Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also gagga, ganga, gange, ganj, ghanja, gonj, gunga, gunja(h)) marijuana, spec. that grown in Jamaica; thus ganja man, a marijuana dealer.

[1858		Harper’s Mag. Apr. n.p.: The gunjah of Calcutta is the plant gathered when in flower, dried, and put up in bundles. Bhang – under the maddening influence of which the Delhi rebels are said to have committed such atrocities – consists of the larger leaves and seed-pods [...] Gunjah, boiled in butter, yields an extract also called hasheesh].
[1884		Confessions of an Eng. Hachish-Eater 2: This resinous extract is the foundation of bang, and is known in different parts of Asia as canop, churrus, chutsao, ganjah, gindshi, hachish, majum, malach, sjarank, and subjah].
1922		E. Murphy Black Candle 332: The hemp resin for smoking and chewing comes in three forms – chang, ganja and charas.
1938		Z.N. Hurston Tell My Horse (1995) 291: She is revived by a mere sip of rum in which a single leaf of ganja has been steeped. Ganja is that ‘wisdom weed’ which has been brought from the banks of the sacred Ganges to Jamaica.
1943		C. Thompson These My People 24: Murdered on a Monday mawning! Suppose it was a ganja man?
1952		(con. 1948) G. Mandel Flee the Angry Strangers 168: I got some dynamite, it’s from India. Real Gunja.
1954		R. Mais Brother Man (1966) 8: Cordy’s man get tek-up fo’ ganga. [Ibid.] 56: Some crazy ganga-smoker or other, trying to get himself a pass’l of the weed.
1959		A. Salkey Quality of Violence (1978) 111: If you want to smoke the ganja, at least you could offer me some, too.
1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore 73: Gunja – The narcotic marihuana [...] Gunjah – Same as Gunga.
1961		T. Taylor Baron’s Court All Change (2011) 31: ‘Pot — Shit — Tea — Gunja — Tampi — Reefers — Weed — or if you want me to be really square — Indian Hemp!’.
1964		A. Bennett God the Stonebreaker 39: Her room was a depository also for thousands of pounds’ worth of narcotics, chiefly the noxious weed known as ganja.
1968		A. Salkey Late Emancipation of Jerry Stover (1982) 91: Many of the people who lived there had become infamous for their ganja smoking.
1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970) 101: ghanja. [Ibid.] 105: gunga [...]. [Ibid.] 106: gunja [...] marijuana.
1973		Sun. Times Mag. 30 Sept. 32: Making a bit of money on the side, selling ganja [cannabis] and thieving a bit.
1975		N. De Mille Smack Man (1991) 16: The posses had started small, farming, importing, and distributing marijuana—gagga.
1980		(con. 1950s) M. Thelwell Harder They Come 80: He [...] had resorted to the use of ganja, the ‘wisdom weed’ to deepen his understanding.
1981		Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) 31 May 26/3: ‘If ganja was poison, I would be dead’.
1986		Big Audio Dynamite ‘Sambadrome’ 🎵 Tourists have an appetite for ganja and cocaine.
1990		J. Naidoo Coolie Location 10: Hamma, is it true that God Krishna smokes ganja?
1992		V. Headley Yardie 49: He usually rolled up a mix of tobacco, ganga and a sprinkle of cocaine.
1998		G. Burn Happy Like Murderers 200: He was a great guy, till he got on that ganja.
1999		R.G. Barrett Wind & Monkey (2013) [ebook] ‘I don’t smoke dope. I smoke pot. Ganja. Junkies use dope’.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 10: Gange — Marijuana. [Ibid.] 11: Gunga — Marijuana; Gunja — Marijuana.
2002		R.G. Barrett Mystery Bay Blues 157: What about de ganja, mon [...] Are we goin’ to smoke de spleefs.
2006		R. Antoni Carnival 70: Javi wanted to know who were these naked people who smoked ganja. [Ibid.] 120: How much of ganj you want, bro?
2010		L. Redhead Thrill City [ebook] Tottering around [...] using a combination of mime and pidgin English to hit the befuddled locals up for ganga.
2012		M. Lacher On the Bro’d 277: Hitting[[the ‘blunt’] was like being in a forest fire [...] just like a ton of gonj on fire.
2017		hubpages.com ‘Roadman Slang 4 Jun. 🌐 Green/dank/herb/ganja/tree/broccoli- the herb.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

2002		L.K. Johnson ‘Dread Beat an Blood’ in Mi Revalueshanary Fren 5: A small hall soaked in smoke / a house of ganja mist.
2006		W. Chen Chutney Power and Stories 10: He [...] sucked dinner mints to neutralize the ganja smell in his mouth.