Marijuana makes you happy. So happy in fact that there is usually no immediate need to move from the couch unless it’s for a jumbo-sized bag of Cheetos, Pop Tarts (always blueberry), Gatorade or family leftovers from three nights ago (it’s still good).
Although marijuana, the pioneer of modern recreation, often brings up images of Cheech and Chong, or a Rastafarian with dreads and a brightly coloured Rasta hat, this may be a modern-day misconception. Especially considering that history traces back marijuana as far back as 6000 BC.
6000 BC
Cannabis is used as hemp in fabric.
2727 BC
The first account of medicinal usage is found in China for a wide variety of health problems (boredom and childish rebellion is not thought to be included).
430 BC
Greek historian Herodotus records the recreational use of marijuana by Sythians, an ancient Iranian people.
1200 BC
Cannabis seeds are placed in tombs and connected to religious symbols. A Persian religious text refers to the herb as “sacred grass.”
500-100 BC
Traces of cannabis are beginning to turn up all around Europe.
1379
Countries surrounding the Red Sea and Iran were the first to establish laws about marijuana; Ottoman Emir Soudoun Scheikhouni issued one of the first edicts against eating hashish.
1606
Britain takes marijuana or hemp over to the Maritimes in Canada. From there it exploded as a recreational drug. Canada is known as one of the largest marijuana smoking countries in the world.