What is Cannabis Culture?

Let’s break up the meaning of Cannabis Culture into four aspects so that we can try and fully understand what it means. Let’s start with the actual meaning of ‘culture’ and then put it into the context of cannabis and how we have created a culture around this.

What is culture?

With so many meanings of the word ‘culture’ out there,  my favorite is that it’s simply a sum of attitudes, beliefs and customs, used to distinguish one group of people  from another  Culture can be passed down from one generation to the next through language, objects, rituals, art and teachings.

Looking at culture in the context of cannabis, we would look at things like the growing of a particular strain or crop, how it influences the way we live and lastly how cannabis influences our senses and the way we think.

The Culture of Growing

It is said that those who grow and cultivate cannabis are seen as the backbone for all other facets of cannabis culture. I find truth in a statement like this because, if we didn’t have the plant to start with, we could never have created a culture around it. Marijuana growers and hemp farmers are the ones who started this amazing cultural movement. Without them, cannabis culture may not have even been born.

Cannabis Culture is a way of life

We may not necessarily feel that it is a way of living but it certainly plays a part in the way we live. Historically, cannabis was part of a forbidden belief system. People were not allowed to consume cannabis in any way, shape or form, otherwise they would suffer the consequences – mainly a lot of jail time.

Over the many years, people’s understandings and judgement of the plant started to change. We developed a better understanding of its purpose and how it could affect our daily lives. We have discovered that marijuana is mainly good, useful and worth sharing with others to enjoy. Cannabis has helped with many medical breakthroughs. We can only spread the culture if we believe in it.

Some of the aspects that make up cannabis culture can be seen in shared practices like smoking it through joints, pipes and bongs. This is a simple example of how people come together as a culture and take part in smoking circles, sharing random discussions about life and living and what it all means to be a human.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone who smokes weed, is a hemp-shirt wearing hippie who doesn’t ever shave and lacks motivation . It’s more of a mind-set and way of thinking.

Our thought process and senses are influenced by Cannabis Culture

It’s starts with our intellect – how we think, what we think and why we think it. All the while working with our senses and emotions – how we feel, what we feel and why we feel it.

You will find that most people who use cannabis do so because it plays a part in a person’s intellectual and sensual life. It enhances the way we think and feel about the things we do, the things we eat, the music we listen to and our experiences that we share or keep hidden.

If we look at it from a scientific standpoint, cannabis is used to help with pattern recognition and lateral thinking, which are both key aspects for discovery and innovation. Isn’t that what life should be about? Making discoveries and innovating to help those around us as well as ourselves?

The only way to keep the culture of cannabis going is to share your knowledge and experiences with those around you. We can see that in the past few years, this cultural movement really started flowering when legislation’s started changing. It seems that people have become more open minded towards cannabis and consider it less as a drug and more as an aid in life.

These different aspects of culture have made me realize that cannabis users from different cultures in general, can still come together despite the colour of their skin, their religious preferences and own personal prejudices. We created a new culture where we share ideas and values; we practice non-violence and celebrate positivity and creativity, we are the cannabis culture.