The first use of marijuana can be traced way back in the Neolithic age as evidenced by a burnt marijuana seed that was found in the sacrament brazier in a very old interment spot in Romania today. It is said that in the past, the people who were using marijuana the most were the Hindus from Nepal and India, and the people who were eaters of hashish called Hashshashins from Syria. At that time, marijuana was called ganjika in Sanskit. In Nepali and Indian language, it is called ganja. Sometimes, a kind of drug called soma was associated with marijuana. According to the Vegas, it is considered as a holy intoxicating hallucinogen.

Marijuana use was also popular to Assyrians. These people were the ones who exposed the psychoactive ingredient through other people called Aryans. Some people used marijuana in their spiritual rites. Their name for it was gunubu which means “way to produce smoke,” and probably, the derivation of the recent word started there. Marijuana was also initiated to the Scythians and Thracians by the Aryans. It is also believed that Dionysus cult members also had an experienced taking this drug.

According to some historians, marijuana use was really a part of lots of spiritual rites all over the world. A kind of marijuana seed called hemp seeds were found in Pazyryk by some archeologists and this signify early practices of eating these seeds in the 5th to 2nd century BCE. According to some experts, marijuana use was really a part and was used as a holy sacrament of olden Jews and early Christians. It is also said that even Muslims used marijuana in different Sufi orders during the time of Mamluk period.

In countries like Nepal and India, nomadic religious sadhus have been using marijuana for centuries now. And recently, a movement called Rastafari has held it as a part of their holy sacrament. For other people like the members of Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, the elders of this movement believed that marijuana is a Eucharist. They said that it is a part of their religious culture and tradition from Ethiopia way back during the time of Jesus Christ. The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church movement had originated in the United States way back in 1975. Other modern religious sect like Rastafari has declared that marijuana is considered a Tree of Life . There are different religions that were found in the past that treated marijuana as a sacrament namely, Church of Cognizance, the Cannabis Assembly, Cantheism, the Way of Infinite Harmony and the THC Ministry.

Marijuana was brought in by Indian laborers to the Americans in the middle of the 19th century. Marijuana use was initiated during the time of Indian indenture system that was implemented by the British Empire.

Nowadays, marijuana is still recognized as ganja, which is the Sanskrit translation of marijuana, Coolie or Indian wee. And there was a spread of marijuana use in many countries like Mexico, Canada and the rest of the states of America. Moreover, marijuana is called in different names. Slang terms in different countries were used. A few years ago, expressions like pot, herb, weed, Mary Jane, grass and reefer emerged. But you can notice that these words are still very popular right now. You might also heard words like skunk, gangster, kif, boom and Aunt Mary. Marijuana also has its own street names for different kinds like “Texas tea,” “Maui wowie” and “chronic.”

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This Article is written by Lena Butler, the author of TestCountry Health Information Resources, a longer version of this article is located at The Birth of Marijuana, and resources from other home health and wellness testing articles are used such as TestCountry Drug Testing Kits.