When cannibus was first introduced into the U.S. (late 1800's) it was called Indian hemp. Then, circa 1900, a brand of cigarette was sold in Mexico. It had a drawing of a woman on the label of a woman--Marijuana, which of course in English is Maryjane. The term marijuana is simply a person's name, like Marlboro or Winston. Anyway, the name marijuana became a slang for cannibus among Mexicans, because of that brand of cigarette's. When our gov't decieded to outlaw cannibus, they didn't want people to know they were banning hemp, one of mankinds most useful and beneficial plants, so they called it marijuana, an unfamiliar name that most people in the U.S. had seldom or never heard of before. They could have never banned it if they had called it hemp. People knew about hemp and it's many uses. Once it was banned, people used to hide it in the cupboard, in a pot, and that's how the term pot came about. Reefer was a slang for merchant marines, who used to import lots of cannibus into the U.S. Ganja is what they call cannibus in parts of India, named after the Ganges River. There are a lot of other terms--probably over 100--to describe cannibus.
That's actually very interesting. They should teach this shit in high school history classes. Despite the [immoral] illegality of weed, it seems that they would at least let us know it's history. Even though it illegal, it seems that they would at least acknowledge it's relevance in today's world.
I never knew that the term ganja came from the Ganga river. I'm Indian so you'd think I'd know... but.. hmm very interesting nonetheless
rappers... (redman, bone thugs) recent urban terminology. also buddah is the name of a strain of potant weed... but what isnt these days...
hm. there are these two mexican girls that live down the street from me and their names are Maria and Juana. i am the only one who has noticed the coolness of this, i'm waiting for it to develop, lol. in 9th grade we studied the Ganges River and me and my friend would always joke about it. i was reading about it out loud so i pretended to have problems pronouncing it. "Gaaa.. ganja? Ganja s river." Which is sort of stupid but i found it hilarious at the time. and yes, i do know the correct way to pronounce Ganges, lol.
I thought that one of the first laws in the colony of Virginia was that all farmers were to make the attempt to grow hemp for ropes. (The colonies were put here to get raw materials for the Royal navy.) How is the 1800's plant different from what the colonists grew?
Hemp, the kind used to make rope, clothes, etc. has very little THC content. Marijuana is a close cousin of industrial hemp.
ranger you should start a thread of just cool info you know or find out about maryjane. this was pretty cool i like reading stuff like this.
