Central Asia
Central & Western Steppe
Central & Western Steppe. Cannabis has a complex history in steppe regions such as Kazakhstan, southern Russia, and Ukraine, where it appears to have been variously cultivated for fibre and/or ‘drug’ production in the modern, Classical, and prehistoric eras. Six million years ago, true wild Cannabis was already present on the western steppe. The species may have been brought into cultivation and domesticated here independently of its Asian populations. Early evidence for cultivation has been identified in the form of domesticated pollen at several sites, most associated with the Yamnaya culture (3300–2600 BCE).
In its most ancient domesticated form Cannabis was probably a triple-use crop cultivated for fibre, edible seeds, and drugs (whether for medicine or ‘intoxication’) from its leaves and cannabinoid-rich inflorescences. The earliest method for getting high on Cannabis was almost certainly smoking, i.e. fumigation. Pottery braziers, some dating to the Neolithic, have been intepreted as used for this purpose, notably a find of what appear to be charred Cannabis seeds in a third millennium BCE burial from Romania.
In the Histories, Herodotus (c. 440 BCE) describes Scythians using braziers inside tents to inhale smoke on the Pontic Steppe in eastern Ukraine. The Scythians were an Iranian-speaking nomadic culture from Central Eurasia. Residue inside gold vessels dating c. 400 BCE excavated from a Scythian kurgan in Stavropol Krai, southern Russia indicated they were used to drink beverages containing cannabis and opium. Pollen data examined by McPartland suggest Cannabis cultivation became widespread on the western steppe only after it was introduced in the late Bronze and early Iron Ages by the Scythians. The domesticates (“landraces”) cultivated in Scythia were probably representative of its likely oldest domesticated Central Asian form, namely a triple-use crop for fibre, seeds, and ‘intoxication’. Subsequent European domesticates cultivated by cultures such as the Slavs, Romans, and Celts were primarily for fibre, i.e. subsp. sativa. In the modern era, Ukraine and southern Russia became major centres of hemp cultivation.
Definitive formal classification of wild-type populations and landraces (i.e., domesticates) from regions such as Crimea and Kazakhstan is challenging.
Kazakhstani Cannabis History
Kazakhstan is often referred to as the birthplace of cannabis. This cannot be scientifically verified, though there is evidence of the Kazakhstani people using cannabis and hemp many centuries ago. It’s believed that it was originally used as a fibre, with its medicinal benefits being discovered later.
The Scythians (nomadic tribes known to live in the country) were famous for their cannabis use. A Scythian burial site (‘barrow’) just outside of Kazakhstan and dating back to 300 BC, contained an embalmed body and a cauldron full of burnt hemp seeds. Another barrow had various cauldrons and flasks inside, also filled with seeds. Judging by this (and Herodotus’ descriptions of Scythian life), we can guess that these tribal people were burning cannabis seeds for their intoxicating effects.
Chuy Valley
Chuy Valley is the largest natural occurring Cannabis Valley in the World. The Chuy Valley is in the heart of Kazakhstan, in north Tian-Shan. It covers a total area of around 32,000 square kilometres and is home to an estimated one million acres of wild cannabis. This accounts for approximately a third of the available fertile soil. The Chu River, which runs right through the valley, provides the necessary water to help the plants grow abundantly.
Chuy Valley cannabis is prized for its potency. It is either dried and smoked, or processed into hashish, which is known locally as ‘ruchnik’. This literally means ‘made by hand’; as the farmers rub the leaves to collect the resin. This resin is then removed from the fingers, pressed and moulded into hashish.
The most popular form of hashish from the region is called ‘plastilin’ (plasticine) which has been harvested traditionally for centuries.
Protecting the gene pool
Kazakhstani farmers are fighting to protect the landrace cannabis genetics, as they may provide invaluable clues about the plant’s ancient roots, not to mention its evolution over time. However, the strict government laws mean that the crops are constantly at risk of being seized and destroyed.
The cannabis plants, which are typically sturdy and tall (around two metres), are ideal for breeding high-quality indoor strains. As such, the pure Kazakhstani landraces are also at risk from foreign genetic introduction or ‘inter-breeding’.
Already, there’s evidence that foreign cannabis has influenced the gene pool. This may have occurred in the past, due to Kazakhstan being on the Silk Road (an important trade route). Most experts believe that the Chuy Valley cannabis is actually a hybrid, mixed with Indian and Pakistani cannabis genes. However, this combination seems to have created a more potent end-result.
The Chu valley, which is shared between southern Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan, is home to some of the most infamous — and potent — pot in the world. Supposedly rivaling even Afghanistan’s potent weed, the robust cultivation scene has generated some unique rituals around the plant. Just one harvesting ritual in the region involves a person riding naked on a horse through cannabis plants, until the bodies of both are covered in a thin layer of sweat and pot resin. The substance is scraped off, molded into ultra-concentrated marijuana bars called "plastilin," and then packed into a regular cigarette. The country’s pot is also a favorite subject of at least one Kazakh rap group, who has penned such poetic lyrics as "The champions of smoking kick-ass chronic / Live right here in Kazakhstan, that’s not ironic."
After aggressive Soviet efforts to eradicate the high-THC cannabis, the plants have only come back stronger and remain the target of campaigns by the authorities to combat drug trafficking and related crime. Most anti-drug efforts in Kazakhstan are focused on Afghan heroin. About ten percent of the opium that is meant to pass through the country on its way from Afghanistan to Russia ends up in Kazakhstan. But marijuana remains a unique problem because of its accessibility in the region and its unusual stubbornness. A 2012 Kazakh government report on the drug situation in the country noted that although registers users of opioids and stimulants had decreased since 2007, the number of cannabinoid users had increased.
That stubbornness might be behind solutions like the one proposed by Darigha Nazarbaeva and others like it. Last week, a leading narcologist and former presidential candidate in Kyrgyzstan, with which Kazakhstan shares its THC-rich "Cannabis Klondike," proposed a pilot program for the legal production of cannabis in the country. In Kyrgyzstan, too, the drug has become woven into the social fabric. It is estimated that as many as two thirds of all families in the country’s Issyk-Kul and Chu regions harvest marijuana.