The History of the Joint: From Ancient Smoking to Modern Pre-Roll Cones

Written by Lia Thompson, packaging specialist at Creative Labz. Last updated October 4, 2026.

Today you can buy a perfectly shaped, pre-filled joint in a child-resistant tube at a dispensary. Getting there took thousands of years, from burning cannabis over hot stones to rolling paper by hand to filling cones by machine. Here's a short history of how people have smoked cannabis, and how the pre-roll cone came to be.

Ancient Beginnings: Smoke Without Paper

People have cultivated cannabis for thousands of years, especially in Central and East Asia, where it was grown for fiber, seeds, and medicine. Smoking it came much later, and early on it didn't involve paper at all.

• Burning braziers. In 2019, researchers reported wooden braziers from the Jirzankal Cemetery in the Pamir Mountains of western China, roughly 2,500 years old, containing residue from high-THC cannabis that had been burned. It's some of the earliest clear evidence of people burning cannabis for its effects.
• Hot stones in tents. Around the same era, the Greek historian Herodotus described the Scythians throwing hemp seeds onto hot stones inside small tents and enjoying the vapor.

For most of history, cannabis was burned, inhaled from a fire, or later smoked in pipes, not rolled.

Paper Arrives

Paper was invented in China around the 2nd century CE and slowly spread west over the following centuries. Rolling dried plant material in paper became common much later, with tobacco. As cigarette smoking spread in the 1800s, commercially made rolling papers became widely available in Europe and beyond, and that made rolling cannabis in paper easy.

The Rise of the Joint

In the early 1900s, cannabis smoking in rolled papers spread from Mexico into the United States. By the mid-20th century, the "joint" had become the most familiar way to smoke cannabis in North America, even as federal prohibition took hold with the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, the hand-rolled joint became part of popular culture. Rolling papers in different sizes, materials, and flavors followed, along with rolling machines for people who never mastered the technique.

From Hand-Rolled to Pre-Rolled Cones

Rolling a good joint takes practice. Cone-shaped papers solved that problem: the paper is pre-formed with a filter tip, so all you do is fill, pack, and twist. Cones also burn more evenly, because the shape matches how a joint naturally burns from a wide tip toward a narrow filter.

When states began legalizing adult-use cannabis, starting with Colorado and Washington in 2012, dispensaries needed a fast, consistent way to sell ready-to-smoke products. Pre-rolled cones and cone-filling machines made that possible at scale. Today, pre-rolls are a standard product category in legal markets, sold as singles, multi-packs, and infused premium versions.

Modern Pre-Roll Cones and Packaging

Today's pre-roll cones come in standard sizes from 70mm to 109mm king size, in refined white, unrefined brown, and hemp papers. Learn the differences in Pre-Roll Cones: Types and Differences.

Modern pre-rolls also need modern packaging: child-resistant doob tubes, multi-pack boxes, and tins that keep them fresh and meet state rules. See our guide to pre-roll packaging options, or learn how to fill pre-roll cones by hand.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did people start smoking cannabis?

Archaeological evidence shows people burning cannabis for its effects at least 2,500 years ago in western China. Smoking it rolled in paper became common much more recently, in the 1900s.

What's the difference between a joint and a pre-roll?

A joint is any cannabis rolled in paper. A pre-roll is a joint that comes already rolled or filled, usually made with a pre-formed cone.

Why are pre-roll cones shaped like cones?

The cone shape is easy to fill and pack evenly, and it burns more consistently from the wide tip down to the filter.

Roll Into the Modern Era

Creative Labz carries pre-roll cones in every common size, filling machines, and complete pre-roll packaging.