Medical Viewpoint and Historical Context

There are various ways as to how marijuana can be referred to. Cannabis is the technical term but terms like weed, hemp and pot would also fit perfectly. Marijuana originates from a hemp plant called Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica. This plant can be easily found on mountainous and high areas in the Philippines like Northern Luzon. The different parts of this plant such as the dried leaves and seeds are what people often use in making marijuana and consist an estimate of 400 chemicals. Despite of the large number of these chemicals, there is only one among them that has the most exhilarating effect on the human body specifically on the brain. It is the chemical called THC or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol which is the reason why marijuana is prohibited and considered as an illegal drug in most countries.
History of marijuana can be traced back in the ancient times which started most likely in Asia around 500 BC. It had a history marked by using it as a herbal medicine. In America, the purpose of cultivating marijuana is to produce ropes and textiles. Before being introduced to Africa, Europe and America, this plant originated in Central Asia. It can be concluded that they had a similar objective which is to benefit from this plant like making clothing and fiber out of this plant. When colonization took place in different countries like in the early 1600s, farmers were required to grow hemp because it was easy to cultivate. At that time, those plants were said to be low in THC and evidences even say that ancient people had an idea about the plant being psychoactive. They probably have used these for religious ceremonies. This coincide with the discovery of burned cannabis seeds in shamans’ graves at Siberia and China. It was very evident that cannabis back then was really beneficial to people in a good way. One maybe puzzled of this and may think “what happened?”. Well, the primary factor that led this to criminalization of this are the political and racial factors.

It is a known fact that marijuana is an illegal drug that people often abuse in the whole world. It’s very popular among teenagers and young adults probably because of the curiosity to this substance at first which then leads to addiction. Based on a report given by The Partnership on Drugfree.org, the number of teenagers using marijuana for recreational use is gradually rising wherein 1 out of 10 smoke more than 20 times a month. The pleasure they get from smoking marijuana and the feeling of gratification from it to get away from boredom can be a possible reason. Nowadays, teenagers also encounter difficulty in dealing with peer pressure and stress and they find comfort in this dru