This book presents a wide variety of personal accounts of experiences induced by Indian
hemp. Writers of different cultural traditions and historical periods have left descriptions of
this herb. The many points of view which find expression in these pages should help to bring
the subject into its proper perspective.

Indian hemp has many names, which causes some confusion. The two most common ones
are 'marihuana' (from the Spanish 'Maria Juana') and the Arabic 'hashish'. Marihuana is
simply the dried flowers of the female plants. Hashish is the resin with which the flowers are
coated, coming off in the form of a golden powder when the plants are shaken. It is then
heated and pressed into blocks, which darkens the color. In both modern American slang
and classical Arabic, the term for hemp is 'grass'. This common denominator between
different periods of history was a decisive factor in my choice of the title for this anthology.

Although the use of marihuana is widespread, the subject is enshrouded by ignorance. I
hope that this book will dispel at least some of the misconceptions about this plant. No
practical solution to the problem is possible until the real facts are recognized. In presenting
the facts concerning Indian hemp as objectively as I can, I hope to break the taboo which
surrounds this subject in our civilization at the present time.

Marihuana has been used freely by a large proportion of the world's population since
prehistoric times. It was not prohibited by international agreement until the 1930's. Part
One of this book shows it to have been a significant feature of religious rites among the
ancient Hindus, Scythians, Iranians, and American Indians. Homer and Solomon sang of it.
The Thousand and One Nights are saturated with the odor of hashish. The story of the
Assassins shows what can happen when it is used in a destructive way. Among the most
well-known users of it in a creative way are a group of nineteenth-century French writers:
Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Nerval, and Gautier, for whom the drug revealed completely new
dimensions of consciousness, which are reflected in their dazzling poetry. R. Blondel, who
was Baudelaire's doctor, once said: 'Each one who takes hashish has the dream that he
deserves.' During recent years, painters like Diego Rivera have found that marihuana
stimulated their artistic activity, and writers such as Aldous Huxley and Henri Michaux have
carried out important experiments in this field.

There is a wide range of variation in the effects of different types of hemp. One of the
strangest things about marihuana is the difference in the 'high' depending on where the
plant was grown. It has a chameleon-like quality of reproducing the characteristics of its
environments. There is a definite relationship between the altitude at which the plant is
grown and the kind of 'high' it gives. It grows best on mountain slopes under cedar trees,
and the higher up the mountain it grows, the better it is. It may be linked to the legends of
the special food of the 'Immortals' who lived on mountain tops in ancient Greece, India, and
China.

In Morocco hemp from certain regions is especially valued because it gives the psychic lift
without the physical paralysis, so a man can stay 'high' and still do his daily work. From
other regions, a pipe in the morning and you stay in bed all day. This wide range of
variation in effect makes accurate medical dosage difficult, but upon further investigation it
might turn out to be a useful factor in the treatment of disease. Specimens of the different
types of hemp now existing in the world should be collected and classified by vintage like
wine or tea. Quality is all-important in the use of hemp, as the lower grades stultify rather
than activate the brain. Possibilities of mutations in the species should be studied. The
legends seem to agree that the plant available today is something different from what the
ancients had, giving only a dim echo of that original Soma from the slopes of Mount Meru.
The legends mention the plant changing color after migrations from one region to another.
The different types of hemp not only have a wide range of variation in effect, they are also
frequently of different colors. Among the marihuana smokers of today, there are a few
special names for the extra best: Acapulco gold, Panama or Rangoon red, , Yucatan blue,
Ketama green, Congo brown, Angola black.

For many centuries and in many different countries its medicinal qualities were readily
acknowledged. Just one example, the Indian Pharmacopoeia of 1868, lists it as a remedy for
tetanus, hydrophobia, delirium tremens, infantile convulsions, asthma, hay fever and
protracted labor. A very complete investigation of great value was carried out by the British
Army in India, some extracts from which are to be found in Part Three. The herb was
dropped from the American Pharmacopoeia about thirty years ago because no dependable
preparation of it was known. This is hardly surprising in the absence of any classification of
the different sub-species according to date and place of harvest. The dried Bowers are a
dependable enough preparation for millions of people all over the world. British doctors
cannot prescribe the herb itself, but they can prescribe tinctures and ointments containing
an extract of it. The ointment is particularly useful in the treatment of certain types of
ulcers.

Another point of interest is the similarity in effect between marihuana and LSD. There is a
wide gap between normal four-dimensional consciousness and the multi-dimensional
consciousness experienced with LSD. Most people find it extremely difficult to bring the two
states into coherent relation with each other. Marihuana provides a point of transition
between them, making it possible to open up multidimensional consciousness without losing
contact with four-dimensional consciousness. This point of transition may well be of major
importance in bridging the gap. However, legal restrictions have hindered research during
the whole period of the development of modern psychiatry. Recently an American professor
of psychology, Dr Timothy Leary, was sentenced to thirty years of prison plus a thirty
thousand dollar fine for being in possession of a small personal supply of marihuana. His
article on 'The Politics of Consciousness Expansion' appears in Part Four.

As Alan Watts points out in the same section, marihuana can 'bring about certain alterations
of sense perception, of emotional level and tone, of identity feeling, of the interpretation of
sense data and of the sensations of time and space.' In many cultures other than our own,
marihuana has been traditionally linked with phenomena of extrasensory perception. Tribal
medicine men all over the world have used it since the immemorial past, yet the doctors of
today have difficulty in carrying out research with the herb on human subjects because of
legal restrictions. Tinctures and ointments contain only a fraction of the active principle of
the plant, and to experience the complete effect one must use the plant itself.

In spite of the fact that it is illegal, throughout the Middle East hashish smoking and eating
is widespread, though considered a lower class habit. In India too, those who practice it are
regarded as old-fashioned by the rest of the population. The reverse is true in the United
States and recently in Great Britain, where smokers tend to consider themselves an
exclusive and advanced 'in-group'. Penalties for possession of marihuana vary considerably,
but are heaviest in the United States. In spite of these heavy penalties, the black market in
marihuana continues to grow. Its use is increasingly prevalent among young people,
especially students, both in the United States and Great Britain.

If society persistently treats a group of young people as criminals, it is difficult for them not
to become criminals. If one thinks of marihuana smoking as a vice, it slants the experience
in a negative direction, tending to make the activity anti-social. A vicious circle is started,
driving society and the smoker to a more and more extreme antagonism. If one considers
the herb as a stimulant like any other, beneficial if used with moderation under the proper
circumstances, something to be kept in the cupboard to celebrate special occasions, the
experience is channeled in a positive direction. However, this attitude is difficult for a
smoker to maintain in a society where possession of a small personal supply is treated as a
crime.

Scientific evidence supports the view that the present drug laws in the United States are
unwise, and, apparently, based on misconceptions. Judge Murtagh of New York stated
publicly in 1959: 'Our drug laws are immoral in principle and ineffectual in action'. It is a
well known fact that a powerful lobby exists which has every interest in perpetuating the
obscurity of the present situation. The drug laws now in effect in the United States and in
certain other countries are a greater gold mine for gangsters than the Prohibition Act ever
was. In view of this, would it not be preferable to allow smokers to obtain a small personal
supply, by legal means, from their local pharmacies?