{"componentChunkName":"component---common-build-tags-template-js","path":"/tag/names/","result":{"data":{"allArticle":{"edges":[{"node":{"id":"Article_2201-markdown","title":"Cannabis Versus Marijuana: What's in a Name?","slug":"cannabis-versus-marijuana-whats-in-a-name","content":"For many cannabis consumers, \"marijuana\" and \"cannabis\" are mere\r\nsynonyms used to indicate the same plant. Many people don't know,\r\nhowever, how varied the histories of cannabis and marijuana truly are.\r\nAs cannabis becomes more widely accepted, the way that the plant is\r\nreferred to in the public sphere becomes more critical to consider.\r\nWhile this is true with anything that represents a changing social norm,\r\nreferring to cannabis properly is one of the most sure-fire ways to earn\r\nacceptance for the plant in the future. While there are many slang terms\r\nused to refer to cannabis, aficionados everywhere are beginning to agree\r\nthat changing the way consumers talk about the plant is one of the most\r\ndirect paths to changing public viewpoints on it as well.\r\n\r\nCannabis Throughout History\r\n---------------------------\r\n\r\nCannabis has a long history of serving human beings. For the last\r\n[10,000 years](http://www.hemp.com/history-of-hemp/), hemp and hemp\r\nderivatives have been used in textiles, rituals, burials and\r\n[medicines](https://www.hellomd.com/health-wellness/the-history-of-medical-marijuana-usage).\r\nIn Egyptian civilizations, hemp also has a long history of use as a food\r\nsource, lamp oil and paper material. While the cannabis plant has\r\nboasted many titles throughout history (cannabis, marijuana, hashish and\r\nhemp, to name a few) the name of the herb itself wasn't a point of focus\r\n[until the\r\n1930s](http://www.salon.com/2013/08/06/weed_and_words_the_growth_of_dank_vocabulary_partner/),\r\nwhen narcotics agents began to cast aside the scientific term \"cannabis\"\r\nin favor of the more pejorative Mexican word \"marijuana.\"\r\n\r\nAccording to well-known marijuana scholar [H.L.\r\nMencken](http://www.citypaper.com/bcp-blog-18806-20130830-story.html),\r\nthere are actually no known uses of the term \"marijuana\" until the late\r\n1800s, when prohibitionists began to use terms like \"marijuana\" and\r\n\"devil's weed\" to discourage the general public from using the plant.\r\nWhile the word \"marijuana\" may not seem sinister to modern-day\r\nconsumers, it's important to remember that prohibitionists began using\r\nthe Mexican-Latino term as a way to associate the herb with Mexican\r\nimmigrants. These immigrants were responsible for [the first\r\nintroductions of\r\ncannabis](http://origins.osu.edu/article/illegalization-marijuana-brief-history)\r\ninto American society, and many Americans during that time regarded\r\nthese immigrants as dangerous, sinister and thieving. Because of this\r\nconnection, many current cannabis aficionados interpret the word\r\n\"marijuana\" to be pejorative and discriminatory.\r\n\r\nIn 1937, the name-game surrounding cannabis became heated thanks to\r\nsomething called the [Marihuana Tax Act of\r\n1937](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana_Tax_Act_of_1937). This act\r\nwas the first piece of official legislation to expressly prohibit\r\nmarijuana. The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 outlawed all parts of the\r\nCannabis plant except for the stalks and oils, which could be used for\r\nindustrial purposes. During hearings surrounding the act, the assistant\r\nattorney of the Treasury Department made a widely-publicized statement,\r\nclaiming that the tops, leaves and seeds of the hemp plant were home to\r\na dangerous and addictive drug that went by the name of marijuana. This\r\nstatement, combined with the prior efforts of prohibitionists, is where\r\nmuch of the pejorative weight of \"marijuana\" comes from.\r\n\r\nThe Current Inception of Cannabis\r\n---------------------------------\r\n\r\nWhile many modern consumers understand that the words \"marijuana\" and\r\n\"cannabis\" are used to refer to the same plant, many are unaware of the\r\npock-marked history of the word \"marijuana.\" While the word \"marijuana\"\r\ndoes not pack any sinister weight in and of itself, many cannabis users\r\ntake issue with the negative historical implications of the term.\r\nBecause of this, \"cannabis\" has become the preferred lexicon. In\r\naddition to being perceived as more elegant, \"cannabis\" manages to\r\nescape negative historical connotations and contributes to the effort of\r\naficionados and researchers alike to lead the public to regard this\r\nplant in a scientific and evidence-based fashion.\r\n","image":{"childImageSharp":{"fluid":{"base64":"data:image/png;base64,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","aspectRatio":1.492537313432836,"src":"/static/6b313e33f87997a7eeb66a8aa4fe041b/7dac8/0f9c667267d829f10039ffe8f8e47cf3.png","srcSet":"/static/6b313e33f87997a7eeb66a8aa4fe041b/69585/0f9c667267d829f10039ffe8f8e47cf3.png 200w,\n/static/6b313e33f87997a7eeb66a8aa4fe041b/497c6/0f9c667267d829f10039ffe8f8e47cf3.png 400w,\n/static/6b313e33f87997a7eeb66a8aa4fe041b/7dac8/0f9c667267d829f10039ffe8f8e47cf3.png 780w","srcWebp":"/static/6b313e33f87997a7eeb66a8aa4fe041b/a6aca/0f9c667267d829f10039ffe8f8e47cf3.webp","srcSetWebp":"/static/6b313e33f87997a7eeb66a8aa4fe041b/61e93/0f9c667267d829f10039ffe8f8e47cf3.webp 200w,\n/static/6b313e33f87997a7eeb66a8aa4fe041b/1f5c5/0f9c667267d829f10039ffe8f8e47cf3.webp 400w,\n/static/6b313e33f87997a7eeb66a8aa4fe041b/a6aca/0f9c667267d829f10039ffe8f8e47cf3.webp 780w","sizes":"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px"}}}}}]}},"pageContext":{"limit":12,"skip":0,"numPages":1,"currentPage":1,"id":5552,"name":"Names","slug":"names","country":"US"}},"staticQueryHashes":["3949754563","4179947113","4202924991"]}