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Ferre
Cannabis Sacrament Minister.
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
Posts: 7295
Location: Amsterdam
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 Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 3:37 am Post subject: Historical Origins and Uses of Cannabis |
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This document gives some real interesting information...
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HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL USES OF CANNABIS AND THE CANADIAN "MARIJUANA CLASH"
Prepared For The Senate Special Committee On Illegal Drugs
Leah Spicer
Law and Government Division
12 April 2002
LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT
http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/library-e/Spicer-e.htm
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| This first ethnographic description of ancient peoples inhaling marijuana as a psychotropic stimulant was further confirmed by a Russian archaeologist, Professor S.I. Rudenko in 1929, who discovered that marijuana was also used by the Scythians in everyday life. Not only did Rudenko come across the embalmed body of a man and a bronze cauldron filled with burnt marijuana seeds, but he also found some shirts woven from hemp fibre and some metal censors designed for inhaling marijuana smoke, which did not appear to be connected with any religious rite. “To Rudenko, the evidence suggested that inhalation of smouldering marijuana seeds occurred not only in a religious context, but also as an everyday activity, one in which Scythian women participated alongside the men.” |
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| Up until the early 1890’s doctors continued to find cannabis valuable for treatment of various forms of neuralgia especially treating migraine attacks, epilepsy, depression and sometimes for asthma and dysmenorrhoea. Some doctors such as H.A. Hare also recommended cannabis to subdue restlessness and anxiety and distract a patient’s mind in terminal illness. Dr. Hare believed cannabis was as effective a pain reliever as opium. |
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Similar court cases are also occurring in the United States. For instance, in September 2000, the Supreme Court of Guam dismissed criminal charges against a man who claimed that he is a Rastafarian and was importing marijuana for religious use. The Guam Supreme Court concluded that because marijuana was a necessary sacrament of the Rastafarian religion, and because the prosecution failed to justify the burden placed on the practice of the Rastafarian religion by the law against importing marijuana, the importation ban violated Guam’s free exercise protection.([146]) Because Guam is a United States territory, in November 2001 the case was appealed to an American Federal Court in Honolulu where the American Civil Liberties Union argued,
- Just as eight states have passed local laws recognizing the usefulness of marijuana for medicinal purposes, the U.S. territory of Guam should be allowed to guarantee individuals the right to use marijuana for religious purposes without fear of federal interference.
The American Court will not likely give a ruling until Spring 2002.
While the argument for the religious use of marijuana has not yet been as successful as the argument for the medical use of marijuana, in 1991, a Canadian Law Reform Commission Report entitled Statutory Criminal Law recommended a study:
- to determine whether or not any groups in Canada traditionally make use of controlled drugs in their religious practices. If a need for some mechanism is found in the study, the report recommends that a statutory mechanism for application by religious groups for exemption be adopted. Further, the LRCC report recommends that specific exemptions be granted to individual religions to avoid the uncertainty and litigation inherent in a general broadly worded exemption. It also suggests that an exemption from drug offence legislation only be granted when it is sought by a bona fide religion; the drug used is central to a ceremony or practice of the religion; and its use would not indirectly make the drug more widely available in the general community.
This recommendation by the Law Reform Commission of Canada has not yet been adopted by Canada. Eleven years ago when the study was suggested, this may have been too large of a step in the way of a permissive attitude towards marijuana use for Canadians to take. However, the recent acceptance of marijuana use for medical purposes in Canada does suggest that Canadians are becoming more open-minded to certain valid uses for marijuana. |
Read the full article here:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/library-e/Spicer-e.htm
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