Cannabis has been celebrated for thousands of years and is a gift from God.

Amiable GreetingHello dearest opponent! It is a fantastic topic of debate you have come up with and one that only the bravest of debaters would dare ever defend. I hope you all the best on your journey into the world of drugs and perhaps if your soul finds there to be fault with it at some point then you will make a new debate where you, God forbid, defend the outlawing of marijuana! ;) What I will be covering this roundIn my round one debate, I shall be addressing the three points that Pro raised in the debate title. The first claim Pro made is that cannabis has been celebrated for thousands of years, the second is that cannabis is a gift and the third is that this gift is from God.I shall systematically disprove each of the three claims with their own mini-debate dedicated to them (within this entire round one debate). First Claim to Disprove: Cannabis has been celebrated for thousands of yearsCannabis, as a medicine, is known to have been used since 2900-2727 B.C. [1][2] but this was only known to have records by then, indicating that it was, in actual fact, used back in the 3rd Millennium B.C[3]. A medicine, in its simplest form is defined as something that treats or prevents or alleviates the symptoms of disease[4]. Therefore, if it simple considered a means of treatment, prevention or alleviation then it would hardly be celebrated any more than we celebrate the existence of paracetamol.The seeds of the marijuana plant were used in China from 6000 B.C.[8] and the leaf and plant themselves were used for hemp in textiles since 4000 B.C.[8] but I have never heard, or read, of any remote sign of appreciation, let alone celebration, of Cannabis in any use other than its medicinal or recreational benefits (I challenge my opponent to prove that the cannabis seed or the use of hemp in textiles has ever been celebrated at all in history). The first ever record of recreational use of Cannabis is by the Scythians back in 430 B.C; it was merely used as an enhancement for celebrations, or smoked as a ritualistic habit but the celebrations and rituals were never about the drug itself.On a final note, It is important to understand the difference between celebration and appreciation. Celebration is most commonly defined as a joyful occasion for special festivities to mark some happy event.[5]; appreciation is commonly defined as recognition of the quality, value, significance, or magnitude of people and things. Whilst it was likely that it was appreciated for its benefits, it was hardly ever celebrated, if at all, by anyone other than the Rastafari movement, which has only been around since the 1930s (and therefore is only around 80 years prior to this debate).In summary, Cannabis has indeed been around for thousands of years but the celebration of it has only been present since the 1930s with the origination of the Rastafari movement (which is only around 80 years prior to 2013, when this debate is taking place). Therefore, one can conclude that Cannabis has not been celebrated for thousands of years. Second Claim to Disprove: Cannabis is a giftAccording to Oxford dictionaries, a gift is defined as a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present[9]. Cannabis is only ever known in society to be distributed for either financial gain or to a friend in exchange for them returning the favour later on. Thus, by this definition cannabis is not a gift.Even if one were to take the abstract view that it's a gift from mother nature to us, this is entirely untrue, to grow and maintain cannabis as a plant requires expensive equipment and lots of time and effort to grow (even outdoors, affording the land in itself is expensive)[10].If my opponent has a different definition of gift or a defense as to why this definition is true, I'd be happy to hear it. Third Claim to Disprove: Cannabis, if it is a gift, is from GodThere is simply no proof of such a thing. God may have made the seed for the cannabis plant and the environmental conditions, in the Caribbean, necessary for cultivating the plant but to suggest that he gifted us such a plant is truly ridiculous.Until my friend can prove that there even is a God, or that this God would approve of all the side effects his 'gift' has to offer then they must concede that this suggestion is utter nonsense and is not debatable altogether since we will never truly know or understand the abstract concept that is God.http://www.youtube.com...Sources:[1] (2003) History of Marijuana as Medicine - 2900 BC to Present Available: http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org... Last accessed: 11th Dec 2013[2] Drug Enforcement Administration. (2008). Short History of Cannabis Available: http://www.deamuseum.org... Last accessed: 11th Dec 2013[3] Martin Booth (2003) Cannabis: A History. Transworld. p. 36 ISBN 978-1-4090-8489-1[4] Dictionary (2013) Definition of Medicine Available: https://tinyurl.com... Last accessed: 11th Dec 2013[5] Dictionary (2013) Definition of Celebration Available: https://tinyurl.com... Last accessed: 11th Dec 2013[6] The American Heritage (2009) Definition of Appreciation Available: http://www.thefreedictionary.com... Last accessed: 11th Dec 2013[7] Tim Hall (2007) Rastafarianism: Origins and beliefs. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk... Last accessed: 11th Dec 2013[8] History of marijuana & cannabis use and abuse Available: http://www.narconon.org.... Last accessed: 11th Dec 2013[9] Oxford Dictionaries Definition of Gift Available: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com... Last accessed: 11th Dec 2013[10] The Cannabis Geek. A Simple Guide To Growing Cannabis. Available: http://thecannabisgeek.com... Last accessed: 12th Dec 2013.