Cannabis is one of the most interesting plants on Earth. The more we study it the more it reveals itself to us, and the more accepted it becomes. Cannabis used to be just as taboo as meth, but now people use it to fight cancer, fight depression, and be their best selves. Many regular marijuana users own a MMJ card which helps them to have access to their medicine at lower costs as well as offer various other benefits.
There’s no end to the list of benefits cannabis holds. Here are just nine interesting facts about marijuana that you should know.
- Ancient Chinese Origins
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when people started using marijuana. But the earliest known record of weed use dates all the way back to 2727 B.C.
Chinese Emperor Shen Nung is the Father of Chinese Medicine. He would try various antidotes and medicines on himself in search of medicines for his people. He kept track of his discoveries by writing a medical encyclopedia called Pen Ts’ao.
One of the discoveries listed in the Pen Ts’ao is none other than cannabis. Back then he called it “ma”. Nung discovered that the female plant was more medicinal.
From that point, marijuana was used as an anesthetic in China. It was mixed with wine and given to patients before surgeries. Thankfully, there are better anesthetics now.
- Schedule What?
It might shock you to hear that marijuana is labeled as a schedule I drug in the United States. Schedule I is reserved for only the most addictive drugs and drugs with no currently accepted medical use. Other drugs under Schedule I include meth, peyote, and heroin!
It’s often debated whether marijuana should be moved to another schedule. Weed is becoming more widely legal every year, and the medicinal uses only look better and better as more studies are done.
- The Bard Gets Fried
Shakespeare smoked weed! In 2015, a team at South Africa University tested 24 tobacco pipe pieces that belonged to Shakespeare. A third of these pieces came back positive for weed!
Two of these pipe fragments also showed signs of cocaine! Shakespeare was doing some serious partying in-between writing the most important plays of all time.
- Even Pigs Love It!
The munchies are a blessing and a curse for any smoker. But the Bhutanese people have found a way to harness the munchies for total good.
The Bhutanese people feed their pigs marijuana to give them the munchies so they’ll eat more and get fatter! It’s a pretty genius move, and a truly unique way of using cannabis.
Bhutan is a very remote area in Asia, mostly cut off from the outside world. They actually don’t have a history of smoking marijuana, and don’t use it in any medicine. In fact, the people of Bhutan have only recently found out you can smoke it thanks to the legalization of TV by their government!
- Resting High
Bob Marley is not only a musical icon, but a marijuana icon, too. When he passed, he said he wanted five things buried with him: A soccer ball, his guitar, a ring from the Prince of Ethiopia, a bible, and a bud of weed.
Bob Marley was a Rastafarian. They put religious significance in weed, and smoke it only for faithful reasons. Marley thought weed opened a spiritual door, allowing him to expand his mind and his relationship with God.
Considering this, it’s no surprise Marley wanted to bring some bud with him to the afterworld.
- The Chocolate Connection
One of the best benefits of marijuana is its ability to fight depression. When you use weed, THC stimulates your brain’s anandamide receptors, which make you feel happy. CBD makes the brain break anandamide down slower, meaning you’ll hold onto the stimulated anandamide longer.
Eating chocolate does the same thing! The theobromine in chocolate makes the brain produce more anandamide, just like weed. If you’re ever low on marijuana, try getting your hands on some chocolate!
- Weed Kills Cancer
Most people know that weed is used to relieve cancer and chemotherapy symptoms. Weed is great at relieving nausea, dizziness, and depression, among other ailments brought on by cancer. But studies show that it can actually kill cancer cells!
A study in 2016 shows that cannabinoids can shrink tumors. Researchers gave THC to mice with tumors and saw them shrink significantly. The researchers also looked at two humans who were using THC for their brain tumors and saw similar results.
If that’s not enough to get it bumped down a few schedules, I don’t know what is!
CBD is also regularly used to fight cancer symptoms and ailments. It promotes cancer cell death, slows tumor growth, and helps radiation work better. Plus it doesn’t get you high, which some people prefer.
But is CBD legal? Nope, not everywhere. Here’s hoping that one day it’s legalized everywhere!
- Everybody Smokes
Marijuana use is only getting higher (pun intended). The most recent numbers show that over 11.8 million adults claimed to use weed in the past year. There were more men than women smoking, and there was a rise in the daily use of weed by the youth.
In fact, 11.8% of 8th graders said they’d smoked in the past year, and 28.8% of tenth graders. Vapes may be partly to blame for these numbers, as Juuls and related devices continue to be an issue in schools. Clearly, people are getting a lot more comfortable when it comes to weed.
- Safe & Sound
It actually is possible to overdose on marijuana. However, the amount of weed you would need to ingest makes it extremely unlikely.
To overdose on weed you’d need to smoke more than 1,500 lbs of cannabis in around 15 minutes. Even then, those are just estimates. Even Snoop Dogg couldn’t reach those numbers!
So definitely don’t worry about smoking too much. You might have adverse effects, but you won’t die.
There Are so Many Interesting Facts about Marijuana
Marijuana is one of the most fascinating plants in existence. As it becomes more widely legalized, we only discover more interesting facts about marijuana and what it can do for us. Who knows what other facts we’ll uncover in the next decade!
For more interesting information like this, check out the other articles on our blog. And feel free to contact us with any comments, questions, or concerns.
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
