According to anthropologists, Cannabis plants were burned in wooden braziers (circa 500 BCE) during ceremonies at the Jirzankal Cemetery in the eastern Pamirs region.
This suggests that cannabis was smoked as part of ritual activities in western China at least 2,500 years ago. Interestingly, phytochemical analyses reveal that these cannabis plants produced high levels of psychoactive compounds, suggesting that people used cannabis not only for medical purposes but also to get intoxicated.

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The origins of cannabis smoking- Chemical residue evidence from the first millennium BCE in the PamirsDownload
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