The Ancient History of Cannabis
The mythical Red Emperor Shen-Nung, known as the Father of Chinese Medicine, is one of the first recorded to have used medicinal cannabis. Legends say his mother inhaled the vapor of a dragon, giving him the power to see the effects of herbs.
Shen Nung used cannabis around 2,800 BC to treat menstruation, gout, rheumatism, and malaria. The Emperor warned, however, that consuming too much, “may make one behold ghosts.”
There is even earlier evidence in China, as far back as 8,000 BC, that the plant was used for writing, food, and warfare in the form of hemp. Hemp bowstrings were stronger than the enemy's bamboo weapons, giving Chinese archers a powerful advantage in war.
In 1977, Carl Sagan proposed the possibility that marijuana may have actually been the world’s first agricultural crop, leading to the development of civilization itself.
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