Pot or marijuana has been around and in use by humans in one form or another for thousands of years. Its uses trace back many thousands of years to before recorded history. Here are a few of the places you might have encountered ancient stoners.

The earliest known use of the plant was in the area of current day Romania as far back as the Neolithic age in the third Millenium BC. Archaeologists managed to uncover hemp seeds that had been charred in a vessel known as a ‘pipe cup.’ That in turn, was found in a burial grave of the Kurgan people. Other finds accross Europe dated to similar eras have led to hypotheses that these were the precursor to the use of cannibis in later ritual use.

In the first millenium BC, the use of cannabis is known in the Russian Steppes where remains of Iranian fire temples have contained physical evidence of cannabis (ie. hemp seeds) and opium, again uncovered by archaeologists.

In these two cases, the general consensus is that the remains show that the combustible part of the plant that has the psychoactive properties had been consumed, leaving behind the seeds. Thus proof of the earliest human use of cannabis.

In China, the ancient word for cannabis is known to have meant both “chaotic and numerous” (in reference to the nature of hemp fibre) and also “senselessness” (in reference to the effects of the drug). It is believed that cannbis was grown in northeast China for use by shamans.

The ancient Hindus of India also used the plant. It was know as ganjika and Shiva, the Hindu deity instructed his followers to revere the plant as he himself was a user of it at least 1300 years BCE. Of course, the use of cannabis has come down through the hindu tradition in India to today with the modern word, ganja, having obvious roots in ganjika.

The Thracians, Scythians and Dacians who lived in the area of modern northern Greece, are also thought  to have had a close association with cannabis. Herodotus, the Greek historian, wrote of the Thracian’s ability at using hemp fibres for clothing, and it is belived that the shamans of the Thracians burned the leaves of the cannbis plant in combination with other ingredients in order to induce a trance-like state.

As Dionysus, the Greek god of intoxication was originally a Thracian god, then it is no surprise then that the use of cannabis travelled to ancient Greece from the Thracians.

The ancient Egyptians, not to be outdone, also have a possible history of marijuana use, though the evidence is not as strong as for other cultures. While hemp was widely used as a strong fibre, mainly for ropes, there are only hints that the Egyptians knew and utilised the psychoactive effects of cannabis.

So as you can see, the history of cannabis goes back a long long time. In fact it could easily be argued that the drug was well revered for most of human history up until 1868 when Egypt became the first country in modern times to outlaw the drug. But that’s another story and a whole new controversy.