a plant whose leaves and flowers contain compounds that can produce a mind-altering effect when consumed.
From Greek 'kannabis,' likely borrowed from a Scythian or Persian language around 500 BCE. The word traveled through Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin before entering English in the 1600s.
Cannabis traveled the Silk Road for thousands of years—it was used in ancient China for rope, in medieval Islamic medicine, and in Victorian-era pharmacies as a legitimate treatment, showing how the same plant can have completely different cultural meanings at different times.
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