Following the legalization of medicinal and recreational use of marijuana throughout the majority of U.S. states, the cannabis industry has grown to reach huge proportions. Over the past few years, more and more research on the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes has proven that this plant can prove beneficial in alleviating a range of symptoms associated with physical and mental conditions.
Marijuana is also used recreationally to relax after a difficult day, unleash your creativity, and more. This has brought the plant to the public’s attention more, turning basic facts about cannabis into common knowledge. Still, there are many things you can still learn about the pant, so here are a few of them.
Cannabis has been used by humankind for over 12,000 years
Cannabis has been around for thousands of years, being one of the oldest cultivated plants in history – about as old as wheat and barley. Burned cannabis seeds have been found in 5,000-year-old
Siberian burial mounds and there are plenty of records that prove ancient civilizations from South Asia and the Middle East used cannabis in medicine.
Hemp first reached the United States back in the 16th century, and cannabis followed shortly after. It was only at the beginning of the 20th century that marijuana use began to spread in the U.S. Still, it was cut short in 1930 when Harry Anslinger managed to convince the government cannabis should be declared federally illegal.
The levels of THC in cannabis now are higher than they were decades ago
You may hear how older generations that grew up between the ‘70s and ‘90s complain that cannabis now is much stronger than it used to be. It may sound untrue, but it turns out they are not wrong.
Back in the ‘90s, cannabis contained about 4% THC, which is around a third of how potent marijuana is now. The average amount of THC found in cannabis now is 12%, with some strains even containing as much as 30% THC. This is all due to a process that many growers use to create sinsemilla plants – female cannabis plants isolated from male plants and don’t get pollinated. Because they are not exposed to male plants, sinsemilla plants only produce flowers without seeds and contain double the amount of THC a pollinated plant does.
It’s close to impossible to die from cannabis overdose
To this day, despite the fact that so much information is available at our fingertips, some people still believe you can die from a marijuana overdose. However, this is just misinformation.
There has not been one single case of marijuana overdose throughout history because it is pretty impossible to happen. Medical research shows you would need to find a way to consume 1,500 pounds of cannabis in about 15 minutes, which means around 30,000 joints, to trigger effects that could lead to death.
When fresh, THC is actually non-intoxicating
This may shock you if you don’t know much about cannabis, but THC only becomes intoxication after decarboxylation – a process that occurs when the plant is heated or combusted at over 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Raw THC is known as THCa and is being used by a number of doctors to treat various conditions in their patients because the body assimilates THCa better than it does THC.