One of the first plants adopted for domestic use by early humans, Cannabis Sativa has been used in textiles, food as well as recreational and medicinal drugs for a long time. But legal restrictions have made it difficult for modern science to trace back its roots and history.
While it was commonly believed that the earliest cannabis plants came from South Asia, new research claims that the plant most likely has its roots in modern-day China. Published in the journal Science Advances, the study says that the Cannabis Sativa plant was first domesticated in early Neolithic times in East Asia.
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The team from Switzerland and China adds that all current hemp and drug cultivars diverged from a gene pool currently represented by feral plants in China.
While earlier estimates suggested that the first records of cannabis were in India about 3,000 years ago, the new research claims the crop was likely introduced to the Indian subcontinent from China, along with other crops.
Interestingly, the scientists added that while the much-loved and defamed plant can be traced as far back as 10,000 to 3,000 BC, its use and recognition as a psychoactive drug is far more recent.
In fact, the earliest evidence of the burning of cannabis dates back to a 2,500-year-old tomb in western China. However, the study notes that the plant was probably not burnt as a joint but more as a form of incense.
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