How did marijuana evolve?

thousands of other plants pollinate by wind also, dont produce seeds either. pine trees spread by spores, agrosperms (i think thats the word?) spread by fruit, and theres only a small amount of them. asking a question like that would take wayyy too long to explaine, so its easiest to just say it happened by accident. there are very few plants that actually have a psychedelic effect on humans, and out of millions that actually exist you can obviously see where im getting at. imo it happened just by accident, the only reason shrooms get us high is because we digest the chemical just right.. its all by chance i think, and we just take advantage of it.

 

If explained simply, i IMAGINE that it would be some type of defensive mechanism. PERHAPS, the THC is unappealing to insects so they tend not to consume the plant. As well as that, Marijuana has been selectively bred to produce high levels and variations of THC. Probably it would have been much less potent in it's original state.

edit.

Also I imagine shrooms have that affect to dissuade animals from eating it.

 

To put it simply, the cannabis plant started to produce THC all those thousands of years ago as a defensive mechanism against UV light.

This is why outdoor plants grown in the Indian mountains etc. are more resinous than those grown outdoors in Jamacia for example, because in the mountains, they are at a higher altitude and thus exposed to harsher UV light, thus more THC is present.

 

Cannabis (cannabis) evolved from Hops (Humulus lupulus) in the mountains of Kazakhstan (same place the apple (Malus domestica) finds its origins at)) to better survive the high elevation and elevated levels of U.V radiation,increased predators,the many cannabinoids such as the most prodominant and key one Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are used for many purposes including to retain water, etc. 'Indica' evolved first. a lowly creature known as the Sea Squirt evolved the Endocannabinoid Receptor System to control how much water goes in/out of its siphon -> every animal since this creature has these receptors, they work via NATURALLY OCCURRING receptor-sites and cannabinoids called anadamide also found in milk, these control a lot about folks such as height, weight, reproduction, etc - the cannabinoids in cannabis fit into these receptors but due to no receptors in the medulla oblongata/mesocorticolimbic pathway you CANNOT die of an overdose or become physically addicted to cannabis , any "addiction" is behavioral (the person, not the cannabis) - such as an addiction to gambling, porn, etc.

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I suggest watching Botany of Desire, it will answer all your questions.

 

This thread wins

 

Very interesting thread, I learned something new today