The use of cannabis to relieve pain is recorded in the world’s oldest surviving pharmacopoeia
(list of drugs and their applications), which was compiled in China c. 2737 BC. The buds of the
hemp plant were smoked or eaten for
whole-body effects, and the roots were
ground into paste and applied topically
for localized effects on surgical
wounds and fractures. From China,
knowledge of the plant’s narcotic
properties was spread by nomadic
tribesmen into India, where hemp
also grew wild. The ancient Indians
revered the drug as sacred and appealed
to its spirit for “freedom from distress”
and as a “reliever of anxiety” in
religious texts compiled c. 1400–1000
BC. Cannabis was also used in the
Biblical lands, particularly to ease the
pain of childbirth. Today, marijuana is
still sometimes prescribed for the pain of chemotherapy and AIDS patients, in whom its hungerinducing
effect is an added benefit; however, the medical use of marijuana is very controversial
in the United States.