It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that cannabis is simply as old as the Earth itself. There are clearly a lot of dangerous, harmful and poisonous plants, but then again, there are clearly a lot of medicinal ones too, and cannabis definitely falls into that category.

According to a new study, “Cannabis holds significance in human history and life today as a triple-use crop. First, its fruits (seeds) provide valuable protein and essential fatty acids. Archaeological evidence in a food context dates back to 10,000 bp, in Japan (Kobayashi et al. ). Its bast cells supply fibres, for cordage and textiles. Carbonized hemp fibres, found with silk and spinning wheels, date to 5,600 bp, in Henan Province, China (Zhang and Gao ). Its flowering tops produce cannabinoids, which have been used for medicinal, shamanic, and recreational purposes. Archaeological evidence of drug use dates to 2,700 bp, in Xinjiang region (Russo et al. ; Jiang et al. ).”

This particular study was able to trace the plants existence at least up to 27.8 million years ago.

Obviously, there are a lot of scientific factors going into determining this, and you can read the study for more details about that.

Another study goes into the history of its medicinal use.

Cannabis is a plant-based, or botanical, product with origins tracing back to the ancient world. Evidence suggesting its use more than 5,000 years ago in what is now Romania has been described extensively. There is only one direct source of evidence (Δ6-tetrahydrocannabinol [Δ6-THC] in ashes) that cannabis was first used medicinally around 400 ad. In the U.S., cannabis was widely utilized as a patent medicine during the 19th and early 20th centuries, described in the United States Pharmacopoeia for the first time in 1850. Federal restriction of cannabis use and cannabis sale first occurred in 1937 with the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act., Subsequent to the act of 1937, cannabis was dropped from the United States Pharmacopoeia in 1942, with legal penalties for possession increasing in 1951 and 1956 with the enactment of the Boggs and Narcotic Control Acts, respectively, and prohibition under federal law occurring with the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.,, Beyond criminalization, these legislative actions contributed to creating limitations on research by restricting procurement of cannabis for academic purposes.

Pretty cool information regarding cannabis. It’s a shame that it was and still is illegal in many parts of the world. There is no good reason for this, and it’s great to see the negative stigma be lifted from cannabis as we move through 2020 and beyond.