Ganja is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana in the English language. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.
Etymology
Ganja is borrowed from Hindi gāñjā (IPA: ), a name for cannabis, which is derived from Sanskrit gañjā, referring to a “powerful preparation from Cannabis sativa“. The word was used in Europe as early as 1856, when the British enacted a tax on the “ganja” trade.
One academic source places the date of introduction of ganja in Jamaica at 1845. The term came with 19th century workers whose descendants are now known as Indo-Jamaicans.
Contemporary use of the term ganja
Ganja written in graffiti in California
English use
Ganja is the most common term for marijuana in Jamaica.
In popular culture
In 1975, Peter Tosh defended the use of ganja in the song “Legalize It”. The hip hop group Cypress Hill revived the term in the United States in 2004 in a song titled “Ganja Bus”, followed by other artists including rapper Eminem in the 2009 song “Must Be the Ganja”.
The artist Nicki Minaj has a reggae and hip-hop infused song called “Ganja Burn”, serving at the opening track of her fourth studio album Queen.