The History of Hemp Around the World
Today, many cannaconsumers take hemp and cannabis for granted due to the wonderful world we live that allows people easy access. Hemp has been adored whilst being vilified for millenniums. Its use as a durable and easy to use textile as well as its intoxicating effects have garnered human interest since they first laid eyes on it. Its versatility led to the globalization of its use, but it all started somewhere. Be prepared to be amazed at how long humans have been enjoying the plant. So, kick back in the cut, fire one up, and let’s learn about the world history of weed stuff.
Earliest Records of Use
The first recorded uses of hemp can be traced back to Asia between 8800-6500 BCE, a period known as the pre-Neolithic era. An archeology site in Japan found buds dating back to 8000 BCE (before common era) indicating a significant use of the plant. It started to become undeniably used by 5000 BCE in China, with carbon-dated hemp fibered pottery found in the country. The Chinese soon started using hemp for clothing, rope, and some of the earlier forms of paper.
It spread to India by 1000 BCE and became used in the Hindu religion. The plant continued to make its way west over the Hindu Kush mountains, where we termed the word for the Kush strains we all know and love today. When visiting Scythia sometime around 480 BCE, the Greek historian Herodotus stated, “The natives often inhale vapors of hemp-seed smoke for both ritual and recreational pleasure.” The recreational use of hemp would take a big leap over the next 2000 years.
When it Started to Spread Globally
By 1200 AD, the plant had found its way from the farthest reaches of Asia, through Persia, and found its way to the Arabian countries. This happened due to the invention of hashish. Hashish is made by separating the rosin from the plant. Different civilizations had different methods of extraction but the result was the same. A pressed concentrated form of THC. Hashish made the transportation of cannabis/hemp products much easier. It was concentrated, which meant less was needed to achieve the desired results. However, this wouldn’t be smoked until tobacco was introduced in the 1500s. Unti then, it was mainly consumed as an edible. By the 1600’s, hemp and cannabis had conquered Europe with King Henry VIII encouraging its cultivation to help build their growing navy. The hemp fabric provided much more durable sails that reduced costs or repairs allowing the country to continue to build.
When Europeans Met Native Americans
Early Florida Explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, a Spainard, described many tribes consuming the plant during his 1527-1537 expedition of the new word. He would say, “Throughout the country they get inebriated by using a certain smoke and will give everything they have in order to get it.” The English noticed the Native Americans cultivation of hemp and took note. They wrote back to England reporting that the hemp of the new world was better than any of that in England. By 1620, the colony of Virgina had passed an act that required plantation owners to grow both English and Native American hemp.
The Founding Fathers Love of Hemp
The founding fathers of The United States loved hemp for the versatility it offered and the convenience of its growth. They needed a sturdy textile to build their new country on and hemp made logical sense. Early American leaders such as George Washington, Ben Franklin, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and Henry Clay all harvested hemp. They had an army and a navy to build, and they’d need hemp to do so. Washington would say, “Make the most of the Indian hemp seed. Sow it everywhere.” Thomas Jefferson had this to say, “Hemp is the first necessity to wealth and protection of the country.” Without the founders’ confidence in hemp, The United States may have never been born. It was a mainstay cash crop until the villains of weed turned the nation and in part the world against it. Strangely, making the utilitarian uses of hemp illegal people would focus on making hemp stronger for recreational purposes creating the cannabis that would evolve into what we know today.
Holland Throws Down the Gauntlet
The Dutch government would be the first to approve the recreational sale of cannabis in 1976. They allowed for the sale in “coffee shops” which would be the predecessor to the modern dispensaries we know today. Around this time, the world started to notice the medicinal benefits of the plant when treating cancer and aids patients. The counterculture of the 1960s had already started to destigmatize the plant, and with its increasing use in the field of medicine, the world needed to take a second look at the legality of this amazing muti-use plant.
The United States of America has Joined the Chat
California would lead the way for medical cannabis in The United States by making it available for patients in 1996 when they decided to go against the aging archaic federal laws. Today over half the states in the country have medicinal marijuana programs. Some are still laughable though. Looking at you Iowa! The success of medicinal marijuana programs led to states forcing the legalization effort. Though the federal government still refuses to make cannabis legal nationwide, they have left it up to individual states to make their own decision and boy did they. Washington was the first state to legalize cannabis for recreational use on December 6, 2012. Colorado would follow suit just four days later. The weed revolution had begun!
That Brings Us to the Present
Here you are today! 24 states have recreational cannabis and most states have a thriving hemp market. Hemp helped expand the world, industrialization killed it leading to recreational cannabis, and recreational cannabis led to the revitalization of hemp. Now, hemp is nearly indistinguishable from cannabis. The country is almost halfway to complete legalization. It took over 10,000 years but the plant is finally getting some of the respect it deserves. THC products can now be purchased safely and consumed with little apprehension. We truly are living in an amazing age of information, understanding, and cannabis. If you want to stay up to date with all the articles and deals provided by RiverBluff Collective, SIGN UP for our email group today!
