The Complete History of Cannabis: 12,000 Years of Human Relationship With a Remarkable Plant

Cannabis is one of the oldest cultivated plants in human history. The earliest evidence of its cultivation dates to approximately 12,000 years ago in Taiwan.

In the millennia since, it has been used for fiber, food, medicine, and ritual on every continent. Here is the complete timeline.

The origin — Central Asia

Genetic analysis places the origin of cannabis in Central Asia — most likely in the region of modern China, Mongolia, and Russia. The plant evolved there as a wind-pollinated annual, producing seeds with high nutritional value, fiber-producing stem material, and — in certain varieties — the psychoactive resin that became its most discussed characteristic.

The two major varieties — Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica — diverged from this common ancestor over thousands of years of both natural selection and human cultivation. The separation of hemp varieties (cultivated primarily for fiber and seed) from drug varieties (cultivated primarily for resin) reflects thousands of years of deliberate human selection pressure.

Neolithic cultivation — Taiwan and China

The earliest confirmed archaeological evidence of cannabis cultivation comes from Neolithic sites in Taiwan, dated to approximately 10,000 BCE. The earliest use appears primarily fiber-based — hemp cordage and textile fragments.

Chinese Neolithic sites show cannabis seeds used for food. The distinction between industrial hemp use and psychoactive use is difficult to establish archaeologically — both could derive from the same plant.

Ancient China — medical and spiritual use

The first documented medical use of cannabis appears in the legendary Chinese pharmacopeia attributed to Emperor Shennong, describing cannabis as treating over a hundred medical conditions. Whether Shennong was a historical figure or a legendary one, the pharmacopeia reflects accumulated medical knowledge of the period.

Cannabis appears consistently in traditional Chinese medicine as a treatment for pain, digestive disorders, and neurological conditions. The medical tradition explicitly distinguished dosage: controlled doses for medicine, excess doses for intoxication.

Ancient India — the Vedic tradition

Cannabis appears in the Vedas — the oldest religious texts in the world — as one of the five sacred plants. The Atharvaveda describes it as a substance that releases anxiety. The Vedic tradition connected cannabis to Shiva and to spiritual practice.

The bhang tradition — cannabis consumed as a drink during religious festivals — persists to the present day in parts of India, representing one of the longest unbroken human relationships with a psychoactive plant.

Ancient Egypt and the Middle East

Evidence for ancient Egyptian cannabis use is debated among researchers. Some trace evidence from archaeological sites has been reported, but the documentation is less clear than in Chinese or Indian contexts.

Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BCE, described Scythian funeral rituals involving cannabis smoke — vapor baths that produced intoxication. Archaeological evidence from Scythian sites has confirmed the presence of cannabis seeds and burning equipment consistent with Herodotus's description.

The spread to Europe and Africa

Cannabis reached Africa and Europe through trade routes over centuries. By the medieval period, hashish — concentrated cannabis resin — was established in the Islamic world. The word hashish entered European languages from Arabic.

Cannabis arrived in Africa through Arab traders and eventually established itself in sub-Saharan traditions. It arrived in the Americas with European colonizers, initially for hemp fiber production.

The colonial era and prohibition

Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, built the case for cannabis prohibition in the 1930s on explicitly racial grounds — connecting cannabis use to Black jazz musicians and Mexican immigrants. The word marijuana itself was a deliberate choice: the Spanish term was less familiar and more foreign-sounding than cannabis. The prohibition was not about pharmacology. It was about race and politics.

The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 effectively criminalized cannabis in the United States. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 placed it in Schedule 1 — the most restrictive classification, alongside heroin — despite active opposition from researchers who argued the classification was not supported by evidence.

The full story of the suppression is in the war on drugs article.

The modern era

Colorado and Washington became the first US states to legalize recreational cannabis use. The legalization wave has since expanded across multiple states and countries.

Scientific research, once suppressed by Schedule 1 restrictions, has produced a substantial body of evidence on cannabis pharmacology, therapeutic applications, and risk profile — confirming many traditional uses and adding precision to the understanding of mechanisms.

The Technospermia timeline

Twelve thousand years of human relationship with cannabis. In every culture. For every purpose. With consistent reports of the same effects — relaxation, altered perception, pain relief, and in high doses, a loosening of ordinary cognitive constraints.

The endocannabinoid system that cannabis interfaces with predates cannabis by hundreds of millions of years. The plant arrived later and fit a system that was already there. Read more about the cannabis and alien origins theory, or the core Technospermia argument.