Etymologically Speaking... From the old Arabic word "hashshshin," which meant, "someone who is addicted to hash," that is, marijuana.
Originally refered to a group of warriors who would smoke up before battle. Aaron White adds: You may want to explore the fact that the hashshshins were somewhat of a voodoo-ized grand conspiracy scapegoat cult (the very fact of their existence is impossible to confirm). They supposedly were a secret society (a la the FreeMasons) which was influential in every middle eastern court from Persia to Bangladesh. Reference: Dictionaries: Etymology. Etymological dictionary. Take Our Word For It, the weekly word-origin webzine.