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Marijuana Use Through Western History

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“Close to 40% of high school students in North America have used marijuana once in their lifetime, and 20% report using it on a regular basis.” Mariguana (Spanish for “intoxicant”) is “the most commonly used illicit drug”. “Marijuana” consists of the dried leaves of a hemp plant and usually refers to hemp’s religious, medicinal and recreational use, while “cannabis” is the fibrous part of the hemp plant, and refers its industrial and commercial use. Marijuana has been used for centuries for diverse purposes: industrially, religiously, medicinally and recreationally. It has and continues to play an important role in Western History. How did marijuana evolve from being a highly regarded industrial product to being used religiously, medicinally and recreationally? This research paper will trace the evolution of marijuana use through Western History with a focus on its use in various countries, and conclude with the recent controversy in North America about the use of medical marijuana.
Industrial Use
Many centuries before widespread recreational marijuana, it was used industrially - first in Asia and later in Europe. The hemp plant was used as a fiber and then later as a fabric, cloth, and paper. Hemp fiber was first reported being used in Taiwan in 8000 BC to decorate clay pots followed by its use as bowstrings by Ancient Chinese archers, and subsequently for the creation of rope in Southern Russia. The invention of rope was an enormous technological advance which

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