How a plant domesticated in Asia reached colonial Mexico, entered local medicine and culture, and eventually became inseparable from the global image of marijuana.
Cannabis Did Not Originate in Mexico
Despite its close association with Mexican history, cannabis did not originate in Mexico or the Americas.
The strongest available genetic evidence places its early domestication in East Asia.
Over centuries, humans carried cannabis across Eurasia for fiber, seeds, medicine and intoxicating use.
European expansion eventually brought the plant across the Atlantic.
But Mexico would develop its own relationship with cannabis, transforming how the plant was cultivated, understood and represented.
The Spanish Introduce Hemp to New Spain
In the early 1530s, Spanish officials began promoting hemp cultivation in New Spain.
The goal was practical.
Hemp could provide rope, cloth and cordage, materials needed by colonial settlements and maritime trade.
Sebastián Ramírez de Fuen-leal supported early cultivation efforts near Mexico City.
Hernán Cortés, Bishop Juan de Zumárraga and Pedro Cuadrado were also associated with the plant's early spread.
In 1545, Charles V instructed officials in the Indies to encourage cultivation of flax and hemp.
But production struggled with poor seed quality, irrigation challenges, processing costs and competition from established local fibers.
Did Asian Cannabis Arrive Through Acapulco?
The Manila galleon trade, beginning in 1565, connected Asia with Acapulco and other parts of New Spain.
That connection has inspired a popular theory.
Some modern accounts suggest sailors introduced potent Asian cannabis that contributed to the development of Mexican landraces.
However, no direct archival or genetic evidence has established that particular ancestry.
The maritime connection existed, but the proposed genetic influence remains unproven.
When Cannabis Entered Mexican Medicine
By the 1600s, cannabis had entered some local healing and medicinal practices.
Its possible involvement in divination and ritual use is more difficult to establish.
Historical references to plants called pipiltzintzintli, Santa Rosa and Rosa María have sometimes been connected to cannabis.
But these names did not necessarily identify the same botanical species in every context.
A 1698 case in Tepepan documented Indigenous ritual use of pipiltzintzintli.
Researchers have proposed several possible identifications, including Salvia divinorum, cannabis or a mixed preparation.
The historical record does not conclusively resolve the plant's identity.
How Marijuana Became a Symbol of Disorder
By the late nineteenth century, Mexican newspapers and official reports increasingly associated marijuana with soldiers, prisoners and poorer communities.
Those portrayals helped change its public reputation.
A plant associated with useful fiber and medicinal practices was also becoming a symbol of intoxication, violence and social disorder.
That image did not necessarily reflect its actual prevalence or effects.
The true scale of cannabis use during the period remains uncertain.
The Marijuana Verse in La Cucaracha
Cannabis also entered Mexican popular culture.
Versions of La Cucaracha circulating during the revolutionary era included references to marijuana.
The song itself was much older, and the famous marijuana verse has no conclusively identified author.
Still, the lyrics demonstrate how closely the plant had become associated with the popular image of revolutionary Mexico.
Marijuana was no longer simply an introduced agricultural crop.
It had become part of Mexican language, music and cultural identity.
1920: Mexico Prohibits Cannabis
On March 15, 1920, Mexico banned cannabis cultivation and commerce nationwide.
The prohibition preceded the major 1937 federal marijuana restriction in the United States, although individual American states had already enacted their own restrictions.
By then, cannabis had accumulated centuries of history within Mexico.
Its meaning had shifted through colonial agriculture, local medical practices, public fears and popular culture.
Legacy
Mexico did not invent cannabis, but it profoundly influenced the modern world's understanding of marijuana.
The plant arrived from overseas, entered colonial agriculture and later became part of local medicine, music and social life.
Its association with Mexican identity also influenced how governments and the public discussed prohibition.
From hemp fields in New Spain to the revolutionary-era imagery of La Cucaracha, the plant acquired a history far beyond its original introduction.
Cannabis was born elsewhere. Its Mexican history helped reshape its global identity.
Sources:
Campos, Isaac. Home Grown: Marijuana and the Origins of Mexico's War on Drugs. University of North Carolina Press, 2012. doi:10.5149/9780807882689_campos.
Ren, Guangpeng, et al. "Large-Scale Whole-Genome Resequencing Unravels the Domestication History of Cannabis sativa." Science Advances, vol. 7, no. 29, 2021, eabg2286. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abg2286.
Leal-Galicia, Perla, et al. "Breve historia sobre la marihuana en Occidente." Revista de Neurología, vol. 67, no. 4, 2018, pp. 133–140. doi:10.33588/rn.6704.2017522.
Blosser, Brett. "Panqui & Pipiltzintli in the Tepepan Raid, 1698." Working paper, Jan. 2015.
Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Juan Esteban, et al. "The Genetic Legacy of the Manila Galleon Trade in Mexico." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, vol. 377, no. 1852, 2022, article 20200419. doi:10.1098/rstb.2020.0419.
México. Poder Ejecutivo Federal. "Disposiciones sobre el comercio de productos que pueden ser utilizados para fomentar vicios que degeneren la raza y sobre el cultivo de plantas que pueden ser empleadas con el mismo fin." Diario Oficial, vol. 14, no. 63, 15 Mar. 1920, p. 1189.
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