Oldest marijuana stash found in ancient Chinese tomb

Maybe some of you haven't heard of this find as I had not until today. Thought I would share in case some of you were unaware too. Found it quite interesting. Article is from Nov, 2008.

Quote :

OTTAWA - Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China.

The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly "cultivated for psychoactive purposes," rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany.

The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.

The extremely dry conditions and alkaline soil acted as preservatives, allowing a team of scientists to carefully analyze the stash, which still looked green though it had lost its distinctive odour.

"To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent," says the newly published paper, whose lead author was American neurologist Dr. Ethan B. Russo.

Russo is a full-time consultant with GW Pharmaceuticals, which makes Sativex, a cannabis-based medicine approved in Canada for pain linked to multiple sclerosis and cancer...

Full article : http://www.ctvnews.ca/oldest-marijuana-stash-found-in-ancient-chinese-tomb-1.346463


Also see:
12 Things You May Not Know About Cannabis

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2013/03/01/12-things-you-may-not-know-about-cannabis/