Wow, drugs have been in existence since the beginning of time, no wonder the world has always been in a mess. Drugs are fun, but there’s always a price to pay for that type of enjoyment, sometimes a heavy price.
1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
The hemp plant on which “marijuana” grows has been growing naturally since the dawn of time.
Emperor Fu Xi (or Fu Hsi) referenced “ma” — the Chinese word for cannabis — as a “popular medicine that possessed both ying and yang.”
These discoveries continued through Chinese history, causing marijuana to be referenced by other emperors and medicinal records as a plant with “healing” properties.
But these references aren’t just restricted to China. Healing oils derived from cannabis were referenced in the Old Testament. (This is where the Rastafarian belief in smoking copious amounts of ganja originates.)
The ancient Egyptian, Indian, Arab, Greek and Roman cultures had medical records from 1200 B.C. through 1500 A.D. citing cannabis as a medicine to heal everything from glaucoma to STIs.
Fast forward to the settling of the new world when Jamestown settlers cultivated the plant in Virginia. It was an agricultural phenomenon that passed down to the Founding Fathers like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
2 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
3 But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.
“Sorceress” – one who practices soothsaying or magic.
“Adulterer and the whore” – spiritual adultery (idolatry).
4 Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,
“Sport…make ye a wide mouth” – the people mocked Isaiah in 28:9, 14. God gets very upset when people treat His chosen disrespectfully.
5 Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?
“Green tree” – associated with high places of pagan worship.
“Slaying of children” – often associated with the worship of Molech or Baal. Sometimes children were sacrificed to idols and demons.
6 Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these?
“Stones of the stream is thy portion” – the Lord was the “portion” (inheritance) of his people but the people have chosen their stone idols to be their “portion.” When people worship creation more than the Creator, God gives them over to their sinful desires to experience the consequences of their choices. Like He did with the homosexuals (Rom 1:24-32).
7 Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.
9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.
“Unto hell” – or “the grave.” They have corrupted themselves by consulting the dead.
10 Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.
“Found the life of the hand” – no matter how disappointed they were by foreign gods, they found strength to persist in their idolatry.
11 And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not?
12 I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.
13 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
14 And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people.
15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
The history of cannabis is a long and rich, dating back to ancient chinese culture in 2700 BC.
“The Jamestown settlers brought the marijuana plant, commonly known as hemp, to North America in 1612, and throughout the colonial period, hemp fiber was an important export. Indeed, in 1762, ‘Virginia awarded bounties for hemp culture and manufacture, and imposed penalties on those who did not produce it.’”
By 1619 it was required for every resident to grow hemp. It wasn’t until 1921 when marijuana and “hemp” was outlawed as a result of he end of prohibition. So for almost 300 years, marijuana and hemp were completely legal as brought forth by early Jamestown Settlers.
16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
The Beginning of
Drug Use
5000 B.C. The Sumerians use opium, suggested by the fact that they have an ideogram for it which has been translated as HUL, meaning “joy” or “rejoicing.” [Alfred R. Lindesmith, *Addiction and Opiates.* p. 207]
3500 B.C. Earlist historical record of the production of alcohol: the description of a brewery in an an Egyptian papyrus.
3000 B.C. Approximate date of the supposed origin of the use of tea in China.
2900 B.C. Chinese Emperor Fu His References Marijuana as a Popular Medicine
2700 B.C. Chinese Emperor Shen Nung Said to Discover Healing Properties of Marijuana
The Zoroastrian Videvdad, or Vendidad as it is also known, a lawbook containing the rules for dealing with pollution and crime. It is one of the oldest existing Zoroastrian manuscripts, copied in 1323 in Nawsari, Gujarat, by the scribe Mihraban Kaykhusraw.
It mentions bhang and lists cannabis as the most important of 10,000 medicinal plants.
2500 B.C. Earlist historical evidence of the eating of poppy seeds among the Lake Dwellers on Switzerland.
2000 B.C. Earliest record of prohibitionist teaching, by an Egyptian priest, who writes to his pupil: “I, thy superior, forbid thee to go to the taverns. Thou art degraded like beasts.”
1500 B.C. Earliest Written Reference to Medical Marijuana in Chinese Pharmacopia.
700 B.C. Medical Use of Marijuana in the Middle East Recorded in the Venidad
600 B.C. India Medicine Treatise Cites Cannabis as a Cure for Leprosy
350 B.C. Proverbs, 31:6-7: “Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more.”
300 B.C. Theophrastus (371-287 B.C.), Greek naturalist and philosopher, records what has remained as the earlies undisputed reference to the use of poppy juice.
250 B.C. Psalms, 104:14-15: “Thou dost cause grass to grow for the cattle and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the heart of man.
200 B.C. Medical Cannabis Used in Ancient Greece ( The Exhale Wellness blog has updated news on THC and CBD products on the market)
Bhang is an edible preparation of cannabis originating from the Indian subcontinent. It has been used in food and drink as early as 1000 BCE by Hindus in ancient India.
Bhang is traditionally distributed by Hindus during the spring festival of Holi. Bhang is mainly used in Bhang shops, which sell the cannabis-infused Indian drinks Bhang lassi and Bhang thandai.
Western documentation
In 1596, Dutchman Jan Huyghen van Linschoten wrote three pages on “Bangue” in a work documenting his journeys in the East, also mentioning the Egyptian Hashish, Turkish Boza, Turkish Bernavi, and Arabic Bursj forms of consumption. The historian Richard Davenport-Hines lists Thomas Bowrey as the first Westerner to document the use of bhang.
Preparation
Using mortar and pestle, the buds and leaves of cannabis are ground into a paste which can be added to foods. For a beverage it is mixed with milk and filtered, then often flavored with kusha grass, sugar, fruit, and various spices.
During festivals it is most used by krishna devotees in madhura it can be found in bhang thandai and bhang lassi. Bhang is also mixed with ghee and sugar to make a purple halva, and into peppery, chewy little balls called goli (which means “tablet” as well as “pill” in Hindi). Another form is bhanga chutney, a Pahari cuisine from Uttarakhand.
1 A.D. Ancient Chinese Text Recommends Marijana for More than 100 Ailments
70 A.D. Roman Medical Text Cites Cannabis to Treat Earaches and Suppress Sexual Longing
79 A.D. Pliny the Edler Writes about Medicinal Properties of Cannabis Plant
200 A.D. Chinese Surgeon Hua T’o Uses Cannabis Resin and Wine as Anesthetic
350 A.D. Earliest mention of tea, in a Chinese dictionary
800-900 A.D. Cannabis Used as Medicine in Arabic World by Some, Labeled “Lethal Poison” by Others
1500 A.D. Muslim Doctors use Marijuana to Reduce Sexuality
1538 A.D.Hemp Used During Middle Ages
1578 A.D. Chinese Medical Text Describes Medical Uses for Marijuana
1611-1762 A.D. Jamestown Settlers Bring Marijuana to North America
You created all things, even the caveman, and everything evolves, but not like Darwin had said.