ANTH106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Respiratory Disease, Recreational Drug Tourism, Spasticity
2 Jun 2018
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ANTH106 – Week 3: Cannabis
Background;
• Botanical names = cannabis sativa and cannabis indica (two main species of
cannabis)
• Active ingredient: Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol
• Main forms:
o Marijuana = dried flowering tops and leaves of harvested plant
o Sinsemilla marijuana = female plants, not fertilized
o Hashish (hash) = dried cannabis resin and compressed flowers
o Hashish oil = high potency substance extracted from hashish
o Hemp = use (mainly fibre from plant stalk) for industrial purposes
Brief history;
• Originated in Central Asia
• Mentioned in ancient medical and religious Chinese and Indian texts
• In the West, cannabis used initially for practical purposes e.g. ship sails and
ropes and cloth
• W.B. O Shaughnessy is credited with introduction of medical use of cannabis.
Between 1842-1900, over 100 reports published on therapeutic qualities of
cannabis
• Recreational use in the West:
o A. French Hashish Club – founded in Paris by Baudelaire & Gautier
o B. Hashish bars in Europe and USA (2nd half of 19th century)
Symbolic dimensions of cannabis legislation;
• Himmelstein:
o ‘Moral entrepreneurs’ = moral crusaders who play a key role in drug
legislation by influencing public images of a drug e.g. Harry Anslinger
o ‘Social locus’ = the social position (e.g. class, ethnic, generational) of
the drug users → the lower the social position of the users of the drug,
the more likely drug use will be considered immoral/deviant
o ‘Symbolic politics’ = drugs and drug prohibition as ‘symbolic counters
in wider social conflicts’ – drugs as political scapegoats
• Cannabis (ganja) in Jamaica and class conflict:
o Introduced in the 1830s by indentured Indian labourers, quickly spread
to black population (former slaves)
o Ganja = a scapegoat for elite and middle-class anxieties about deviant
behaviour (crime, violence, laziness) of poor working class (including
Rastafarians)
o 1937 Anslinger pressured British colonial authorities in Jamaica to
introduce mandatory minimum sentences for cannabis possession
o Cannabis was consumed as a tea, other people would just smoke it –
prejudice around smoking, not the drug itself
• Rastafarianism:
o Founded by Marcus Garvey – political activist for black rights in
Jamaica, England and US.
o Belief in black messiah: Emperor Haile Selassie claimed as the black
messiah – strict rules of conduct (no alcohol, gambling, cutting of hair)
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