Читать книгу CBD For Dummies - Blair Lauren Brown - Страница 30

Plants in the cannabis family are widely referred to as “weed” because of the way they grow abundantly with little attention. They can break up soil, survive in varied climates, and adapt quickly. Historically, then, hemp has been easy to cultivate and therefore lent itself to proliferation. (Of course, intentional cultivation in very controlled environments to support and bring out specific characteristics also happens.)

The history of the hemp plant spans cultures and generations. You can find well over 22,000 recorded uses for hemp seeds, stalks, and flowers (but I don’t recommend looking for all of them). The applications throughout time may surpass that of any other plant. Here are just a few across time and continents:

 Allegedly, Buddhist texts dating back to the second and third centuries CE were printed on hemp-dominant paper.

 Hemp cloth from 8000 BCE was discovered in what was once ancient Mesopotamia.

 Chinese educational texts from 500 CE teach hemp cultivation techniques for making cloth.

 King Henry VIII required landowners in 1535 to grow at least a quarter acre of hemp so that the supply would be sufficient for canvas production for ship sails. This record is just one account of Europe’s heavy reliance on hemp-derived canvas fiber and rope.

 In 1938, Popular Mechanics hailed hemp as the new billion-dollar crop, and Americans were incentivized by the government to grow the plant abundantly. (Shortly thereafter, they were then penalized by the same governing body for growing it abundantly. I touch on this topic briefly in Chapter 1.)