10,000-year History of Cannabis use in the World
8,000+ BCE Use of hemp cord in pottery identified at ancient village site dating back over 10,000 years, located in the area of modern day Taiwan. Finding hemp use and cultivation in this date range puts it as one of the first and oldest known human agriculture crops. As explained by Richard Hamilton in the 2009 Scientific American article on sustainable agriculture "Modern humans emerged some 250,000 years ago, yet agriculture is a fairly recent invention, only about 10,000 years old ... Agriculture is not natural; it is a human invention. It is also the basis of modern civilization." This point was also touched on by Carl Sagan in 1977 when he proposed the possibility that marijuana may have actually been world's first agricultural crop, leading to the development of civilization itself.
8,000+ BCE Use of hemp cord in pottery identified at ancient village site dating back over 10,000 years, located in the area of modern day Taiwan. Finding hemp use and cultivation in this date range puts it as one of the first and oldest known human agriculture crops. As explained by Richard Hamilton in the 2009 Scientific American article on sustainable agriculture "Modern humans emerged some 250,000 years ago, yet agriculture is a fairly recent invention, only about 10,000 years old ... Agriculture is not natural; it is a human invention. It is also the basis of modern civilization." This point was also touched on by Carl Sagan in 1977 when he proposed the possibility that marijuana may have actually been world's first agricultural crop, leading to the development of civilization itself.

According to the DEA museum the oldest know Written record on CANNABIS use comes from the Chinese Emporer Shen Nung in 2727 B.C. Amongst likely many others the ancient Greeks & Romans were also familiar with Cannabis, while in the middle East use, spread throughout the Islamic Empire to North Africa in !545 B.C. The Oldest know WRITTEN record of cannabis use as a medicine was from Egypt, The Ebers Papyrus (1550 B.C.) as a prescription for inflammation. Apparently travelled west where the Spaniards imported it to Chile.
~ Native, Cannabis History ~
~ Asian, Cannabis History ~
China, India & Tibet
Middle East
Original Articles
The Therapeutic Use of Cannabis sativa (L.) in Arabic Medicine
Indalecio Lozano PhD
Pages 63-70 | Received 17 Oct 1999, Accepted 18 Feb 2000, Published online: 20 Oct 2008
The Therapeutic Use of Cannabis sativa (L.) in Arabic Medicine
Indalecio Lozano PhD
Pages 63-70 | Received 17 Oct 1999, Accepted 18 Feb 2000, Published online: 20 Oct 2008
Arab scientists were several centuries ahead of our current knowledge of the curative power of hemp (Cannabis sativaL., Cannabaceae). Modern Western scientific literature ignores their contribution on the subject. We review in this paper the therapeutic uses of the plant in Arabic medicine from the 8th to the 18th century. Arab physicians knew and used its diuretic, anti-emetic, anti-epileptic, anti-inflammatory, painkilling and antipyretic properties, among others.