses up
more. That way isn't cost effective. (end of interview) Marijuana
doesn't
cause brain damage. The smoke does cause cancer, but so does tobacco.
The
smoke can be reduced by up to 80% with special paraphenalia. We used to
have
limited knowledge on the subject, now our knowledge is increasing.