Entheogenic Use of Cannabis

 

Here is an excerpt from a longer article titled "The Entheogenic Use of Cannabis," from Wikipedia, 2020.  The agricultural history of marihuana growing and its uses all around the world is succinctly covered in the article.    

"Cannabis has served as an entheogen—a chemical substance used as an entheogen—a chemical substance used in religious or spiritual contexts^[1]—in the Indian subcontinent since the Vedic period dating back to approximately 1500 BCE, but perhaps as far back as 2000 BCE. Cannabis has been used by shamanic and pagan cultures to ponder deeply religious and philosophical subjects related to their tribe or society, to achieve a form of enlightenment, to unravel unknown facts and realms of the human mind and subconscious, and also as an aphrodisiac during rituals or orgies.^[2] There are several references in Greek mythology to a powerful drug that eliminated anguish and sorrow. Herodotus wrote about early ceremonial practices by the Scythians, thought to have occurred from the 5th to 2nd century BCE. Itinerant Hindu saints have used it in the Indian subcontinent for centuries.^[3] Over the last few decades hundreds of archaeological and anthropological items of evidence have come out of Mexican, Mayan and Aztec cultures that suggest cannabis, along with magic mushrooms (psilocybin), peyote (mescaline) and other psychoactive plants were used in cultural shamanic and religious rituals.^[2] Mexican-Indian communities occasionally use cannabis in religious ceremonies by leaving bundles of it on church altars to be consumed by the attendees.^[4]" 

Here was an October 2020 Facebook Post of mine:

I favor the Federal decriminalization of marihuana. In the State of Washington, since 2012, marihuana farms are prospering, tax revenues are growing from pot sales, investors in commodities are benefitting, law enforcement can focus on more important matters, people have more access to new CBD products, tourists are attracted to our state, and some folks can just enjoy a pleasant puff now and then purchased at a local pot shop. The Federal marihuana laws are unnecessary, costly, unjust, and out of date. I don’t smoke or drink now, but others can now purchase and use marihuana in Washington without being treated as a criminal. Many Democrats, Independents, and Libertarians support the Federal descheduling of cannabis.

https://potguide.com/washington/marijuana-laws/