A new paper in the European Journal for Chemistry traces the history of cannabis through “thousands of years of contact with mankind,” noting the plant’s legacy as a source of fiber, nutrition, medicine, spirituality, and pleasure.
The cannabis plant appears to have first been used for its fiber as a material for ropes and other manufactured goods, the authors wrote. The use of hemp fiber dates back to approximately 10,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia and roughly 6,000 and 5,000 years ago in China and Kazakhstan, respectively.
Ancient peoples considered cannabis one of the five main grains, along with rice, soy, barley, and millet, the paper continues. Once stalks were processed into hemp fibers, they became durable materials for ropes, sails and boat rigging, clothing, paper, animal husbandry, and more.
“Used as a stunner to facilitate the capture of fish,” it says, “Cannabis is possibly the first plant to be cultivated for non-food purposes.”
Consuming cannabis for its physiological effects, meanwhile, dates back to about 3,000 years ago, the study says.
This new paper sheds an interesting light on the place of cannabis throughout history.
