not marijuana weed plantsAs most people already know, one of the most common ways to refer to marijuana is weed. Sure, there are plenty of other ways to refer to the plant, but weed is by far the most common and well known of these terms. Some other words for marijuana are cannabis, herb, ganja, bud, and of course weed. When using the word in this context, we often forget what its original meaning was. Though the term is loose and not well defined, the accepted definition is a plant growing in an area in which it is unwanted. As you can see, this is a very broad definition that doesn’t give us a very rigid idea of what the term weed actually means. This leads many to ask the question, “Is marijuana a weed?”

The Definition of Weed

Contrary to what one might think, this question is in fact searched very often on all of the major search engines. This is a clear indicator that there is demand for this question and we aim to clear it up for you. Most people assume that weed is just a derogatory term used for the plant that started during the time of prohibition. Over time, the word weed became more of a positive term for this plant. Growers often say that cannabis is a weed because of  the way in which it grows. It grows quickly and in a more hardy manner than other plants. While these are all interesting tidbits of information, they don’t quite answer our question as precisely as we’d hoped.

Weed plants outsideInterestingly, most weeds are found in human controlled areas where they can actually be called a nuisance. You see, if the plant causes no problems in its immediate area, then it is no longer truly classified as a weed. This is counter productive to the answer we are seeking as we want to know if marijuana is a weed as classified by science. When one looks at all the things these days that are classified as weeds, a few things may stick out. For example, dandelions are pretty flower like weeds that are only pulled from the ground because of their label. In the end, weed can not even be called a scientific term as a plant that is a weed in one situation may very well not be a weed in another.

What Weed Means These Days

As much as some might hate to admit it, the term weed is now more often used to refer to cannabis than unwanted plants. The word has become synonymous with marijuana culture and it will likely never fall back in to its previous use. One of the good things about this is that the word no longer has a negative connotation. It can now be used freely to refer to marijuana without any ambiguity. Whatever you may refer to cannabis as, the most widely accepted term for it is definitely weed.This word is ours now to use it in whatever way we want to talk about the magical plant marijuana.