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The Dà Má Collective 大麻
& Dà Má Press 大麻出書 

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Cannabis Facts & Education:
About The Great Hemp 大 麻

It is our hope...

...that as you absorb the nuggets of cannabis wisdom that follow, your appreciation grows for the historically & biologically foundational role of the cannabis plant in human society, the healing arts, and cellular biology. And as your appreciation grows, so does your conviction that the stigma** around cannabis (aka the notion “herb is bad, the creator must’ve made a mistake”) is best relegated to the dustbin of obsolete ideas, joining other also-rans as the Flat Earth theory and the earth being the center of the universe. 

 

May you (just like Prince Five-Weapons in the ancient Buddhist parable, who used the thunderbolt of knowledge to slay the ogre of ignorance) become ever more intellectually well-armed, in your own mind and in conversations with others, to slice through any remaining fog of stigma or misperception you may encounter toward the cannabis plant: the herb that has, as documented in the world’s great texts and traditions, long been considered sacred, “a gift from heaven to humanity”, the plant the ancient Chinese termed “The Great Eminent Cannabis”. 

 

Cannabis facts & fact sheets:

These fact sheets are dips & dabs into the same well (our knowledgbase jam-packed with cannabis research, info-nuggets & artifacts) that's fueling The Newbies' Guide To Medicinal Cannabis ~ pick up our book for the whole story!

 

Cannabis science, studies & research

Contrary to a few soundbites professed by underinformed politicians, there's already been a llllot of research on cannabis (16,000+ peer-reviewed scientific studies, and counting...). Here are some of our faves

 

Cannabiscope

Cannabiscope (powered by Cannabiscope) is an interactive wheel (web application) which helps you visualize and explore the relationship between cannabis strains, effects, and flavours/aromas (which depend on the amounts & ratios of various cannabinoids, terpenes, and other bio-active compounds that tend to be present in a particular strain).

 

 

Origin of the term Dà Má: 

In ancient Chinese (and the present day), "Má" (represented by the ideogram 麻, which depicts stalks drying in a shed) originally referred to the cannabis hemp plant, but the connotations of the term gradually evolved to refer more to the fiber uses of hemp, and eventually fiber plants in general. When specifically referring to the cannabis plant, including its medicinal/spiritual uses (vs. being used for fiber), the term "Dà" (大 = great, eminent) is added, thus cannabis = 大 麻 = Dà Má = The Great Hemp. There are other terms used to refer to cannabis in various medicinal uses (such as Má Yo: cannabis infused in wine consumed as a surgical anaesthetic). 

 

 

Cannabis & Human History: Interwoven Since The Beginning

The historical evidence presented in our book helps dissolve any perceived notion about cannabis use somehow being aberrant, abnormal, or ‘naughty’. (This is what we refer to as "the stigma", while although things are getting better, unfortunately the stigma still exists, for some folks more than others.) 

 

Some people are not yet aware that the cannabis plant has been an intimate and integral part of human culture and society, medicinally spiritually and industrially, since before recorded history, indeed the cannabis plant plays a role in the mythology and important writings of every cultural and spiritual tradition we’ve looked at, from prehistory (12,000+ years ago) up to the present. The period in which this plant has been stigmatized and slandered (since roughly 1930, about 80 years, or 0.8% of human recorded history) is merely a blip, and it’s our hope that this stigmatization will in hindsight be viewed as a failed experiment with disastrous consequences for human health and the environment.

 

Here in the U.S.A., our founding fathers grew cannabis and up until fairly recently, cannabis production was promoted by both government and industry. We find it encouraging that many places, in the USA and across the globe, are leading the way to returning cannabis/hemp to its traditional role of being a legal and natural part of human life.

 

 

Findings from Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report of 1893-94

"Viewing the subject generally, it may be added that the moderate use of these drugs [cannabis] is the rule, and that the excessive use is comparatively exceptional. The moderate use practically produces no ill effects. In all but the most exceptional cases, the injury from habitual moderate use is not appreciable. The excessive use may certainly be accepted as very injurious, though it must be admitted that in many excessive consumers the injury is not clearly marked. The injury done by the excessive use is, however, confined almost exclusively to the consumer himself; the effect on society is rarely appreciable. It has been the most striking feature in this inquiry to find how little the effects of hemp drugs have obtruded themselves on observation. The large number of witnesses of all classes who professed never to have seen these effects, the vague statements made by many who professed to have observed them, the very few witnesses who could so recall a case as to give any definite account of it, and the manner in which a large proportion of these cases broke down on the first attempt to examine them, are facts which combine to show most clearly how little injury society has hitherto sustained from hemp drugs (1:264)."

 

"In regard to the moral effects of the drugs [cannabis/bhang], the Commission are of opinion that their moderate use produces no moral injury whatever. There is no adequate ground for believing that it injuriously affects the character of the consumer.” (1:264)

 

From The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report of 1893-94, which is the most complete & systematic study of cannabis usage in medicine, religion and society undertaken to date. 

 

 

Our Newbies' Guide To Medicinal Cannabis opens with an in-depth tour of the cannabis plant's integral role throughout human history and the healing arts, reassuring readers that by consuming cannabis, they're following in the footsteps of every healing tradition on the planet...

Pre-order our book to get the whole story~! 

 

 

 

** A word on "the stigma": cannabis prohibition was never about the regard for human well-being anyway. Cannabis prohibition (in the early part of the 20th century) was fueled by a sensationalist fear-and-slander propaganda campaign promoted by entrenched business moguls, along with others intent on promoting racial discrimination, both groups saw the cannabis plant as a threat to their interests. Much has been written elsewhere about the roots of Reefer Madness, Jack Herer’s The Emperor Wears No Clothes is as good a place as any to start.