For instance, I noticed that you included chickpeas; many regional dishes are made with chickpea, such as humus.
Do you mean hommus? If I recall correctly, humus is a type of organic soil...
The spelling is pretty diverse depending on where you are becuase the name come from Arabian.
Up until about a century ago it grew wild almost everywhere on the American continent which is why it garnered the term "Weed."
Canabis/Hemp were a big in Europe too, the origin pinpointed atm to the Ural (mountainrange in Rusia). The tracked Human influence on the plant is even older then many and most crops we have including wheat.
If you look at the closest relative of Hemp, hop, you will see that it always had also medical uses, even for a real long time. Also THC isnt the only canaboid in those plants there is a whole bunch of them with differing strengths and uses. Hop mainly makes sleepy which is good for medical hop but breed out of brewers hop. (it was btw. introduced to keep the beer drinkable for a longer time since it keeps bacteria away).
Same goes for hemp. Improving THC in modern times (by a thousandfold) is well ... modern. You wouldnt even feel buzzed with a breed from the 70s - 90s, on a doze that would get you mile high nowadays since we breed so much more potent variations. A general feeling of floatiness and happyness? Sure you would get that even with a variant from 500 AD .
Some (unpopular not well supported) theories suggest that Shamans started agriculture to make booze to keep the general populatian away from the good stuff. Simpy because you cant let everyone have prophetic visions etc.The slight buzz and loss of inhibition by alcohol was preferable back then. Also you can make booze of literal grass seeds (thansk to the starch) while Hemp is a much less common thus available plant.
They and other religious groups (most likely) didnt smoke joints though, they often used it like incense or in the forms of oils etc with other plants that enhanced the effects. Also the used more of it.
Not for cannabis but for some middle eastern drugs the bible even has recipes on various hallicinugenics (
source).