What Was Hemp Used For?
Historically, Hemp was used for clothing, paper, rope, and even food. Some of its purposes were:
- In ancient Egypt, Hemp was used to making paper and fabric.
- In China, it was used to make clothing and paper.
- In India, it was used to make ropes and fishing nets.
- In ancient Greece, Hemp was used to making sails and ropes for ships.
Hemp is still used for many of these purposes.
The seeds can be eaten, pressed for oil, or ground into flour for baking and cooking.
The stalks get used to making textiles, rope, paper, and building materials.
The leaves can be part of salads and other dishes.
The fibers are utilized to make fabrics and clothing.
Thanks to the plant’s versatile uses, it didn’t stop there.
Because of the hemp plant’s calming and pain-relieving effects, it was also of medicinal use for thousands of years.
Humans have used it to treat various ailments, including skin conditions and digestive problems. In ancient Rome, Hemp was used to treat gout. And in medieval Europe, it was used to treat skin diseases.
After the Smith brothers managed to do an extraction of Cannabis with alcohol and purified & removed other basic compounds with sulfuric acid in 1847, the talk about what Hemp is, started to make noise.
And just before 1900, CBD oil was created for the first time in the US.
But unfortunately, these discoveries marked the start of the end of Hemp in the west.
The Hemp Ban of 1937 in the US
In the early 20th century, around the 1920s and 1930s, Hemp began to be associated with marijuana. It caused Hemp to become banned in many countries.
Hemp got banned in the United States with The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which made it illegal to grow Hemp in the United States.
The law passed under the guise that Hemp and marijuana were the same plants, which made it difficult for farmers to grow Hemp. The production was significantly reduced for decades.
However, the plant was still used for industrial purposes such as paper and textiles, but the Hemp got imported from other countries.
This meant that the medicinal uses of Hemp were no longer available for ordinary people. Thus, people forgot about its medicinal & therapeutic benefits.
The Rediscovery of Hemp
After the ban, there was little to no research about Hemp. But a few researchers didn’t want to stop. Today, we can thank them for the CBD we enjoy and love.
After Roger Adams isolated CBD in 1940, a few other researchers began looking at CBD. But his work wasn’t fully demonstrated until 1964 when researchers discovered THC.
After this discovery, the race to understand CBD and THC started.
The papers being published about Hemp and Cannabis reached their peak in 1975. But after the government started ramping up its war on drugs, the research went silent again.
Some of the key findings from this period include:
- Researchers discovered that CBD had anti-inflammatory properties and could potentially treat aches and other inflammatory conditions.
- Researchers found that CBD could possibly treat conditions and other disorders.
- Studies revealed that CBD could have anti-stress effects, which could help treat conditions like post-traumatic stress issues.
- Researchers discovered that CBD may have neuroprotective properties.
It wasn’t until 2003 that published papers about Hemp & Cannabis, and their Cannabinoids reached their former peak. And by that time, the rise had started again. And since then, we discover new Cannabinoids every year.
The Rise of Hemp
In 1999, North Dakota passed a state law allowing for the cultivation of industrial Hemp as part of a research program.
This made North Dakota the first state to legalize hemp cultivation since the federal ban on the crop in 1937. Then Hawaii followed in 2000.
And in 2013, Kentucky became the first state to pass legislation allowing for industrial hemp cultivation. But it wasn’t until the federal government lifted the ban on hemp cultivation in 2014 it became legal.
But even though these states had legalized hemp cultivation for some, it was still illegal for most under federal law until the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill.