No one seems able to determine the exact date that
hemp/cannabis/marijuana appeared on the scene. This document will trace
hemp back as far as history will allow, from 8500 BC in China to present
day, noting the important role this much maligned weed has played in
numerous civilizations down through the ages.
The oldest human ever
found was wearing a hemp blouse with a silk like quality. In 2700 BC
Chinese written history tells us that hemp was used for fiber, oil, and
as medicine. By 450 BC hemp was being cultivated in the mid east for the
same purpose. Hemp was first introduced into Europe around 1000 AD, and
by the sixteenth century it was known to be the most widely cultivated
crop in the world producing rope, sails, cloth, fuel, paper, paint, food
and medicine.
Of course hemp was an important product to the new world. In 1762
Virginia rewarded farmers with bounties for hemp culture and
manufacture, and imposed penalties upon those who did not produce it.
The Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper, and Betsy
Ross chose hemp as the material for this country's first flag. George
Washington grew hemp for..
