Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments:
An Entheogen Chrestomathy
Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D. and Paula Jo Hruby, Ed.D.
Author Index | Title Index

Cannabis and Culture

Rubin, Vera. (editor). (1975).
The Hague: Mouton Publishers.

ISBN:	90-279-7669-4 (Mouton)
	0-202-01152-6 (Aldine)

Description: Hardcover, xiv + 598 pages.

Contents:

General Editor's Preface	v
Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction by Vera Rubin	1
Part One: Ethnobotany and Diffusion
Typification of Cannabis sativa L. by William T. Stearn	13
Cannabis: An Example of Taxonomic Neglect by Richard Evans Schultes, William M. Klein, Timothy Plowman, and Tom E. Lockwood	21
Early Diffusion and Folk Uses of Hemp by Sula Benet	39
The Origin and Uses of Cannabis in Eastern Asia: Their Linguistic-Cultural Implications by Hui-Lin Li	51
Ethnobotanical Aspects of Cannabis in Southeast Asia by Marie Alexandrine Martin	63
Cannabis Smoking in 13th-14th Century Ethiopia: Chemical Evidence by Nikolaas J. van der Merwe	77
Dagga: The History and Ethnographic Setting of Cannabis sativa in Southern Africa by Brian M. du Toit	81
Part Two: Sociocultural Aspects of the Traditional Complex
The Social Nexus of Ganja in Jamaica by Lambros Comitas	119
The Ritual Use of Cannabis in Mexico by Roberto Williams-Garcia	133
Cannabis and Cultural Groups in a Columbian Municipio by William L. Partridge	147
Patterns of Marihuana Use in Brazil by Harry William Hutchinson	173
Economic Significance of Cannabis sativa in the Moroccan Rif by Roger Joseph	185
Traditional Patterns of Hashish Use in Egypt by Ahmad M. Khalifa	195
The Traditional Role and Symbolism of Hashish among Moroccan Jews in Israel and the Effect of Acculturation by Phyllis Palgi	207
The Social and Cultural Context of Cannabis Use in Rwanda by Helen Codere	217
Réunion: Cannabis in a Pluricultural and Polyethnic Society by Jean Benoist	227
Social Aspects of the Use of Cannabis in India by Khwaja A. Hasan	235
Cannabis in Nepal: An Overview by James Fisher	247
The Ganja Vision" in Jamaica by Vera Rubin	257
Part Three: Medical, Pharmacological and Ethnometabolic Studies
Cannabis sativa L. (Marihuana): VI Variations in Marihuana Preparations and Usage - Chemical and Pharmacological Consequences by Alvin B. Segelman, R. Duane Sofia, and Florence H. Segelman	269
Social and Medical Aspects of the Use of Cannabis in Brazil by Alvaro Rubim de Pinho	293
Sociocultural and Epidemiological Aspects of Hashish Use in Greece by C. Stefanis, C. Ballas, and D. Madianou	303
Marihuana and Genetic Studies in Colombia: The Problem in the City and in the Country by B. R. Elejalde	327
Cannabis Usage in Pakistan: A Pilot Study of Long Term Effects on Social Status and Physical Health by Munir A. Khan, Assad Abbas, and Knud Jensen	345
The Significance of Marihuana in a Small Agricultural Community in Jamaica by Joseph Schaeffer	355
Chronic Cannabis Use in Costa Rica: A Description of Research Objectives by W. E. Carter and W. J. Coggins	389
Part Four: Traditional Usage of Other Psychoactive Plants
Man, Culture and Hallucinogens: An Overview by Marlene Dobkin de Rios	401
Peyote and Huichol Worldview: The Structure of a Mystic Vision by Barbara G. Myerhoff	417
Magico-Religious Use of Tobacco among South American Indians by Johannes Wilbert	439
Coca Chewing: A New Perspective by Roderick E. Burchard	463
Cannabis or Alcohol: The Jamaican Experience by Michael H. Beaubrun	485
Part Five: The Modern Complex in North America
Cannabis Use in Canada by Melvyn Green and Ralph D. Miller	497
Memories, Reflections and Myths: The American Marihuana Commission by Louis Bozetti and Jack Blaine	521
Sociocultural Factors in Marihuana Use in the United States by William H. McGlothlin	531
Intersections of Anthropology and Law in the Cannabis Area by John Kaplan	549
Cannabis Conference Participant-Observers	559
Biographical Notes	563
Index of Names	571
Index of Subjects	579
Plates	266-267

Excerpt(s): The papers in this volume were originally presented at a conference on Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Cannabis, convened in Chicago, August 1973, during the IXth International Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. It brings together much of the contemporary social science data and thought on many world areas where cannabis has been traditionally used as a multipurpose plant, about which there has previously been little or no scientific reporting. The volume also introduces new botanical classifications and presents data on clinical studies of cannabis users.

The Conference was attended by some sixty scientists, in the fields of anthropology, botany, genetics, pharmacology, psychiatry and sociology, involved in various aspects of research on the complexities of cannabis in relation to man and culture. ...

Hui-Lin Li, one of the contributors, maintains that the first documented medical uses of cannabis in China, in an herbal text of the second century A.D., chronicles oral traditions passed down from prehistoric times, based on archeological, botanical and linguistic evidence. The antiquity of cannabis as a cultivated species in China, Hui-Lin Li observes, is attested to by its multitudinal uses in ancient times and its important role in the practice of Shamanism. He posits that there was widespread ritual use by the Neolithic peoples of northeast Asia, and that the nomadic tribes carried the plant and its ritual uses to western Asia and to India, where it proliferated. As reported in the article by Khwaja Hasan, medical and sacred use in India is also known to have a long tradition, predating written records.

Sacred use of cannabis in Assyria, Babylon and Palestine has been recorded, and Herodotus described Scythian funeral rites involving purification with vapor from cannabis seeds. This was corroborated by the Soviet archaeologist, S. I. Rudenko. In her article in this volume, Sula Benet traces the derivation of the generic term Cannabis from the Hebrew term kanebosm that appears both in the Hebrew and Aramaic translations of the Old Testament. Hemp was used for sacred and secular purposes, for the ropes of Solomon's temple and the robes of the priests. Benet surmises that both Scythians and Semites diffused ritual use of the plant to southern and eastern Europe on their westward migrations from Asia Minor. According to the Old Testament, cannabis was among the merchandise carried by caravans on the trade routes of the ancient world. The Old Testament, like the medical and sacred writings of other ancient civilizations, is based on venerable oral traditions. (Introduction, Vera Rubin, pages 1-3)

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