Whether you call it Hemp, Mary Jane, Pot, Weed; it doesn't
             matter. It is still Cannabis Sativa, or cannabis for short. And it is
             still illegal. The use of marijuana as an intoxicant in the United
             States became a problem of public concern in the 1930s. Regulatory
             laws were passed in 1937, and criminal penalties were instituted for
             possession and sale of the drug. "Marijuana" refers to the dried
             leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant, which contains the
             non-narcotic chemical THC at various potencies. It is smoked or eaten
             to produce the feeling of being "high." The different strains of this
             herb produce different sensual effects, ranging from a sedative to a
             stimulant.
            
             The term "marijuana" is a word with indistinct origins. Some
             believe it is derived from the Mexican words for "Mary Jane"; others
             hold that the name comes from the Portuguese word marigu-ano, which
             means "intoxicant". The use of marijuana in the 1960's might lead one
             to surmise that marihuana use spread explosively. The chronicle of its
             3,000 year history, however, shows that this "explosion" has been
             characteristic only of the contemporary scene. The plant has been
             grown for fiber and as a source of medicine for several thousand
             years, but until 500~ AD its use as a mind-altering drug was almost
             solely confined in India. The drug and its uses reached the Middle and
             Near East during the next several centuries, and then moved across
             North Africa, appeared in Latin America and the Caribbean, and finally
             entered the United States in the early decades of...