Medical Marijuana, Bubble Hash, and Denver Dispensaries

It took an eternity, but two states have made marijuana legal. Now, the citizens of Denver can shop for the best bubble hash (or their strain of choice) in marijuana dispensaries throughout the city. This all may appear revolutionary, but marijuana has been used, legally, for centuries.

For all the controversy surrounding the legalization of marijuana, one thing is certain: for most of recorded history, marijuana was used primarily for medical purposes. The first known marijuana users were the ancient Chinese. The first mention of marijuana was a reference made by Emperor Fu Hsi in 2900 B.C. He said that Ma, the Chinese word for Cannabis, possessed both yin and yang. The Chinese continued using medicinal marijuana for hundreds of years though no one knows whether or dispensaries existed in ancient China. From there, it spread to Egypt, where it was used as a pain reliever for people with hemorrhoids. It wasn't until around 200 B.C. that marijuana turned up in the West, first appearing in Greece.

Two thousand years would pass before cannabis was brought to the Americas. Famously, George Washington harvested hemp and according to his agricultural ledgers, he took particular interest in marijuana's medicinal uses.

The reefer madness era changed the way that marijuana was viewed. Something needed to be done, or at least, that was the common opinion back then. The drug war, initiated by Nixon, casted a wide net demonizing every drug, effectively ending medical marijuana in the USA. It took decades for medicinal marijuana to be used again. Of course, dispensaries in California became ubiquitous. Also, these days there are non-medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Denver.