Editing Cannabis (section)

===Ancient and religious uses===
{{Main|Cannabis and religion|History of medical cannabis}}
[[File:Hash museum amsterdam.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Hash Marijuana & Hemp Museum|Cannabis Museum]] in [[Amsterdam]]]]
[[File:Kanepi valla vapp.svg|thumb|upright=0.7|''Cannabis'' leaf pictured in the coat of arms of [[Kanepi Parish]]]]
The Cannabis plant has a history of medicinal use dating back thousands of years across many cultures.<ref name=BenAmar2006>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ben Amar M | title = Cannabinoids in medicine: A review of their therapeutic potential | journal = Journal of Ethnopharmacology | volume = 105 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 1–25 | date = April 2006 | pmid = 16540272 | doi = 10.1016/j.jep.2006.02.001 | url = http://www.doctordeluca.com/Library/WOD/WPS3-MedMj/CannabinoidsMedMetaAnalysis06.pdf | type = Review | citeseerx = 10.1.1.180.308 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100524141419/http://www.doctordeluca.com/Library/WOD/WPS3-MedMj/CannabinoidsMedMetaAnalysis06.pdf | df = dmy-all | url-status = dead | archive-date = 24 May 2010 }}</ref> The [[Yanghai Tombs]], a vast ancient cemetery (54 000 m<sup>2</sup>) situated in the [[Turfan]] district of the [[Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region]] in northwest China, have revealed the 2700-year-old grave of a [[shaman]]. He is thought to have belonged to the [[Jushi culture]] recorded in the area centuries later in the ''[[Hanshu]]'', Chap 96B.<ref>* {{cite book | vauthors = Hulsewé AF | date = 1979 | title = China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty | publisher = E. J. Brill | location = Leiden | isbn = 978-90-04-05884-2 | page = 183 }}</ref> Near the head and foot of the shaman was a large leather basket and wooden bowl filled with 789g of cannabis, superbly preserved by climatic and burial conditions. An international team demonstrated that this material contained THC. The cannabis was presumably employed by this culture as a medicinal or psychoactive agent, or an aid to divination. This is the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent.<ref name="Russo">{{cite journal | vauthors = Russo EB, Jiang HE, Li X, Sutton A, Carboni A, del Bianco F, Mandolino G, Potter DJ, Zhao YX, Bera S, Zhang YB, Lü EG, Ferguson DK, Hueber F, Zhao LC, Liu CJ, Wang YF, Li CS | display-authors = 6 | title = Phytochemical and genetic analyses of ancient cannabis from Central Asia | journal = Journal of Experimental Botany | volume = 59 | issue = 15 | pages = 4171–82 | year = 2008 | pmid = 19036842 | pmc = 2639026 | doi = 10.1093/jxb/ern260 }}</ref> The earliest evidence of cannabis smoking has been found in the 2,500-year-old tombs of Jirzankal Cemetery in the [[Pamir Mountains]] in Western China, where cannabis residue were found in burners with charred pebbles possibly used during funeral rituals.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ren M, Tang Z, Wu X, Spengler R, Jiang H, Yang Y, Boivin N | title = The origins of cannabis smoking: Chemical residue evidence from the first millennium BCE in the Pamirs | journal = Science Advances | volume = 5 | issue = 6 | pages = eaaw1391 | date = June 2019 | pmid = 31206023 | pmc = 6561734 | doi = 10.1126/sciadv.aaw1391 | bibcode = 2019SciA....5.1391R }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/culture-history/2019/06/earliest-evidence-cannabis-smoking-discovered-ancient-tombs |title=Earliest evidence for cannabis smoking discovered in ancient tombs |date=14 June 2019 | vauthors = Donahue MZ |work=National Geographic |access-date=20 June 2019 |archive-date=20 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620231238/https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/culture-history/2019/06/earliest-evidence-cannabis-smoking-discovered-ancient-tombs |url-status=live }}</ref>

Settlements which date from c. 2200–1700 BCE in the [[Bactria]] and [[Margiana]] contained elaborate ritual structures with rooms containing everything needed for making drinks containing extracts from poppy (opium), hemp (cannabis), and [[Ephedra (plant)|ephedra]] (which contains [[ephedrine]]).<ref name = "Mallory_2000">{{cite book | vauthors = Mallory JP, Mair VH | date = 2000 | title = The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West | publisher = Thames & Hudson | location = London | isbn = 978-0-500-05101-6}}</ref>{{rp|262}} Although there is no evidence of ephedra being used by steppe tribes, they engaged in cultic use of hemp. Cultic use ranged from [[Romania]] to the [[Yenisei River]] and had begun by 3rd millennium BC Smoking hemp has been found at [[Pazyryk culture|Pazyryk]].<ref name = "Mallory_2000" />{{rp|306}}

''Cannabis'' is first referred to in [[Hindu]] [[Vedas]] between 2000 and 1400 BCE, in the ''[[Atharvaveda]]''. By the 10th century CE, it has been suggested that it was referred to by some in India as "food of the gods".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/history/first12000/1.htm|title=Marijuana – The First Twelve Thousand Years| vauthors = Abel EL |year=1980|access-date=30 June 2009|archive-date=28 June 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210628135448/https://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/history/first12000/1.htm|url-status=live}} Chapter 1: Cannabis in the Ancient World. India: The First Marijuana-Oriented Culture.</ref> Cannabis use eventually became a ritual part of the Hindu festival of [[Holi]]. One of the earliest to use this plant in medical purposes was [[Korakkar]], one of the 18 [[Siddha]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YaY-AAAAcAAJ&q=tamil+ganja&pg=PR88|title=Classified Catalogue of Tamil Printed Books: With Introductory Notices| vauthors = Murdoch J |date=1 January 1865|publisher=Christian vernacular education society|language=en|access-date=6 October 2020|archive-date=11 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311032539/https://books.google.com/books?id=YaY-AAAAcAAJ&q=tamil+ganja&pg=PR88|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKLRAwAAQBAJ&q=korakkar&pg=PA52|title=Parkinson's Disease Dravidian Cure Chintarmony System| vauthors = Jayaprasad V |date=5 July 2012 |publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-105-91788-2 |language=en|access-date=6 October 2020|archive-date=11 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311032541/https://books.google.com/books?id=zKLRAwAAQBAJ&q=korakkar&pg=PA52|url-status=live}}{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}} The plant is called ''Korakkar Mooli'' in the [[Tamil language]], meaning Korakkar's herb.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q4HDDAAAQBAJ&q=tamil+ganja&pg=PT568|title=History of Medical and Spiritual Sciences of Siddhas of Tamil Nadu| vauthors = Karthigayan P |date=1 August 2016|publisher=Notion Press|isbn=9789352065523|language=en|access-date=6 October 2020|archive-date=11 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311032506/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q4HDDAAAQBAJ&q=tamil+ganja&pg=PT568|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JwkrAAAAYAAJ&q=korakkar|title=A Primer of Tamil Literature| vauthors = Pillai MS |date=1 January 1904|publisher=Ananda Press|language=en|access-date=25 August 2017|archive-date=11 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311032507/https://books.google.com/books?id=JwkrAAAAYAAJ&q=korakkar|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[Buddhism]], cannabis is generally regarded as an intoxicant and may be a hindrance to development of [[Buddhist meditation|meditation]] and [[Sati (Buddhism)|clear awareness]]. In ancient [[Germanic peoples|Germanic culture]], ''Cannabis'' was associated with the [[Norse mythology|Norse]] love goddess, [[Freya]].<ref name="pilcher">{{cite book| vauthors = Pilcher T |title=Spliffs 3: The Last Word in Cannabis Culture?|year=2005|page=34|publisher=Collins & Brown Publishers|isbn=978-1-84340-310-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Vindheim JB |url=http://www.vindheim.net/hamp/hemp.html|title=The History of Hemp in Norway|website=The Journal of Industrial Hemp|publisher=International Hemp Association|access-date=30 June 2009|archive-date=26 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326080729/http://www.vindheim.net/hamp/hemp.html|url-status=live}}</ref> An anointing oil mentioned in Exodus is, by some translators, said to contain ''Cannabis''.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Kaplan A |title=The Living Torah|location=New York|year=1981|page=442|isbn=978-0-940118-35-5|title-link=The Living Torah}}</ref>

In modern times, the [[Rastafari movement]] has embraced ''Cannabis'' as a sacrament.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dread, The Rastafarians of Jamaica|url=https://archive.org/details/dreadrastafarian00owen|url-access=registration| vauthors = Owens J |isbn=978-0-435-98650-6|year=1982|publisher=Heinemann|location=London|author-link=Joseph Owens (Jesuit)}}</ref> Elders of the [[Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church]], a [[religious movement]] founded in the U.S. in 1975 with no ties to either [[Ethiopia]] or the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Church]], consider ''Cannabis'' to be the [[Eucharist]], claiming it as an oral tradition from Ethiopia dating back to the time of [[Christ]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/potbible.htm|title=Marijuana and the Bible|publisher=Schaffer Library of Drug Policy|author=The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church|access-date=13 September 2007|archive-date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927221734/http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/potbible.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Like the Rastafari, some modern [[Gnostic]] Christian sects have asserted that ''Cannabis'' is the [[Tree of Life (Judeo-Christian)|Tree of Life]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.writsdc.com/make-cannabis-oil/|title=Zion Light Ministry|access-date=20 August 2007|archive-date=27 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027205948/http://www.writsdc.com/make-cannabis-oil/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Bennett LC, Osburn JO |title=Green Gold: the Tree of LifeMarijuana in Magic & Religion|publisher=Access Unlimited|year=1938|isbn=978-0-9629872-2-9|page=418}}</ref> Other organized [[religions]] founded in the 20th century that treat ''Cannabis'' as a [[sacrament]] are the [[THC Ministry]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thc-ministry.org/|title=The Hawai'i Cannabis Ministry|access-date=13 September 2007|archive-date=28 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928231149/http://www.thc-ministry.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Cantheism]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ebeneezer.net/ritual/vegetable/offsite/Cantheist.html|title=Cantheism|access-date=13 September 2007|archive-date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927193240/http://www.ebeneezer.net/ritual/vegetable/offsite/Cantheist.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Cannabis Assembly]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cannabisassembly.org/|title=Cannabis Assembly|access-date=13 September 2007|archive-date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927134910/http://www.cannabisassembly.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Church of Cognizance]].

Since the 13th century CE, cannabis has been used among [[Sufi]]s<ref name="Ferrara">{{cite book |title=Sacred Bliss: A Spiritual History of Cannabis |vauthors=Ferrara MS |date=20 Oct 2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-7192-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A Comprehensive Guide to Cannabis Literature |vauthors=Ernest A |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-313-20721-1 |page=14}}</ref> – the mystical interpretation of [[Islam]] that exerts strong influence over local Muslim practices in [[Bangladesh]], [[India]], [[Indonesia]], [[Turkey]], and [[Pakistan]]. Cannabis preparations are frequently used at Sufi festivals in those countries.<ref name="Ferrara"/> Pakistan's [[Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar]] in [[Sindh]] province is particularly renowned for the widespread use of cannabis at the shrine's celebrations, especially its annual ''[[Urs]]'' festival and Thursday evening ''dhamaal'' sessions – or meditative dancing sessions.<ref>{{cite news| vauthors = Chapple A |title=Music, Dancing, And Tolerance -- Pakistan's Embattled Sufi Minority|url=http://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-sufi-attacks/28315772.html|access-date=8 April 2017|agency=RFERL|date=17 February 2017|quote=During the festival the air is heavy with drumbeats, chanting and cannabis smoke.|archive-date=9 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409021342/http://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-sufi-attacks/28315772.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Islamic Reform in South Asia">{{cite book| vauthors = Osella F, Osella C |title=Islamic Reform in South Asia|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-03175-3 |pages=65, 509}}</ref>