“The three religions of the Book, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, are not well known for having drug cultures associated with them, so it comes as something as a surprise to learn that Islam, perhaps the most puritanical of the three, has a strong undercurrent of marijuana use throughout its long history.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ID11Ak03.html
It's definitely a cultural issue.
Pot has been around as an intoxicant to man for at least 5,000 years. It reaches back there with alcohol.