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10,000-8000 BCE: Hemp Uses in Early Civilization

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10,000-8000 BCE: Hemp Uses in Early Civilization

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Archaeological evidence from ancient China and Taiwan shows hemp cord used in pottery and early traces of hemp fiber, marking some of the earliest known human use of the plant. This discovery suggests hemp was one of the first agricultural crops cultivated by human civilization.

Though it is supposed that people were farming hemp as far back as 10,000 BCE, the oldest known hard evidence of humans using cannabis is 8000 BCE (Pisanti, 2019). Tiny fossils of both the fruits and seeds impressed upon broken pieces of pottery were found in central Japan when the culture of the Jomon was most prevalent (Okazaki et al., 2011). Source

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"Latest excavation work in the ancient city of Çatalhöyük in Turkey has revealed the world’s first hemp-weaved fabric, which was found wrapped around a baby skeleton in the ground of a burned house.

The linen, which dates back 9,000 years, was found as part of the latest dig, which involved 120 people from 22 different countries, and was one of the most striking findings of the season, particularly due to its high level of preservation." - Source

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"We begin with Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, whose Assyrian and Babylonian cultures left behind a large cache of cuneiform clay tablets dated between 1,000 and 500 BCE, some of which describe medical and religious practices. Azullu was the cuneiform word for cannabis. It was used to treat depression and in various medical recipes. It was one of the ingredients in their religious incense, known as kunubu, which they traded with Egypt and Judaea.

The Mesopotamians were most likely importing cannabis from Bactria (modern-day Afghanistan and Turkmenistan), where Zoroastrian priests used the plant to make Haoma, a religious drink (Vedic: Soma)." - Source

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2800 BCE: Traditional Medicine in Ancient China

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2800 BCE: Traditional Medicine in Ancient China

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Emperor Shen Nung's pharmacopeia documents hemp's medicinal properties in Chinese traditional medicine. The plant was used to treat various ailments and was considered one of the 'Superior Elixirs of Immortality.'

"According to the Pen Ts’ao Ching cannabis flowers, or Mafen, can cause yin, or loss, corresponding to the ridding of things like rheumatic pain, and malaria (Li, 1975).

Emperor Shen Nung (2700 BCE), deified by Chinese religion, is credited as having brought agriculture to Chinese civilization. It is recorded in an ancient document called the Xia Xiao Zheng that Shen Nung encouraged the cultivation of cereals, but also the cultivation of hemp as a principal crop (Yu, 1987). Those aforementioned discoveries made in Pan-p’o indicate that enough cannabis was being cultivated to impact the local pollen patterns at the time, further bolstering the fact that weed was a principal crop (Chou, 1963). It is surmised that mostly fiber-rich weed, rather than THC-rich stuff, was cultivated for the purpose of creating textiles like rope, paper, and fishing nets during this time (Dai, 1989)." - Source

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"The Ebers Papyrus from Ancient Egypt describes hemp as a medicinal plant. Archaeological evidence also shows hemp fiber used in the construction of the pyramids and for making rope and fabric." - Source

India also utilized hemp for textile, rope, and more.

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600-200 BCE: Hemp Spreads Through Europe

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600-200 BCE: Hemp Spreads Through Europe

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"Scythian tribes help spread hemp throughout Europe. They also wove hemp fiber into textiles and braided it into lariats and lassoes, which they used for herding and in warfare. Greek historians record its use for rope, clothing, and ceremonies. The plant becomes integral to European agriculture and maritime industries." - Source

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"The Chinese inventor Cai Lun perfects the papermaking process using hemp fibers. This innovation would revolutionize communication and record-keeping throughout the ancient world. The Chinese eunuch court official of the Eastern Han dynasty. He occupies a pivotal place in the history of paper due to his addition of pulp via tree bark and hemp ends which resulted in the large-scale manufacture and worldwide spread of paper. Although traditionally regarded as the inventor of paper, earlier forms of paper have existed since the 3rd century BCE, so Cai's contributions are limited to innovation, rather than invention." - Source

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"It is generally believed that in Viking and early Middle Ages Scandinavia hemp was used only for coarse textiles (i.e. rope and sailcloth)." - Source

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"Hemp was used for clothing, military uniforms, ship’s rigging, shoes, parachute webbing, baggage, and much more. Christopher Columbus’ ships were fully rigged in hemp. The U.S.S. Constitution, “Old Ironsides,” was outfitted with over 40 tons of hemp rigging." - Source

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1533: Henry VIII Mandates Hemp Cultivation

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1533: Henry VIII Mandates Hemp Cultivation

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"In 1533, King Henry VIII decreed that all landholders set aside one-quarter acre for the cultivation of  hemp for every sixty acres of land that they tilled, in order to provide the necessary fiber required by the nation. This was to satisfy the increased demand for rope and sailcloth for King Henry’s VIII new navy." - Source

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"Jamestown (or James Towne or Jamestowne) was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as “James Fort” on May 14, 1607 it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States." - Source

"In 1619 the Virginia Assembly passed legislation requiring every farmer to grow hemp. Hemp was allowed to be exchanged as legal tender in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland." - Source

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"Archibald McNeill grew the first crop in Kentucky in Boyle County in 1775, 17 years before Kentucky became a state. The invention of the cotton gin in the early 1790s, however, created the opportunity for hemp to become a major cash crop for Kentucky farmers and manufacturers, which ultimately contributed to the spread of slavery in the state." - Source

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"Hemp-derived medicines become widely available in American pharmacies. The U.S. Pharmacopeia lists hemp as a treatment for various conditions, and it remains a common medical treatment until the early 1900s. Domestic production flourished until after the Civil War, when imports and other domestic materials replaced hemp for many purposes. In the late nineteenth century, marijuana became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was sold openly in public pharmacies." - Source

The U.S. census records thousands of hemp plantations producing rope, fabric, and paper.

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"After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Mexican immigrants flooded into the U.S., introducing to American culture the recreational use of marijuana. The drug became associated with the immigrants, and the fear and prejudice about the Spanish-speaking newcomers became associated with marijuana. Anti-drug campaigners warned against the encroaching "Marijuana Menace," and terrible crimes were attributed to marijuana and the Mexicans who used it." - Source

"During the Great Depression, massive unemployment increased public resentment and fear of Mexican immigrants, escalating public and governmental concern about the problem of marijuana. This instigated a flurry of research which linked the use of marijuana with violence, crime and other socially deviant behaviors, primarily committed by "racially inferior" or underclass communities. By 1931, 29 states had outlawed marijuana." - Source

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Propaganda film "Reefer Madness" was produced by the French director, Louis Gasnier.

"A 1936 American exploitation film about drugs, revolving around the melodramatic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try marijuana – upon trying it, they become addicted, eventually leading them to become involved in various crimes such as a hit and run accident, manslaughter, murder, conspiracy to murder and attempted rape. While all this is happening, they suffer hallucinations, descend into insanity, associate with organized crime and (in one character's case) commit suicide." - Source

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"After a lurid national propaganda campaign against the "evil weed," Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act. The statute effectively criminalized marijuana, restricting possession of the drug to individuals who paid an excise tax for certain authorized medical and industrial uses." - Source

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"During World War II, imports of hemp and other materials crucial for producing marine cordage, parachutes, and other military necessities became scarce. In response the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched its "Hemp for Victory" program, encouraging farmers to plant hemp by giving out seeds and granting draft deferments to those who would stay home and grow hemp. By 1943 American farmers registered in the program harvested 375,000 acres of hemp." - Source

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The last commercial hemp fields in the U.S. (until recently) are planted in Wisconsin. - Source

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"The Marihuana Tax Act ultimately was repealed by the United States Congress in the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970." - Source

"Congress repealed most of the mandatory penalties for drug-related offenses. It was widely acknowledged that the mandatory minimum sentences of the 1950s had done nothing to eliminate the drug culture that embraced marijuana use throughout the 60s, and that the minimum sentences imposed were often unduly harsh." - Source

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"Cultivation of industrial hemp has been permitted in Canada since 1998 and is currently regulated by Health Canada under the Cannabis Act. Health Canada licenses the cultivation of hemp under the Industrial Hemp Regulation." - Source

"The U.S. begins to import food-grade hemp seed and oil." - Source

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"Hawaii became the first U.S. state to legally cultivate hemp since the 1937 prohibition. In 1999, the Hawaii Sstate Legislature passed House Bill 32 to allow research on hemp. The state has also legalized medical marijuana through the legislative process." - Source

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"On September 28, 2004 the Hemp Industries Associations claimed victory after DEA declined to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States the ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals protecting the sale of hemp-containing foods. Industrial hemp remains legal for import and sale in the U.S. and sales of hemp foods and body care products have grown by double digits each year since the ruling." - Source

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"The first big win for U.S. farmers came in 2007, when two North Dakota farmers were granted hemp licenses—the first time in over 50 years. Building on this, a Farm Bill signed into law in 2014 allowed more states and some businesses to begin experimenting with hemp, under the guise of research into restoring this crop to American life." - Source

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Colorado and Kentucky launch pilot hemp farming programs. - Source

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"The 2014 Farm Bill allows for protected hemp research, opening the door to commercial CBD sales." - Source

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The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Farm Bill) federally legalizes hemp cultivation in the United States, defining hemp as cannabis with less than 0.3% THC content. This legislation marks a new chapter in hemp's history, enabling its return as an agricultural commodity.

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The USDA establishes federal hemp production guidelines, setting THC limits and licensing requirements.

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"Hemp-derived cannabinoids like Delta-8 THC rise in popularity, sparking legal debates in various U.S. states." - Source