Marrakesh Express

Definition: a slang term for smoking marijuana

Uses: I’m gonna take the marrkesh express tonight and chill.

Additional Resources:

If you were to play a game of word association with cannabis, you’d probably last a fair few rounds. The plant, whose compound is also used in medicine, can be referred to by any number of different terms, slang expressions and euphemisms. From “taking the Marrakesh express” to baking, 4:20, toking, and “talking to Lando,” there are so many different ways in which we refer to using cannabis. But why has it got so many name variations?

While legal in many states, the entirety of Canada, and several other places, cannabis is criminalized throughout parts of the world. So, one of the main reasons there are so many allusions to it is because it’s safer to talk in a coded way than outright in such areas. Arguably, the USA is largely responsible for coming up with the majority of the insinuations, from references to Cheech and Chong, Dazed and Confused, TV show How I Met Your Mother, and even Michael Jordan.

But, call it what you will, the rise in cannabis and its byproducts will likely result in more references being created. Starting in California, medicinal marijuana was used in the form of food, which gathered its own terminology alongside it. As the Democratic candidate for the 2020 election is likely to consider complete legalization of cannabis use throughout the country, it’s likely that as different groups of people discover it, they will invent their own names for it. Receiving such strong support from one side of the House – and pressure to the other to get on board – it looks promising for cannabis. Is this a good move?

Well, medicinal marijuana has proven positive side effects for many conditions, according to several researchers. The number one use is for pain, especially in cancer sufferers. Those with glaucoma have found that cannabis has benefitted them and some use CBD oil and other byproducts to alleviate seizures. Cannabidiol has even been linked to studies that show broken bones healing quicker. Depression and anxiety are also on the rise and have been known to be treated with cannabis and its byproducts.

While there are still skeptics, the medical proof is hard to argue with. While alcohol and tobacco regularly claim lives in both physical and psychological ways, nobody has ever died of a cannabis overdose in the history of medicine. Even caffeine has had some freak deaths associated with it. The dilution of the active components of the drug and the amount needed to be toxic have such a gulf that experts argue it would be very difficult to overdose on cannabis. The ratio is something similar to overdosing on chocolate and a lot lower than an overdose on simple spice nutmeg.

As younger generations continue to populate online, we are likely to add more meanings behind the word cannabis and its associated products. Not only does the product stimulate so many different references, but almost anything could be an allusion to cannabis if you had enough to back it up. Whether the USA completely legalizes it or not, the compound is likely to continue to generate such stimulating etymological discussion.