The Origin of The Word Marijuana

A Washington Post headline from 1905 read: “Terrors of Marihuana!” The story was one of many fed to the press by cannabis prohibitionists who wanted to see the plant banned. At the time, most readers knew about cannabis from advertisements, doctors and the local pharmacy, but “marihuana” (as it was originally spelt) was presumably something totally different. The Greek word κάνναβις—transliterated into Latin as “cannabis”—likely originated with the Scythian or Thracian tribes a long time ago. Marihuana, on the other hand, is local Spanish slang that likely originated in the late 1800s, yet its etymology is largely shrouded in mystery because the term was so rarely used. In fact, the general public first learned the term through prohibitionist propaganda that treated marihuana as a new threat, not the cannabis with which the public was already familiar. Why did prohibitionists adopt an obscure slang term rather than use the standard botanical and medical name? Where do researchers believe the word “marihuana” originated, and how did it eventually become the common name for cannabis? PRØHBTD explains.

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5 Comments

  1. Phoenix Cherry on May 7, 2019 at 5:11 pm

    i read a thesis and marihuana became illegal around 1920 due to some moral issues that US had as concerns and México agreed with them and then say no, too.



  2. One Up Top TV on May 7, 2019 at 5:19 pm

    there were two nun growing cannabis aka kaneh bosm and their names were saint mary and saint jane. the spanish jesuits spread this prior to the sumerians and scythians



  3. Emerald_Diffuser on May 7, 2019 at 5:21 pm

    We Mexicans named the plant Marijuana , which means Mary Jane !!



  4. עזה הקטנה gaza the little غزة الصغيرة on May 7, 2019 at 5:33 pm

    i consider this to be a high level of education.



  5. Gothead420 on May 7, 2019 at 5:48 pm

    Legalise, again!