Part I The Ancient World
Being able to establish an exact date for the origin of cannabis extractions remains uncertain, the history of its medicinal and recreational use goes back many centuries. By the year 6000 B.C. hemp was already being used as food and for textile purposes and by 3000 B.C. there is evidence of its medicinal use.
The use of cannabis as a concentrate can be traced back to the period 1500 to 1000 B.C. thanks to bhang, a Indian concentrate made from an extraction of crushed cannabis made into a paste and mixed with milk or ghee (Indian butter) and other spices. These concentrates were ingested or used as incense but not smoked.
It was after the change of era that other cannabis concentrates appeared such as charas, popularized in the 10th century in Arabia and Persia. Charas is hashish made from rubbing the flowers of the fresh plant with the hands, in a way that the resin sticks to them, obtaining a very malleable fresh resin, this extraction was handmade and therefore costly to produce a gram of charas.
Misconceptions suggest that charas originates from Arabian culture, however, there are texts in which religious Arabs blamed Sufis and Mongols for having introduced charas in Arabia. Due to the Sufi monks, the use of hashish spread unchecked throughout Muslim territory.
Genghis Khan was also a key figure since his tribes were dedicated to propagate hashish almost as a cult in the places occupied after the Mongol invasions and the conquests of Central Asia, West Asia, Europe and East Asia.
One of the first mentions of hashish in history is found in the “Book on Poisons” by Ibn Wahshiyya (probably written in the 10th century) in which the toxicological properties of this substance are described.
In this period hashish was mostly ingested, which provoked a more potent effect, these extractions became so popular that they were included in traditions such as the tales of “A Thousand and One Nights“.
During the XIII century there was an increase in the consumption of hashish becoming popular in different cultures around Europe, Africa, the Middle East and other parts of Asia. It is believed that it arrived in Spain around the XIV century, thanks to the Berber tribes that controlled the Rif valley who consumed hashish centuries before.
Hashish’s expansion was the result of the introduction of a new extraction technique: sieving. A mechanical method for separating two solids made up of particles of different sizes.
This technique allowed to increase production, reduce the amount of work and increase the useful life of the product, it was used in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India but did not become widespread until the XVII century.
In the following part we’ll see the transformations and advances that occurred in the period from the “Discovery of America” to the present time.