Cannabis is now part of the daily life of millions of people around the world, whether in the form of flowers, resins, oils or edible products. But before it reaches our grinders and kitchens, this plant has travelled a very long way. From Central Asia to the Americas, passing through India, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, the history of cannabis follows major trade routes, conquests, migrations and, later, prohibition policies.

Origins: cannabis, a plant from Central Asia

Researchers agree that cannabis originated in Central Asia, in regions corresponding today to Mongolia, southern Siberia, the northern Chinese plateaus and the Hindu Kush mountains. There, wild hemp developed in cold and sunny areas before gradually being domesticated by humans.

The earliest traces of hemp use date back several millennia. Hemp ropes from around 2900 BCE have been found in Central Europe, along with seed and fibre remains in many archaeological sites. Very early on, the plant was used both as a raw material (fibres, ropes, textiles) and for its medicinal and ritual properties.

China, India and the first medicinal and spiritual uses

Traditional Chinese medicine

In China, cannabis appears very early in traditional medical texts. A frequently cited figure is the herbalist-emperor Shen Nong, who is credited with classifying numerous medicinal plants around the 3rd millennium BCE. Hemp is described as a potential remedy for various ailments: pain, rheumatism, digestive issues, malaria, and more.

The plant is mainly used in the form of seeds, decoctions or medicinal preparations rather than for its psychoactive effects. Later, cannabis spreads to Korea and Japan via the exchange routes linked to Neolithic China.

Bhang and Indian traditions

In India, cannabis holds a special place. It has long been integrated into religious and festive practices, especially in the form of bhang, a beverage made from cannabis leaves or flowers mixed with milk and spices.

In Vedic texts and Sanskrit poetry, cannabis is sometimes described as a plant capable of calming anxiety and opening the mind. Yogis and sadhus have traditionally used it, often mixed with tobacco, to accompany meditation. In Hindu culture, the plant has long enjoyed a near-sacred status.

The Scythians, the Silk Road and the Greco-Roman world

The Scythians, a nomadic Indo-European people, played a central role in spreading cannabis. As they moved across the steppes of Central Asia and the Altai Mountains, they carried the plant with them and used it in ritual contexts, particularly funerary ones: archaeological excavations have uncovered burnt seeds and traces of fumigation in graves.

These Scythian routes later overlapped with what would become the Silk Road, a vast network linking China, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Cannabis followed these routes and gradually arrived in Iran, Anatolia, Egypt and Greece.

In the Greco-Roman world, hemp was valued primarily for its fibres: it was used to make ropes, sails and textiles. Ancient authors also mention its intoxicating effects, though this aspect remained secondary to its importance as a raw material.

From the Middle East to Africa and Europe

Over the centuries, cannabis — and especially its concentrated form, hashish — became increasingly important in the Middle East and North Africa. In Morocco, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey, cannabis resin was consumed in both popular and mystical contexts.

Conquests, trade and the spread of Islam played a role in the geographical expansion of the plant. Cannabis spread into East Africa and further south, where it became known under various local names (for example dagga in South Africa). It was smoked, infused or used in traditional preparations.

In Europe, hemp remained for a long time a strategic agricultural crop. Its fibres were used to produce ropes, fabrics, paper and ship sails. Countries such as Italy, France, Russia and Spain developed vast areas of industrial hemp.

The arrival of cannabis in the Americas

Cannabis reached the Americas from the 16th century onwards, mainly via Spanish and Portuguese colonists. It was initially cultivated for industrial hemp: ropes, sails, fabrics, paper.

In North America, the settlers of Jamestown even mandated hemp cultivation at times, so crucial were its fibres. Historical figures such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson also grew it. But at that time, recreational use remained marginal and poorly documented.

Psychoactive use developed later, notably through interactions with Mexico and the Caribbean, and through African American communities and jazz musicians in the early 20th century.

From medicine and industrial hemp to public enemy: the birth of prohibition

Until the 19th century, cannabis was widely accepted around the world: used as a remedy in some pharmacopeias, as an industrial crop, or as a psychoactive substance in various cultural contexts. But this perception changed dramatically with the emergence of prohibition policies.

The first prohibitions

In Europe, Napoleon banned cannabis use among his troops at the end of the 18th century, fearing it would undermine their discipline. In the 19th century, the British Empire became concerned about cannabis consumption in colonial India and launched investigations linking it to madness or deviance — often based on questionable statistics.

At the beginning of the 20th century, several countries began restricting or banning cannabis: South Africa, Jamaica, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom… In the United States, the first state-level laws appeared as early as the 1910s–1920s.

The role of racism and propaganda

In the United States, cannabis prohibition was not based solely on health arguments. It was also driven by political, economic and racist motives. Fearmongering campaigns targeted Mexican communities, African Americans and artistic circles in turn.

The term “marihuana” was popularised to associate the plant with Mexican immigration. Influential figures of the time, including media magnates and industrialists, viewed hemp as potential competition for markets such as paper and synthetic fibres, and therefore supported a deliberately negative image of the plant.

In 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act marked a major turning point: it made cannabis cultivation and use extremely difficult legally in the United States. Later, the 20th-century “War on Drugs” increased penalties, fuelled stigma against users, and contributed to mass incarceration — without eliminating consumption.

From the War on Drugs to the return of legalisation

From the 1960s–1970s onwards, perceptions of cannabis began to shift again, influenced by countercultural movements and new scientific research. Its therapeutic potential was rediscovered, and key cannabinoids such as THC and CBD were identified.

In the 1990s, some countries and U.S. states paved the way for regulated medical use. California legalised medical cannabis in 1996, followed by many other states. Over the years, Uruguay and later Canada also legalised recreational use, while numerous countries relaxed medical cannabis policies or partially decriminalised use.

Meanwhile, research on the endocannabinoid system — a network of receptors throughout the human body — provided a scientific framework for understanding how cannabis affects pain, inflammation, mood, sleep and certain forms of epilepsy.

An ancient plant at the heart of a modern debate

The history of cannabis is that of a plant deeply intertwined with humanity: cultivated for its fibres, used as a remedy, honoured in rituals, banned, criminalised, and later rehabilitated.

Today, the debate continues: between public health concerns, the fight against the black market, economic opportunities, medical uses and social justice issues, each country seeks its balance. One thing is certain: after thousands of years of history, cannabis is far from finished making headlines.