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World's Oldest Marijuana Stash Found

Posted by samzenpus on from the it's-a-little-dry dept.

jage2 writes "Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana in a tomb in a remote part of China. The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly 'cultivated for psychoactive purposes,' rather than as fibre for clothing, or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany. The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China."

9 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. Summary is wrong by click2005 · · Score: 5, Funny

    After researchers tested the stash it seemed seemed like 2700 years had passed. In reality it was only 42 minutes.

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    1. Re:Summary is wrong by CaptainPatent · · Score: 5, Funny

      After researchers tested the stash it seemed seemed like 2700 years had passed. In reality it was only 42 minutes.

      Sources also say that after testing the researchers' hands "looked awesome."

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    2. Re:Summary is wrong by QRDeNameland · · Score: 5, Funny
      overheard circa 700 BC:

      Sun Tzu: "Pssst...hey man, it's Sun Tzu, open the door, I got the stuff..."

      Chong: "Sun? Sun Tzu? Sun's not here."

      Sun Tzu: "No man, I'm Sun!! Now will you open the door, I got the stuff!!"

      Chong: "Sun?"

      Sun Tzu: "Yes, it's Sun!!!"

      Chong: "Sun's not here!!"

      -- several iterations later --

      Sun Tzu: "It's Sun!!! S-U-N!!! Now will you open the goddamned door?!?!?!"

      Chong: "Oh, sure." -- opens door --

      Sun Tzu: "What the hell was that about?"

      Chong: "Well, you had this note written on the table: 'If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.'"

      Sun Tzu: "Damn, I must've really high when I wrote that..."

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  2. Uh-huh. by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Funny

    The 18 researchers, most of them based in China, subjected the cannabis to a battery of tests, including carbon dating and genetic analysis. Scientists also tried to germinate 100 of the seeds found in the cache, without success.

    The marijuana was found to have a relatively high content of THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis, but the sample was too old to determine a precise percentage.

    Oh yes, the tests included genetic testing and radio-carbon dating. Good to point that out. I'll just speculate what other tests you could do with 2700 year old weed. On a perhaps related note, since they couldn't use spectroscopy or whatever to determine the precise percentage of THC, I wonder what technique they used to come up with the qualitative measurement "relatively high".

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  3. In a related anouncement.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Keith Richards was greatly relieved it was finally found although he can't recall being in China at the time.

  4. Intersting Tomb Contents by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 5, Funny

    The tomb also contained bridles, archery equipment and a harp...

    The ancient equivalent of car keys, a gun, and an electric guitar.
    Considering how much weed there was I say this was
    probably an ancient rock star and not a shaman.

  5. Also explains... by Fluffeh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why those mongols kept invading till someone built that big nasty wall up between backyards. I can see it now:

    Mongol: Pssst, you got a yuan bag?
    Wall Guard: Oy! Get out of here, we don't do that at this tower, try two doors down.
    Mongol: Pssst, is Fey Shong Wei about? He always hooks me up.
    Wall Guard: I said piss off! I got my boss coming for an inspection in a bit.
    Mongol: Fine fine, sissy girly man, no wonder you need this big wall to keep out a few baked horsemen!
    Wall Guard: Get back to your tent you damned hippie! And get a REAL job! And a HAIRCUT! And have a SHOWER!

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  6. And look what happened to the guy who smoked that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    He's dead!

    Take note kids.

  7. Hey man.... by Star+Particle · · Score: 5, Funny

    you ever go crawling around ancient Chinese shaman's tombs....... on weed?