tha son

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.

Remnants of cannabis have been found in ancient Egypt and other sites, and the substance has been referred to by authors such as the Greek historian Herodotus. But the tomb stash is the oldest so far that could be thoroughly tested for its properties.

The 18 researchers, most of them based in China, subjected the cannabis to a battery of tests, including carbon dating and genetic analysis. Scientists also tried to germinate 100 of the seeds found in the cache, without success.

The marijuana was found to have a relatively high content of THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis, but the sample was too old to determine a precise percentage.

Researchers also could not determine whether the cannabis was smoked or ingested, as there were no pipes or other clues in the tomb of the shaman, who was about 45 years old.

The large cache was contained in a leather basket and in a wooden bowl, and was likely meant to be used by the shaman in the afterlife.

"This materially is unequivocally cannabis, and no material has previously had this degree of analysis possible," Russo said in an interview from Missoula, Mont.

"It was common practice in burials to provide materials needed for the afterlife. No hemp or seeds were provided for fabric or food. Rather, cannabis as medicine or for visionary purposes was supplied."

The tomb also contained bridles, archery equipment and a harp, confirming the man's high social standing.

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.

The company operates a cannabis-testing laboratory at a secret location in southern England to monitor crop quality for producing Sativex, and allowed Russo use of the facility for tests on 11 grams of the tomb cannabis.

Researchers needed about 10 months to cut red tape barring the transfer of the cannabis to England from China, Russo said.

The inter-disciplinary study was published this week by the British-based botany journal, which uses independent reviewers to ensure the accuracy and objectivity of all submitted papers.

The substance has been found in two of the 500 Gushi tombs excavated so far in northwestern China, indicating that cannabis was either restricted for use by a few individuals or was administered as a medicine to others through shamans, Russo said.

"It certainly does indicate that cannabis has been used by man for a variety of purposes for thousands of years."

Russo, who had a neurology practice for 20 years, has previously published studies examining the history of cannabis.

"I hope we can avoid some of the political liabilities of the issue," he said, referring to his latest paper.

The region of China where the tomb is located, Xinjiang, is considered an original source of many cannabis strains worldwide

TheStar.com | sciencetech | 2,700-year-old marijuana found in Chinese tomb

O High O

That's awesome. Thanks for posting.

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SpiralArchitect

Awesome! What a discovery.... Thanks for sharing this....

I am curious as to how they found out it had a high THC percentage, but couldn't figure out exactly what... why won't they give us the figures they did come up with? I bet all those damn scientists smoked it up.


If that doesn't prove anything, I don't know what does. Not a single death or harm has come from this plant and millions upon millions have enjoyed what it has to offer.

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Vicki

I'm sure they used it for pain relief, just like I am doing today.

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marcusJay

My first thought on this article was: Damn thats probably some nasty ass weed.

My second thought was the thought of those researchers getting busted by one of the worlds most restrictive governments concerning MJ. I hope they have a good lawyer (like that makes any difference in China).

Herbania

Matches up with the historical writings of Herodotus 2500 years ago. The Scythian were a migrating tribe from central Russia that he wrote about bringing cannabis to their new lands near the Greeks. Maybe there was a population boom or some tragedy that sent so many tribes from Russia east and west at that time...and they brought their weed with them...I just find the coincidence with a stoner tribe showing up in Europe and China from central Russia at about the same time interesting.

Still don't think it's even close to the earliest smoking. Hell, humans probably ate it or cooked with it thousands of years before they smoked it. A lot of cultures burned or otherwise destroyed the bodies of the dead so their weren't any tombs to preserve artifacts of smoking it.

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tha son

Happy to share guys, found it interesting myself!

Jinn

If I was alive 2,700 years ago I can't think of a better way to relax after a long and truly hard day's work. It would be great to ease the pain of daily life, especially when you don't have aspirin.

It blows my mind when ignorant people make claims to the effect of marijuana is a modern day problem. Common sense. It is a natural substance and we are a curious species. It is unfathomable to believe that we were not using this wonderful substance thousands of years ago.

Marvelous find and very interesting!

I am curious as to their method. I would say ingestion but it would not have been impossible to smoke rolled in another dried leaf.

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MrIMStoned

I wonder if anyone took any home for themselves. Snuck a dime bag away or something.

"Hey guys, wanna smoke some purple haze?"
"Nah man, I got something better; 2700 year old shaman weed!"

Imagine how connected to past you could feel. Living as those who lived three thousand years ago.

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vvicked0471

You are right, I would feel connected to the past after smoking the 2700 year old shaman weed. Only, I think I would not notice the connection until the fire in my throat from such dry mj had subsided...

I would be interested to know the relative strength of the THC (percentage wise) of that weed so we could compare it to ours. I'd just love for it to be within a few points of present day pot, that would really take the wind out of the "pot is stronger today than it was in the 60's" argument...

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