The Historical Uses of Cannabis in Early Human History
Today, cannabis is often discussed in terms of modern medicine, recreation, and changing laws. But humans have been using the plant for thousands of years, and its history is much broader than its modern reputation suggests.
Long before dispensaries, prohibition laws, or modern medical research, people were growing cannabis for its strong fibers, eating its seeds, experimenting with it as medicine, and using its intoxicating effects in religious and social settings. As the plant spread across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and eventually the Americas, different cultures developed their own ways of using it.
The story of cannabis is, in many ways, a story about how humans discovered that one plant could serve many different purposes.
Cannabis and Ancient Rituals
Some of the most fascinating evidence comes from the Pamir Mountains of western China.
At the ancient Jirzankal cemetery, archaeologists discovered wooden braziers and stones dating back about 2,500 years. Chemical testing showed that cannabis had been burned in these containers, including varieties with relatively high levels of psychoactive compounds.[1]
Researchers believe the cannabis smoke may have been inhaled during funeral ceremonies. The discovery raises the possibility that cannabis played a role in rituals surrounding death, perhaps helping participants enter an altered state of consciousness or feel a connection with the spiritual world.
What makes the discovery especially important is that it isn't based solely on written descriptions. Scientists were able to identify chemical traces of cannabis in the archaeological remains, providing physical evidence of people deliberately burning the plant.
And the practice wasn't limited to China.
The Scythians and the Pleasure of Cannabis Smoke
The Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BCE, described the Scythians, nomadic peoples who lived across parts of Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
According to Herodotus, the Scythians placed hemp seeds on heated stones inside an enclosed space and inhaled the resulting smoke. He described the participants as becoming excited and joyful.[2]
Although ancient accounts have to be interpreted carefully, Herodotus's description is striking when compared with the archaeological evidence from Central Asia. Together, they suggest that people in parts of Eurasia understood cannabis not only as a useful plant but also as something capable of producing a powerful change in mood and consciousness.
In other words, humans were exploring cannabis's psychoactive effects long before anyone understood cannabinoids or the chemistry behind them.
Cannabis in Ancient India
India developed one of the world's longest and most distinctive relationships with cannabis.
References to cannabis appear in ancient Sanskrit traditions, although historians continue to debate the precise meaning and dating of some early references. Over time, preparations such as bhang became associated with religious traditions, festivals, and the worship of Shiva.
Cannabis was also valued for its perceived medicinal effects. Traditional practices associated the plant with relieving pain, encouraging relaxation, stimulating appetite, and treating various physical complaints.
It is important to remember that ancient and traditional medical practices were based on very different ideas about the body from those used in modern medicine. Historical claims about cannabis's therapeutic properties therefore shouldn't automatically be treated as scientific evidence by today's standards.
Still, the cultural significance is clear: in India, cannabis became part of religious, medicinal, and social traditions that survived for centuries.
From Central Asia to the Middle East
As people traded and migrated across Eurasia, cannabis traveled with them.
By the first millennium BCE, references to cannabis-like substances appear in ancient Middle Eastern sources. Assyrian texts mention a substance called qunnabu, which some scholars identify with cannabis. Others have questioned whether every reference can be translated so confidently, making this an area where historians continue to debate the evidence.
What is less controversial is that cannabis and hemp became increasingly familiar across Central and Western Asia.
And there was more to the plant than getting high.
Hemp produced tough, durable fibers that could be turned into rope, textiles, fishing equipment, and other useful materials. Cannabis seeds were edible and could be incorporated into food. Ancient physicians also experimented with cannabis preparations, giving the plant a place in early medical traditions.
Cannabis in the Greek and Roman World
By the classical period, cannabis had become part of the wider Mediterranean world.
For many people, hemp's practical value was more important than its intoxicating properties. Strong plant fibers were useful for making rope, nets, textiles, and other everyday objects.
Roman writers also recognized cannabis as something that could affect the body and mind. The physician Galen, for example, mentioned hemp seeds as an ingredient in food and noted that consuming large quantities could produce unusual effects.[3]
This is an important reminder that ancient cannabis culture wasn't simply about recreational intoxication. The same plant could be food, medicine, raw material, or intoxicant depending on how it was prepared and why someone was using it.
Medieval Medicine and the Spread of Knowledge
Cannabis continued to move across cultural boundaries during the medieval period.
In the Islamic world, physicians inherited and expanded medical knowledge from Greek, Roman, Persian, and other traditions. Persian physician Avicenna, one of the most influential medical scholars of the medieval era, discussed cannabis in his Canon of Medicine.[4]
Medical writers attributed a variety of properties to cannabis, although their understanding of how the plant worked was very different from modern pharmacology.
At the same time, hemp was becoming increasingly important in Europe. Farmers valued it for fiber, which could be used to make clothing, rope, cordage, and other products.
Hemp Powers Ships and Industry
During the Renaissance, hemp became particularly important to Europe's growing maritime powers.
Ships required enormous quantities of rope, rigging, nets, and other strong materials. Hemp fiber was well suited to these jobs, making the crop an important part of the agricultural and commercial economy.
Hemp also found its way into textiles and other manufactured goods. Artists used canvas made from plant fibers, while sailors and merchants depended on hemp-based materials in their daily work.
For centuries, then, cannabis was just as much an industrial crop as it was a medicinal or intoxicating plant.
Cannabis Comes to Colonial America
European settlers eventually brought hemp cultivation to North America.
During the seventeenth century, English colonies encouraged farmers to grow hemp for materials such as rope, clothing, and other products. Virginia, for example, passed legislation encouraging hemp production in 1619.[5]
By the eighteenth century, hemp was being grown by prominent American landowners as well. George Washington cultivated hemp at Mount Vernon, primarily for practical uses such as rope, canvas, and fishing equipment.[6] Thomas Jefferson also grew hemp at Monticello.[7]
These examples are sometimes misunderstood today. Historical records show that Washington and Jefferson grew hemp as an agricultural and industrial crop; they do not provide evidence that either man was growing it for recreational marijuana use.
One Plant, Many Uses
The long history of cannabis is ultimately a story of versatility. Ancient people burned it during rituals, experimented with its medicinal properties, ate its seeds, and valued its strong fibers. Some cultures deliberately sought its intoxicating effects, while others were far more interested in its practical value.
As cannabis moved along ancient trade routes, its uses changed with the cultures that adopted it. In one place it could be associated with funeral rituals; somewhere else it might be medicine, food, rope, or a religious preparation.
That is what makes the history of cannabis so fascinating. It wasn't originally defined by a single purpose.
Long before modern arguments about cannabis began, humans had already spent thousands of years finding different ways to use the plant. Its history reaches into religion, medicine, agriculture, trade, technology, and everyday life — making cannabis not simply the history of a drug, but the history of a plant that has continually adapted to human needs.