Interview- Africa and Cannabis

Came across this interview with Professor Chris S. Duvall, and since many of you enjoy history, I thought I'd post it up. I also am posting a link to a Google books partial preview of the book written by Professor Duvall. I found the book sections at to be very interesting, even though chunks were missing. I may even buy this book with some of my Christmas money.

Cannabis and Africa https://abq.news/2022/12/cannabis-and-africa/
An Interview With University of New Mexico Professor Chris S. Duvall



Josh Lee
Professor and Chair of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of New Mexico Chris S. Duvall is the author of The African Roots of Marijuana and the leading expert on the history of cannabis use in Africa. His book is available on Amazon and at most bookstores.

The Paper.: In what way does marijuana have its roots in Africa?

Duvall: There’s three different ways that I think are important to recognize. Some of them are just surface and basic level; like the words that we use for marijuana are in many cases African. “Marijuana” itself traces back to the word mariamba, which is spoken in a number of different languages in western and central Africa, most notably Kimbundu.

Angola is historically where it came from. Kimbundu was trade language that was spoken across the Atlantic, and that word traveled across the Atlantic when slaves carried the seeds. So you see that word spoken in various forms, either presently or historically, in Brazil and Colombia, in Jamaica, in Mexico—which is, of course, where “marijuana” ultimately comes from. Then there’s a handful of other words that crossed the Atlantic from Africa that are spoken in different parts of the Americas as well.

Another way marijuana has African roots is through paraphernalia—the technology of marijuana and smoking. It’s very well and widely known that tobacco smoking and tobacco pipes originated in America. But Africans independently invented smoking pipes. For at least about 1,000 years, people have used pipes in Africa with marijuana. Prior to that, they used pipes for several centuries with other plants. But the water pipe in particular is an African invention. We have evidence going back you know, again, about 1,000 years of people using these. The water pipe, the hookah, the bong—that technological foundation is based on African knowledge. (snipped)

And if that that sounded interesting, check this out-

African Roots of Marijuana. (USA) (partial preview – 2019) The African Roots of Marijuana



Granny