History of cannabis and the endocannabinoid system

Summary & key facts

This article follows cannabis from its earliest known uses about 12,000 years ago in Central Asia through its spread around the world and long history of medical and practical uses, to modern science that identified THC in 1964 and the body's endocannabinoid system in the 20th century. It notes archaeological finds that suggest people cultivated cannabis for its mind‑altering effects, reviews records of medical use in ancient China, Egypt, Greece and Rome, and says new scientific knowledge about the endocannabinoid system has changed how people think about cannabis policy.

Key facts:

• Paleobotanical evidence places cannabis in Central Asia near the Altai Mountains about 11,700–12,000 years ago.
• Archaeologists found a 45‑year‑old man buried around 750 BC with almost 800 grams of cultivated, high‑THC cannabis, which researchers interpreted as cultivated for psychoactive use.
• Written records show medicinal uses of cannabis before the Common Era in China, in the Egyptian Ebers papyrus (~1500 BC), and in Greek texts (Herodotus describes Scythians using hemp smoke).
• In the Roman era, authors such as Pliny the Elder, Dioscorides, and Galen mentioned medical uses of cannabis; Galen discussed its psychoactive effects.
• Cannabis has long been used for non‑drug purposes too, including making fibers for ropes and nets, and as food and a source of oil.
• The main psychoactive plant chemical, Δ9‑tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), had its structure determined in 1964 by Mechoulam and Gaoni in Israel.
• Scientists discovered the endocannabinoid system (a body system that interacts with cannabis compounds) in the 20th century, and advances in that research have influenced debates about cannabis liberalization.

Abstract

This article retraces the story of cannabis from the earliest contacts of humans with the plant to its subsequent global expansion, its medicinal uses, and the discovery of the endocannabinoid system in the 20th century. Cannabis was attested to around 12 000 years ago near the Altai Mountains in Central Asia, and since then, cannabis seeds have accompanied the migration of nomadic peoples. Records of the medicinal use of cannabis appear before the Common Era in China, Egypt, and Greece (Herodotus), and later in the Roman empire (Pliny the Elder, Dioscorides, Galen). In the 19th century, orientalists like Silvestre de Sacy, and Western physicians coming into contact with Muslim and Indian cultures, like O'Shaughnessy and Moreau de Tours, introduced the medicinal use of cannabis into Europe. The structure of the main psychoactive phytocannabinoid, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), was determined in Israel by Mechoulam and Gaoni in 1964. This discovery opened the gate for many of the subsequent developments in the field of endocannabinoid system (ECS) research. The advances in the scientific knowledge of the ECS place the debate on cannabis liberalization in a new context. .

Topics

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research Psychedelics and Drug Studies Sleep and Wakefulness Research

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Pharmacology

Tags

Ancient history Archaeology Cannabis Context (archaeology) Geography History Medicine Psychiatry Traditional medicine