Cannabis sativa L., the hemp plant from which marijuana and hashish are derived, grows wild throughout most tropical and temperate regions of the world; it has been cultivated for at least 5,000 years for a variety of purposes including the manufacture of rope and paint. There is interest in the cultivation of hemp for its fiber, particularly in the American apparel and paper industries.

Marijuana’s use as an intoxicant was brought to Africa by Arab traders, and the plant was introduced into Brazil through the slave trade in the 1600s. The word marijuana (sometimes spelled “marihuana”) is derived from the Spanish term for any substance that produces intoxication: maraguano. Until the early 1900s recreational use of marijuana was popular chiefly among Mexican laborers in the Southwest and certain fringe groups such as jazz musicians.
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The use of psychoactive chemicals, licit or illicit, can objectively be labeled drug abuse only when the user becomes dysfunctional as a consequence, for example, is unable to maintain employment, has impaired social relationships, exhibits dangerous reckless or aggressive behavior, and /or significantly endangers his or her health.

At one end is the nonuser who has never used prohibited or abused lawful psychoactive drugs. Along the continuum are experimental use and culturally endorsed use, which includes the use of drugs wine or peyote, for example in religious ceremonies, and recreational use.
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