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Are Assassins on Cannabis Coming for You?

Posted by admin on Friday, December 4th, 2009

History is populated with uses for marijuana, from cannabis seeds being used as food in 6000BC China all the way through to British sailing ships using hemp rope. One of the main uses has always been narcotic, and cannabis has been at the centre of centuries of debate about drugs in general, especially focusing on their relative deadliness. While marijuana studies show that cannabis is not deadly in and of itself, there is one use that may have been: Its use in Assassinations.

What is the link?

Since the fourteenth century, stories have abounded about knife wielding crazy men from the Middle East, high on cannabis and baying for blood. These were supposedly ?Cannabis Assassins?, fuelled in their blood lust by the drug and visions of a paradise to come. It?s a terrifying idea to imagine, let alone to be confronted with. But where does it come from?

The legend stems from Marco Polo?s famous account of his travels. He describes visiting Alam?t (?Eagle Peak?) fortress, also know by the more gruesome Qal?atu l-M?t, ?The Castle of Death?! The explorer writes about the previous inhabitants of the fortress, focusing on Al-Hassan ibn-al-Sabbah, head of an Islamic sect who?s military wing included the first documented assassins. Not at all complimentary about Al-Hassan?s religious, political or military views, Polo is also quick to throw marijuana into the mix.

Marco Polo presents al-Hassan ibn-al-Sabbah as the peddler of cannabis, alcohol, women and young boys to his personal cult of assassins. After drugging the men into a stupor, Al-Hassan transported them to a garden of earthy delights where he would present himself as a divine messenger and tell them to follow him. He promised them more of the same if they carried out killings for him or died trying. Cannabis and cannabis seeds would be integral to the experience, heightening the mystical feeling and being used in liquid form to put the men to sleep for movement in and out of the garden.

Fact or fiction

While this sounds exotic and entrancing as a legend, it seems just that. Legendary, but false. Al-Hassan ibn-al-Sabbah saw cannabis ? along with alcohol ? as forbidden by the Qur?an, so his assassins were always clear headed, both when recruited and when on missions. Because of this belief it?s very unlikely that cannabis was even allowed in Alam?t fortress. The story gets stretched even thinner when you consider the time scale involved. Marco Polo visited Alam?t almost a century later than the assassin?s control over the site, long after it had fallen to the Mongols (who were much more likely to have used cannabis than the Assassins ever were).

Etymology

Other people think that the etymology of the word assassin proves their connection with cannabis. The meaning of the Persian word ha?????n, which translates to ?herb sellers? or ?healers? became blurred in meaning with hashish, which is the resin from cannabis flowers. Ha?????n is the base of the word ?Assassin?, but it is almost uniformly agreed that this means ?follower of Hassan?, and that the blurring of meaning is once again a product of Marco Polo?s spurious account.

Are Assassins on Cannabis Coming For You?

The evidence is very much against the idea that of cannabis crazed fanatics. Assassins were very clear headed, targeted at key individuals and deadly. They used knives because a bow or poison might leave the target alive. They were schooled in the use of blades, throws, and grapples, they were disguised, they were careful, and they were much more terrifying for their subtlety. So, were assassins on cannabis ever coming for you? You?d have to smoke a lot of marijuana to think so.