The history of cannabis consumption is for sure a forgotten story. Most people today know of cannabis as an illegal or prohibited “drug”, labelled a threat to society to discourage use. However for most of recorded history cannabis has been available and commonly used by cultures all around the world. So how exactly did the consumption and production of cannabis become prohibited??

Cannabis has a long history in human culture, stretching back thousands of years with the earliest signs of medicinal use coming from Central and South Asia at least 2500 years ago. Decorations of cannabis leaves have been found at many ancient burial sites in Central Asia, likely suggesting spiritual meaning. More recently than this smoking pipes with traces of cannabis from Ethiopia have been carbon dated to 1320 AD. These smoking pipes not only suggest medicinal use but also even suggest recreational use.

Evidence suggests cannabis played a role in ancient culture spiritually, medicinally but perhaps also nutritionally, likely being one of the most relied upon plants over the coming millennia.

While hemp remained popular in western culture for its usability and durability over the centuries, it wasn’t until the 1840’s research sparked renewed interest into cannabis.

However…

By the mid 1900’s cannabis had been outlawed in much of the western world, starting in the U.S and rapidly spreading across western culture. How and why this happened is unclear although it seems it was most likely an attempt to control Mexican immigration by the U.S government following the Mexican revolution. Ironically the U.S would be one of the first to legalize cannabis, both Washington and Colorado legalizing recreational use in 2012, only half a century after being criminalized.

So after thousands of years of accepted use, cannabis was made illegal… for less than a century.

So how is it that cannabis is STILL prohibited in so many parts of the world? Many states in the U.S have followed Washington and Colorado’s lead, but it seems most of the rest of the world is taking a little longer to acknowledge the benefits of legalizing cannabis.

Which is strange for a plant that was considered a medicine for thousands of years.

Here in Australia progress is slow, medicinal marijuana has only just come into discussion and with hope for legalization still minimal, recreational cannabis seems a stoners’ dream.

Changing the legal status of cannabis in Australia is not hopeless though. Australian culture is stable, meaning it’s ready for change and with such a strong pre-existing cannabis culture, opening the doors to legalization should be easy. With countries around the world already leading the way to legal cannabis, now is a better time than ever to jump on the bandwagon and begin the discussion for legalizing marijuana.