11 things you didn't know about marijuana

1. Australian use of cannabis is three times the global average.

UNODC estimates 10.3% of the Australian population aged 14 and above had used cannabis in the last year. 

This rate is also comparable to the rate in other former British colonies like New Zealand, Nigeria, US and Canada.

Source: The Lancet, The Economist and UNODC

2. According to a small survey undertaken in Australia in 2005, the top three conditions that people use medical cannabis for are depression, chronic pain, and arthritis.

Of the 128 surveyed, research found the use was typically long-term and regular.

About two-thirds said they reduced or stopped the use of other medication once they began smoking cannabis.

US President Barack Obama says smoking marijuana is no more dangerous than drinking. (AAP)

3. The first recorded written use of marijuana as a medicinal drug is in 2737 B.C.

It was by Chinese emperor Shen Nung, who documented the drug’s effectiveness in treating the pains of rheumatism and gout.

Shennong was known as the Farmer God who personally tasted herbs to discover their qualities. (Li Ung Bing, Outline of Chinese History, Shanghai 1914 /Wikimedia Commons)

4. There are over 500 chemical compounds in the cannabis sativa plant.

(Cacycle)

5. In US state of Colorado, where marijuana is legal, The Denver Post newspaper has their own pot critic.

Meet Jake Browne, the man whose job it is to smoke pot.

In fact, The Denver Post set up an entirely new website dedicated to the 'culture of cannabis' when recreational marijuana use became legal in the state.

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6. One in two Australians who grow their own cannabis for medicinal reasons do it without speaking to their doctor.

An international survey also found that almost one in 10 Australians said their doctor was aware of their cannabis use and had no problems with it.

A file photo dated 31 August 2010 shows a worker tending to cannabis plants at a growing facility for the Tikun Olam company near the northern Israeli town of Safed, Israel. (EPA/ABIR SULTAN ISRAEL OUT)

7. The US Department of Health has a patent on cannabinoids (chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant).

 

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8. About 99% of cannabis border detections in Australia are seeds sent through the post.

Detail of seeds of different types of marijuana at a farm near Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia (RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/GettyImages)

9. In 2012, Australia authorities destroyed 17,668 of indoor cannabis plants.

Of the countries that reported destroying cannabis plants, Italy had the highest number destroying more than 4 million outdoor plants and 1,300 sites.

10. In the last year almost 60% of illegal cannabis detected at the Australian border was identified as having come from the UK.

(File: AAP)

11. The estimated amount of taxes and fees that Colorado has collected from the marijuana industry since legalization is $34,800,000

It's expected the state will take in around $US40 million in revenue this year alone. In July, the state took in more than $US6 million in taxes relating to the sale of pot.

The tax on recreational marijuana in Colorado can reach as high as 21.2%, with the state imposing a marijuana sales tax on top of the pre-existing sales tax and a retail marijuana excise tax.

Iraq war veteran Sean Azzariti (L) purchases legal recreational marijuana from Toni Fox at the Denver Discreet Disensary in Denver, Colorado, USA, 31 May 2013. Colorado is the first state in the USA to sell recreational marijuana legally in the US. Fox is the owner of the dispensary and an advocate for legalizing marijuana. Azzariti was touted as the first person in the state to purchase recreational marijuana. EPA/BOB PEARSON