Revisiting Cannabis: History, Stigmas, and Sustainable Futures
Weed, Green, Wacky Tobacky, the Devil's Lettuce, Sweet Mary Jane, SweetLeaf (if your Ozzy) these are all common names for Cannabis Sativa the plant that can be medicine, paper, textiles, construction materials, and, perhaps most surprising, fuel. Cannabis has been used throughout most of recorded history and we have archeological evidence that it was in use prior to recorded history. It’s no wonder that our ancestors cultivated these fascinating plants before tomatoes.
Today I want to focus on some of the more modern thoughts surrounding what is arguably one of the most versatile plants in existence. I grew up in the DARE era. I was shown commercials about how my brain on drugs looked like a fried or broken egg. Weed being one of the most talked about for some reason. Sure, the program talked about coke and heroin but for some reason, weed was the focus of the media it seems. This was of course decades ago now and I live in a state that has legalized the “recreational” use of cannabis. I put recreational in quotes because I am of the opinion that all folks that are using mind and mood altering substances are self-medicating to some degree.
“What are your qualifications?” I can hear some of the more critical folks asking. I have been observing and living various degrees of addiction since I was born. I’ve seen it all. I lived with an alcoholic mother who at some point developed a love affair with booger sugar and other things that we don’t often automatically even consider as addiction. Members of my extended family have all shared stories of their own addiction struggles. I spent years tending bar. I’m observant and psychology is a hyper fixation of mine, even though I do not have a degree. I have spent years observing addiction and drug use, in various settings. And I have that face that everyone wants to share their demons with. You start to notice some patterns after a while.
Now back to cannabis, specifically. Did you know that our Founding Fathers smoked, just, a lot of pot and used hemp as textiles? Neither did I until I started working in the cannabis industry. I started working with a company that took great pride in their caregiver roots. Caregivers are what the medical industry called folks that grew for medical use patients. Card carrying patients with any number of ailments ranging from chronic pain and loss of appetite caused by cancer and cancer treatment to severe and debilitating anxiety. Because this company took great pride in what they were doing, they provided us with reading material for education purposes that we were encouraged to read during our down time. I unfortunately can’t remember all the books that I read, but I will do my best to include a list of references for more reading.
Wait, so the founding fathers smoked pot and used hemp and then it was bad and now it’s good again? How did we get here? Great questions. Hemp and Cannabis are the same plant, but one is bred specifically for its medicinal benefits. We actually used cannabis in this country for like 100 years without an issue. Then POC brought us jazz music and jazz cabbage became associated with POC. I shouldn’t have to tell you that during the early 1900s we, those of us lacking melanin, were particularly heinous in our treatment of what we perceived as others. Many of us STILL are and unfortunately that is a conversation for another day. So, I am saying that racism set our country back significantly.
Had it not been for racism and greed we could have had a healthcare system that bothered to research why cannabis is medicine and we could have been further ahead in identifying exactly which compounds work best for which ailments. Had it not been for racism and greed we could have saved millions of acres of forests in Michigan alone. I’m not here to educate you on why that’s bad. I’m sure there are better resources for that. Well where does greed come in, you ask. It was lobbyists with personal interest in things like paper made from trees and criminalizing the medicine to make a profit that convinced corrupt politicians to help demonize it. Crazy to think that we still allow lobbying despite humans proving again and again that they will only look out for their own best interests instead of the best interests of the many. But again, that is not today’s topic! Stay on track.
When Nixion had cannabis scheduled as a drug, it was against medical professionals advice. For context, because context is always important, there were protests against the Vietnam war going on at this time, there were civil rights protests and there was the women's liberation movement. Politically it was an active time. Culturally, the communities that would be disproportionately affected by the criminalization were - you guessed it- POC. There are better educators out there than me to explain the nuance here, but it boils down to this, believe POC when they tell you their experience and how it is we got here. Generational trauma gets passed down in two ways; behaviors like people pleasing and code switching (and many others.) and a literal genetic component. Trauma: individual like abuse suffered in the home and collective like slavery, lynching, and an un-winable war literally change our DNA. None of that is actually today’s main focus however it is an important bit of context. And you are always encouraged to fact check me.
Medical professionals knew that there were real world applications for cannabis in the healing sector, even in the 70s. In the 70s, maybe for the first time, we were seeing things like PTSD which were talked about as “shell shock” and “combat fatigue”. While there was a huge stigma around mental health, even more so than today, especially in regards to our veterans, what they were seeing would eventually be labeled as PTSD. I can’t say for sure that medical professionals knew cannabis would help with mental health things back then, but given that was when they were also looking at LSD for its ability to rewire the brain, it's not hard to imagine they had an inkling.
What we know now is that humans have what is called an endocannabinoid system. Its a complex system that I once read described as being responsible for the body’s homeostasis. Research on this is a bit on the newer side of course but what we know is that the shape of the compounds found in the cannabis plant fit perfectly into this endocannabinoid system. This system helps regulate things like cortisol, the stress hormone and other systems. It is a key player. I can’t remember specifically if I read this next bit or if it is an original thought, but it seems to me that the endocannabinoid system can be thrown out of wack by living in fight or flight and this effects the cortisol levels. I don’t remember the specific science that led me there, unfortunately. Smoking pot, anecdotally, helps me function like a normal person with a normal nervous system. Smoking pot helps others manage their physical pain. Cannabis is medicine.
Moving forward, I hope to see a future where we use cannabis in sustainable ways. Imagine less deforestation and more hemp farms. Picture a shift from oil to hemp biofuel and replacing concrete with hempcrete for building materials. Cannabis is a plant that requires fewer resources to grow than most crops, and its applications are endless. If we hadn't demonized this plant a century ago, we might already be living in a greener, more sustainable world. But the second-best time to make this a reality is now. If you have thoughts on how we can make this vision a reality, let’s chat in the comments.
With love,
Mia Marie
P.S
Further Reading
Green: A Field Guide to Marijuana by Dan Michaels and Erik Christiansen
Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America by Emily Dufton
The Cannabis Manifesto: A New Paradigm for Wellness by Steve DeAngelo and Willie L. Brown Jr.
Terpenes: The Magic in Cannabis by Beverly A. Potter Ph.D
Additional resources:
Generational Trauma
Trauma and Addiction
Generational Trauma and substance use
War on Drugs and the demonization of Cannabis
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