Marijuana

What is Marijuana?
How is Marijuana Used?
Health Hazards
Addictive Potential
Extent Of Use
Signs Of Abuse
Effects on the body
Effects on the mind
History Of Marijuana

What is Marijuana?

Marijuana is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. There are over 200 slang terms for marijuana including "pot," "herb," "weed," "boom," "Mary Jane," "gangster," and "chronic." It is usually smoked as a cigarette (called a joint or a nail) or in a pipe or bong. In recent years, it has appeared in blunts. These are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and re-filled with marijuana, often in combination with another drug, such as crack. Some users also mix marijuana into foods or use it to brew tea.

The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). In 1988, it was discovered that the membranes of certain nerve cells contain protein receptors that bind THC. Once securely in place, THC kicks off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the high that users experience when they smoke marijuana.

The short term effects of marijuana use include problems with memory and learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem-solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate, anxiety, and panic attacks.

Scientists have found that whether an individual has positive or negative sensations after smoking marijuana can be influenced by heredity. A recent study demonstrated that identical male twins were more likely than non identical male twins to report similar responses to marijuana use, indicating a genetic basis for their sensations. Identical twins share all of their genes, and fraternal twins share about half. Environmental factors such as the availability of marijuana, expectations about how the drug would affect them, the influence of friends and social contacts, and other factors that would be different even for identical twins also were found to have an important effect; however, it also was discovered that the twins' shared or family environment before age 18 had no detectable influence on their response to marijuana.

How is Marijuana Used?

Cannabis products are usually smoked. Their effects are felt within minutes, reach their peak in 10 to 30 minutes, and may linger for two or three hours. The effects experienced often depend upon the experience and expectations of the individual user as well as the activity of the drug itself.

Low doses tend to induce a sense of well-being and a dreamy state of relaxation, which may be accompanied by a more vivid sense of sight, smell, taste, and hearing as well as by subtle alterations in thought formation and expression. This state if intoxication may not be noticeable to an observer. However, driving, occupational or household accidents may result from a distortion of time and space relationships and impaired coordination.

Stronger doses intensify reactions. The individual may experience shifting sensory imagery, rapidly fluctuating emotions, a flight of fragmentary thoughts with disturbed associations, an altered sense of self-identity, impaired memory, and a dulling of attention despite an illusion of heightened insight. High doses may result in image distortion, a loss of personal identity, and fantasies and hallucinations.

Health Hazards

Marijuana contains known toxins and cancer-causing chemicals which are stored in fat cells for as long as several months. Marijuana users experience the same health problems as tobacco smokers, such as bronchitis, emphysema and bronchial asthma. Some of the effects of marijuana use also include: an increased heart rate, dryness of the mouth, reddening if the eyes, impaired motor skills and concentration, and frequent hunger and an increased desire for sweets. Extended use increases risk to the lungs and reproductive system, as well as suppression of the immune system. Occasionally hallucinations, fantasies and paranoia are reported.

Effects of Marijuana on the Brain

Researchers have found that THC changes the way in which sensory information gets into and is acted on by the hippocampus. This is a component of the brain's limbic system that is crucial for learning, memory, and the integration of sensory experiences with emotions and motivations. Investigations have shown that neurons in the information processing system of the hippocampus and the activity of the nerve fibres are suppressed by THC. In addition, researchers have discovered that learned behaviours, which depend on the hippocampus, also deteriorate.

Recent research findings also indicate that long-term use of marijuana produces changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term use of other major drugs of abuse.

Effects of Marijuana On the lungs

Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers have. These individuals may have daily cough and phlegm, symptoms of chronic bronchitis, and more frequent chest colds. Continuing to smoke marijuana can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue injured or destroyed by marijuana smoke.

Regardless of the THC content, the amount of tar inhaled by marijuana smokers and the level of carbon monoxide absorbed are three to five times greater than among tobacco smokers. This may be due to the marijuana users inhaling more deeply and holding the smoke in the lungs.

Effects on Heart Rate and Blood Pressure

Recent findings indicate that smoking marijuana while shooting up cocaine has the potential to cause severe increases in heart rate and blood pressure. In one study, experienced marijuana and cocaine users were given marijuana alone, cocaine alone, and then a combination of both. Each drug alone produced cardiovascular effects; when they were combined, the effects were greater and lasted longer. The heart rate of the subjects in the study increased 29 beats per minute with marijuana alone and 32 beats per minute with cocaine alone. When the drugs were given together, the heart rate increased by 49 beats per minute, and the increased rate persisted for a longer time. The drugs were given with the subjects sitting quietly. In normal circumstances, an individual may smoke marijuana and inject cocaine and then do something physically stressful that may significantly increase risks of overload on the cardiovascular system.

Effects of Heavy Marijuana Use on Learning and Social Behaviour

A study of college students has shown that critical skills related to attention, memory, and learning are impaired among people who use marijuana heavily, even after discontinuing its use for at least 24 hours. Researchers compared 65 "heavy users," who had smoked marijuana a median of 29 of the past 30 days, and 64 "light users," who had smoked a median of 1 of the past 30 days. After a closely monitored 19- to 24-hour period of abstinence from marijuana and other illicit drugs and alcohol, the undergraduates were given several standard tests measuring aspects of attention, memory, and learning. Compared to the light users, heavy marijuana users made more errors and had more difficulty sustaining attention, shifting attention to meet the demands of changes in the environment, and in registering, processing, and using information. The findings suggest that the greater impairment among heavy users is likely due to an alteration of brain activity produced by marijuana.

Longitudinal research on marijuana use among young people below college age indicates those who used have lower achievement than the non-users, more acceptance of deviant behaviour, more delinquent behaviour and aggression, greater rebelliousness, poorer relationships with parents, and more associations with delinquent and drug-using friends.

Research also shows more anger and more regressive behaviour (thumb sucking, temper tantrums) in toddlers whose parents use marijuana than among the toddlers of non-using parents.

Effects on Pregnancy

Any drug of abuse can affect a mother's health during pregnancy, and this is a time when she should take special care of herself. Drugs of abuse may interfere with proper nutrition and rest, which can affect good functioning of the immune system. Some studies have found that babies born to mothers who used marijuana during pregnancy were smaller than those born to mothers who did not use the drug. In general, smaller babies are more likely to develop health problems.

A nursing mother who uses marijuana passes some of the THC to the baby in her breast milk. Research indicates that the use of marijuana by a mother during the first month of breast-feeding can impair the infant's motor development (control of muscle movement).

Addictive Potential

A drug is addicting if it causes compulsive, often uncontrollable drug craving, seeking, and use, even in the face of negative health and social consequences. Marijuana meets this criterion. More than 120,000 people seek treatment per year for their primary marijuana addiction. In addition, animal studies suggest marijuana causes physical dependence, and some people report withdrawal symptoms.

Extent of Use

Monitoring the Future Study (MTF)

The NIDA-funded MTF provides an annual assessment of drug use among 12th, 10th, and 8th grade students and young adults nationwide. After decreasing for over a decade, marijuana use among students began to increase in the early 1990s. From 1996 to 1997, use of marijuana at least once (lifetime use) increased among 12th and 10th graders, continuing the trend seen in recent years. The seniors' rate of lifetime marijuana use is higher than any year since 1987, but all rates remain well below those seen in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Past year and past month marijuana use did not change significantly from 1996 to 1997 in any of the three grades, suggesting the sharp increases of recent years may be slowing. Daily marijuana use in the past month increased among 12th graders, but decreased among 8th graders; this pattern of increases among older students and stable or declining rates among younger students was found with several indicators in the 1997 MTF.

Percentage of 8th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana:

	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
Ever Used	10.2%	11.2%	12.6%	16.7%	19.9%	23.1%	22.6%
Used in the Past	6.2%	7.2%	9.2%	13.0%	15.8%	18.3%	17.7%
Used in the Past Month	3.2%	3.7%	5.1%	7.8%	9.1%	11.3%	10.2%
Daily Use in Past Month	0.8%	0.8%	1.0%	2.2%	2.8%	3.5%	3.7%

Percentage of 10th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana:

	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
Ever Used	23.4%	21.4%	24.4%	30.4%	34.1%	39.8%	42.3%
Used in the Past	16.5%	15.2%	19.2%	25.2%	28.7%	33.6%	34.8%
Used in the Past Month	8.7%	8.1%	10.9%	15.8%	17.2%	20.4%	20.5%
Daily Use in Past Month	0.8%	0.8%	1.0%	2.2%	2.8%	3.5%	3.7%

Percentage of 12th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana:

	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
Ever Used	36.7%	32.6%	35.3%	38.2%	41.7%	44.9%	49.6%
Used in the Past	23.9%	21.9%	26.0%	30.7%	34.7%	35.8%	38.5%
Used in the Past Month	13.8%	11.9%	15.5%	19.0%	21.2%	21.9%	23.7%
Daily Use in Past Month	2.0%	1.9%	2.4%	3.6%	4.6%	4.9%	5.8%

Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG)

The resurgence in marijuana use continues, especially among adolescents, with rates of emergency department mentions of marijuana increasing from 1994 to 1995 in 10 cities, the percentage of treatment admissions increasing in 13 areas, and the National Institute of Justice's Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) percentages increasing among juvenile arrests at numerous sites. In several cities, such as Minneapolis/St. Paul, increasing treatment figures have been particularly notable among juveniles. Two factors may be contributing to the dramatic leap in adverse consequences: higher potency and the use of marijuana mixed with or in combination with other dangerous drugs.

National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA)

Marijuana remains the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. There were an estimated 2.4 million people who started using marijuana in 1995. According to data from the 1996 NHSDA, more than 68.6 million Americans (32 percent) 12 years of age and older have tried marijuana at least once in their lifetimes, and almost 18.4 million (8.6 percent) had used marijuana in the past year. In 1985, 56.5 million Americans (29.4 percent) had tried marijuana at least once in their lifetimes, and 26.1 million (13.6 percent) had used marijuana within the past year.

Signs of marijuana abuse:

Rapid, loud talking and bursts of laughter in early stages of intoxication.
Sleepy or stuporous in the later stages.
Lack of concentration and coordination.
Forgetfulness in conversation.
Inflammation in whites of eyes.
Odour similar to burnt rope on clothing or breath.
Distorted sense of time passage - tendency to overestimate time intervals.
Craving for sweets.
Increased appetite.
Use or possession of paraphernalia including roach clip, packs of rolling papers, pipes or bongs.

How does marijuana affect the body?

Some immediate physical effects of marijuana include:

a faster heartbeat and pulse rate
bloodshot eyes
dry mouth and throat

No scientific evidence indicates that marijuana improves hearing, eyesight, and skin sensitivity.

Marijuana use increases the heart rate as much as 50 percent, depending on the amount of THC. It can cause chest pain in people who have a poor blood supply to the heart - and it produces these effects more rapidly than tobacco smoke does. Scientists believe that marijuana can be especially harmful to the lungs because users often inhale the unfiltered smoke deeply and hold it in their lungs as long as possible. Therefore, the smoke is in contact with lung tissues for long periods of time, which irritates the lungs and damages the way they work.

Marijuana smoke contains some of the same ingredients in tobacco smoke that can cause emphysema and cancer. In addition, many marijuana users also smoke cigarettes; the combined effect of smoking these two substances creates an increased health risk. "Burnout" is a term first used by marijuana smokers themselves to describe the effect of prolonged use.

Young people who smoke marijuana heavily over long periods of time can become dull, slow moving, and inattentive. These "burned-out" users are sometimes so unaware of their surroundings that they do not respond when friends speak to them, and they do not realize they have a problem.

How does marijuana affect the mind?

Laboratory studies have shown that animals exhibit symptoms of drug withdrawal after cessation of prolonged marijuana administration. Some human studies have also demonstrated withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, stomach pain, aggression, and anxiety after cessation of oral administration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana's principal psychoactive component. Now, NIDA-supported researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and Columbia University in New York City have shown that individuals who regularly smoke marijuana experience withdrawal symptoms after they stop smoking the drug.

Studies at Columbia University in New York City have demonstrated that, in addition to aggression, marijuana smokers experience other withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, stomach pain, and increased irritability during abstinence from the drug. "These results suggest that dependence may be an important consequence of repeated daily exposure to marijuana," says NIDA.

History of Marijuana

Early Marijuana:

Marijuana has been used as an agent for achieving euphoria since ancient times; it was described in a Chinese medical compendium traditionally considered to date from 2737 B.C. Its use spread from China to India and then to North Africa and reached Europe at least as early as A.D. 500. The first direct reference to a cannabis product as a psychoactive agent dates from 2737 BC, in the writings of the Chinese emperor Shen Nung.

The focus was on its powers as a medication for rheumatism, gout, malaria, and oddly enough, absent-mindedness. Mention was made of the intoxicating properties, but the medicinal value was considered more important. In India though, it was clearly used recreationally. The Muslims too used it recreationally for alcohol consumption was banned by the Koran. It was the Muslims who introduced hashish, whose popularity spread quickly throughout 12th century Persia (Iran) and North Africa.

Marijuana in America:

In 1545 the Spanish brought marijuana to the New World. The English introduced it in Jamestown in 1611 where it became a major commercial crop alongside tobacco and was grown as a source of fibre.

By 1890, hemp had been replaced by cotton as a major cash crop in southern states. Some patent medicines during this era contained marijuana, but it was a small percentage compared to the number containing opium or cocaine. It was in the 1920's that marijuana began to catch on. Some historians say its emergence was brought about by Prohibition. Its recreational use was restricted to jazz musicians and people in show business. "Reefer songs" became the rage of the jazz world. Marijuana clubs, called tea pads, sprang up in every major city.

These marijuana establishments were tolerated by the authorities because marijuana was not illegal and patrons showed no evidence of making a nuisance of themselves or disturbing the community. Marijuana was not considered a social threat.

Marijuana was listed in the United States Pharmacopeia from 1850 until 1942 and was prescribed for various conditions including labour pains, nausea, and rheumatism. Its use as an intoxicant was also commonplace from the 1850s to the 1930s. A campaign conducted in the 1930s by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs) sought to portray marijuana as a powerful, addicting substance that would lead users into narcotics addiction.

It is still considered a "gateway" drug by some authorities. In the 1950s it was an accessory of the beat generation; in the 1960s it was used by college students and "hippies" and became a symbol of rebellion against authority.

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified marijuana along with heroin and LSD as a Schedule I drug, i.e., having the relatively highest abuse potential and no accepted medical use. Most marijuana at that time came from Mexico, but in 1975 the Mexican government agreed to eradicate the crop by spraying it with the herbicide paraquat, raising fears of toxic side effects. Colombia then became the main supplier.

The "zero tolerance" climate of the Reagan and Bush administrations resulted in passage of strict laws and mandatory sentences for possession of marijuana and in heightened vigilance against smuggling at the southern borders.

The "war on drugs" thus brought with it a shift from reliance on imported supplies to domestic cultivation (particularly in Hawaii and California). Beginning in 1982 the Drug Enforcement Administration turned increased attention to marijuana farms in the United States, and there was a shift to the indoor growing of plants specially developed for small size and high yield. After over a decade of decreasing use, marijuana smoking began an upward trend once more in the early 1990s, especially among teenagers.

References

History of Marijuana " Cannabis Use & Abuse

6000 B.C.
Cannabis seeds used for food in China.
4000 B.C.
Textiles made of hemp are used in China. (Pharmacotheon)
2727 B.C.
First recorded use of cannabis as medicine in Chinese pharmacopoeia. In every part of the world humankind has used cannabis for a wide variety of health problems.
1500 B.C.
Cannabis cultivated in China for food and fibre.
1500 B.C.
Scythians cultivate cannabis and use it to weave fine hemp cloth. (Sumach 1975)
1200 - 800 B.C.
Cannabis is mentioned in the Hindu sacred text Atharvaveda (Science of Charms) as "Sacred Grass", one of the five sacred plants of India. It is used by medicinally and ritually as an offering to Shiva.
700 - 600 B.C.
The Zoroastrian Zend-Avesta, an ancient Persian religious text of several hundred volumes, and said to have been written by Zarathustra (Zoroaster), refers to bhang as Zoroaster's "good narcotic" (Vendidad or The Law Against Demons)
700 - 300 B.C.
Scythian tribes leave cannabis seeds as offerings in royal tombs.
500 B.C.
Scythian couple die and are buried with two small tents covering censers. Attached to one tent stick was a decorated leather pouch containing wild Cannabis seeds. This closely matches the stories told by Herodotus. The gravesite, discovered in the late 1940s, was in Pazryk, northwest of the Tien Shan Mountains in modern-day Kazakhstan.
500 B.C.
Hemp is introduced into Northern Europe by the Scythians. An urn containing leaves and seeds of the Cannabis plant, unearthed near Berlin, is dated to about this time.
500 - 100 B.C.
Hemp spreads throughout northern Europe.
430 B.C.
Herodotus reports on both ritual and recreation use of Cannabis by the Scythians (Herodotus - The Histories 430 B.C. trans. G. Rawlinson).
100 - 0 BC
The psychotropic properties of Cannabis are mentioned in the newly compiled herbal pen Ts'ao ching which is attributed to an emperor c. 2700 B.C.
70 A.D.
Construction of Samartian gold and glass paste stash box for storing hashish, coriander, or salt, buried in Siberian tomb.
170 A.D.
Dioscorides mentions the use of Cannabis as a Roman medicament.
170 A.D.
Galen (Roman) alludes to the psychoactivity of Cannabis seed confections.
500 - 600 A.D.
The Jewish Talmud mentions the euphoriant properties of Cannabis. (Abel 1980)
900 - 1000 A.D.
Scholars debate the pros and cons of eating hashish. Use spreads throughout Arabia.
1090 - 1256 A.D.
In Khorasan, Persia, Hasan ibn-al-Sabbah, the Old Man of the Mountain, recruits followers to commit assassinations...legends develop around their supposed use of hashish. These legends are some of the earliest written tales of the discovery of the inebriating powers of cannabis and the supposed use of hashish.
1200
Cannabis is introduced in Egypt during the reign of the Ayyubid dynasty on the occasion of the flooding of Egypt by mystic devotees coming from Syria. (M.K. Hussein 1957 - Soueif 1972)
Early 1200
Hashish smoking very popular throughout the Middle East.
1155 - 1221
Persian legend of the Sufi master Sheik Haidar's of Khorasan's personal discovery of Cannabis and its subsequent spread to Iraq, Bahrain, Egypt and Syria. Another of the earliest written narratives of the use of Cannabis as an inebriant.
1300
The oldest monograph on hashish, Zahr al-'arish fi tahrim al-hashish, was written. It has since been lost.
1300
Ibn al-Baytar of Spain provides a description of psychoactive Cannabis.
1300
Arab traders bring Cannabis to the Mozambique coast of Africa.
1231
Hashish introduced to Iraq in the reign of Caliph Mustansir (Rosenthal 1971)
1271 - 1295
Journeys of Marco Polo in which he gives second-hand reports of the story of Hasan ibn-al-Sabbah and his "assassins" using hashish. First time reports of Cannabis have been brought to the attention of Europe.
1378
Ottoman Emir Soudoun Scheikhouni issues one of the first edicts against the eating of hashish.
1526
Babur Nama, first emperor and founder of Mughal Empire learned of hashish in Afghanistan.
1526
The epic poem, Benk u Bode, by the poet Mohammed Ebn Soleiman Foruli of Baghdad, deals allegorically with a dialectical battle between wine and hashish.
1600
Use of hashish, alcohol, and opium spreads among the population of occupied Constantinople.
1700
Hashish becomes a major trade item between Central Asia and South Asia.
1700
Antoine Sylvestre de Sacy, a leading Arabist, reveals the etymology of the words "assassin" and "hashishin"
1809
In America, medicinal preparations with a cannabis base are available. Hashish available in Persian pharmacies.
1843
Le Club des Hachichins, or Hashish Eater's Club, established in Paris.
1850
Hashish appears in Greece.
1856
British tax ganja and charas trade in India.
1870 - 1880
First reports of hashish smoking on Greek mainland.
1875
Cultivation for hashish introduced to Greece.
1877
Kerr reports on Indian ganja and charas trade.
1890
Greek Department of Interior prohibits importation, cultivation and use of hashish.
1890
Hashish made illegal in Turkey.
1893 - 1894
The India Hemp Drugs Commission Report is issued.
1893 - 1894
70,000 to 80,000 kg of hashish legally imported into India from Central Asia each year.
1893 - 1894
Hashish smoking very popular throughout the Middle East.
1900
Cannabis begins to be prohibited for nonmedical use in the U.S., especially in SW states...California (1915), Texas (1919), Louisiana (1924), and New York (1927).
1915 - 1927
Metaxus dictators in Greece crack down on hashish smoking.
1920
Hashish smuggled into Egypt from Greece, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Central Asia.
1926
Lebanese hashish production peaks after World War I until prohibited in 1926.
1928
Recreational use of Cannabis is banned in Britain.
1928
High-quality hashish produced in Turkey near Greek border.
1920 - 1930
Yarkand region of Chinese Turkestan exports 91,471 kg of hashish legally into the Northwest Frontier and Punjab regions of India.
1930
Legal taxed imports of hashish continue into India from Central Asia.
1934 - 1935
Chinese government moves to end all Cannabis cultivation in Yarkand and charas traffic from Yarkand. Both licit and illicit hashish production become illegal in Chinese Turkestan.
1937
Cannabis made federally illegal in the U.S. with the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act.
1938
Supply of hashish from Chinese Turkestan nearly ceases.
1940
Greek hashish smoking tradition fades.
1941
Indian government considers cultivation in Kashmir to fill void of hashish from Chinese Turkestan.
1941 - 1942
Hand-rubbed charas from Nepal is choicest hashish in India during World War II.
1945
Legal hashish consumption continues in India.
1945 - 1950
Hashish use in Greece flourishes again.
1950
Hashish still smuggled into India from Chinese Central Asia.
1950
Moroccan government tacitly allows kif cultivation in Rif Mountains.
1962
First hashish made in Morocco.
1963
Turkish police seize 2.5 tons of hashish.
1965
First reports of C. afghanica use for hashish production in northern Afghanistan.
1965
Mustafa comes to Ketama in Morocco to make hashish from local kif.
1966
The Moroccan government attempts to purge kif growers from Rif Mountains.
1967
"Smash", the first hashish oil appears. Red Lebanese reaches California.
1960 - 1970
The Brotherhood popularizes Afghani hashish.
1970 - 1973
Huge fields of Cannabis cultivated for hashish production in Afghanistan. Last years that truly great Afghani hashish is available.
1970
The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act is passed. Part II of this is the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) which defines a scheduling system for drugs and places most of the known hallucinogens (LSD, psilocybin, psilocin, mescaline, peyote, cannabis) in Schedule I.
1972
The Nixon-appointed Shafer Commission urged use of cannabis be re-legalized, but their recommendation was ignored. Medical research continues.
1970
Lebanese red and blonde hashish of very high-quality exported. The highest quality Turkish hashish from Gaziantep near Syria appears in Western Europe.
1970
Afghani hashish varieties introduced to North America for sinsemilla production. Westerners bring metal sieve cloths to Afghanistan. Law enforcement efforts against hashish begin in Afghanistan.
1973
Nepal bans the Cannabis shops and charas (hand-rolled hash) export.
1973
Afghan government makes hashish production and sales illegal. Afghani harvest is pitifully small.
1975
FDA establishes Compassionate Use program for medical marijuana.
1976 - 1977
Quality of Lebanese hashish reaches zenith.
1978
Westerners make sieved hashish in Nepal from wild Cannabis.
1970
Increasing manufacture of "modern" Afghani hashish. Cannabis varieties from Afghanistan imported into Kashmir for sieved hashish production.
1980
Morocco becomes one of, if not the largest, hashish producing and exporting nations.
1980
"Border" hashish produced in north-western Pakistan along the Afghan border to avoid Soviet-Afghan war.
1985
Hashish still produced by Muslims of Kashgar and Yarkland (NW China).
1986
Most private stashes of pre-war Afghani hashish in Amsterdam, Goa, and America are nearly finished.
1987
Moroccan government cracks down upon Cannabis cultivation in lower elevations of Rif Mountains.
1988
DEA administrative law Judge Francis Young finds after thorough hearings that marijuana has clearly established medical use and should be reclassified as a prescriptive drug.
1993
Cannabis eradication efforts resume in Morocco.
1994
Heavy fighting between rival Muslim clans continues to upset hashish trade in Afghanistan
1994
Border hashish still produced in Pakistan.
1995
Introduction of hashish-making equipment and appearance of locally produced hashish in Amsterdam coffee shops.