Hemp, marijuana and jute
When it comes to Cannabis, what do you think of? Is it marijuana? Or rope? Although Cannabis is illegal in many countries, it was once an important fiber crop. Humans have used Cannabis for at least 10,000 years: canvas, rope, clothing, and paper can all be made from Cannabis fiber, and even the United States’ Declaration of Independence is written on hemp paper!
Cannabis originated in East Asia and is a dioecious annual herb. In ancient China, Cannabis was called “Tiao”(枲), and it was mainly distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. The world’s earliest record of cannabis cultivation is in Japan’s Oki Islands, ten thousand years ago! In China, the mark of cannabis rope was found on pottery from the Yangshao culture (7,000 to 5,000 years ago). Because as long as the environment and climate are suitable, cannabis can be harvested in three months, and the fiber strength is four times that of cotton. Therefore, in ancient times, it was a very important fiber crop. The Zhou Dynasty also had a special official “Dianta” responsible for the management of national cannabis production. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, cannabis was grown all over the country, and even Jilin in the northeast could produce good quality cannabis.
In the Song and Yuan dynasties, because cannabis was not as warm as cotton, and growing cannabis required more fertilizers than cotton, cannabis was rarely used to make clothes and more to make paper.
The earliest cannabis cultivation in Europe occurred in the Sesia zone(Eastern steppe, Kazakh steppe, and northern Caucasus mountains). It is mentioned in Herodotus’ “The Histories” that the Thracians who lived there knew how to make linen clothes. In ancient times, strong hemp rope was an indispensable product for wrapping goods; in the great nautical era, the canvas, cable, and groceries on the ship all need to be made of hemp fiber, but the cable is prone to mold and rot when it comes in contact with water. Although applying tar regularly can protect it; because tar application is troublesome, when synthetic fibers such as nylon appear, the use of hemp rope is gradually eliminated.
Thirty years before the American Revolution of Independence, the North American colonies and the United Kingdom had begun to fall out; in order to get rid of the dependence on the supplies of the mother country, Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers, began to advocate the use of hemp fiber to make paper. Not only him, but George Washington and Thomas Jefferson have hemp farms! In 1619, the Virginia Congress passed a law requiring every household to grow hemp!
Why was cannabis, which was originally indispensable in life, was suddenly classified as a drug in the 20th century? It is probably that cannabis does contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), about half an hour to an hour after smoking, it will begin to sense distortion of vision and time. In addition to the effects of changes in ability and mood, it should be the revolution of 1910 in Mexico! Because of the revolution, a large number of immigrants went to the southern United States; many of these immigrants smoked marijuana, and Americans did not like these immigrants, marijuana began to have a negative image in the United States. First, El Paso, Texas, banned marijuana by legislation in 1914. By 1931, 29 states had banned marijuana. Later, Congress passed the marijuana tax law in 1937. Since then, it is not allowed to hold marijuana anywhere in the United States. As for other countries, it was only after the “International Opium Convention” signed in Geneva in 1925 that the possession of marijuana was officially considered illegal.
Is marijuana harmful? In addition to being addicted, current research has found that the use of marijuana among teenagers under the age of seventeen will affect the cognitive function of the brain and reduce IQ; therefore, although marijuana is not as powerful as opium and other drugs, it is better not to try it.
Does everyone wear jeans? Jeans were invented in 1853 by Davis, a tailor in Nevada, and his partner Strauss, but at first they were made of linen and coarse canvas. Later, workers complained that the linen was too rough and easily scratched the skin. They switched to cheesecloth made in France! So the first jeans were actually made of linen! Strauss later changed his name to Levi, which is now Levi jeans.
At present, cannabis plants are produced all over the world. Because cannabis is illegal in many countries, the largest output is not cannabis, but jute originating in India and Bangladesh. In 2016, the world’s jute production was 46.3 times that of cannabis. There is also jute in Taichung, Taiwan. The famous local snack “Ma Yi Soup” is made from jute sprouts by rubbing, kneading and washing to remove the bitterness and boil it out.
Although cannabis cannot be cultivated in many countries, there have long been strains with low THC content, known as “industrial hemp.” Because jute needs a high temperature and humidity environment to grow well, and cannabis is not as picky about the growing environment, so it is possible to grow industrial hemp in some countries, and some people are currently promoting the legalization of industrial hemp; after all, plastic bags are harmful for the environment. If you can use tough and environmentally friendly materials such as hemp sacks to make packaging supplies, you can help the planet reduce a lot of burden!
When it comes to marijuana, one must not forget the famous “Old Man in the Mountain”: Ḥasan Ṣabbāḥ. He captured the fortress of Alamut (located near Tehran, Iran) in 1090, and founded a famous assassination organization: the Assassin faction. According to Marco Polo’s travel notes, Ḥasan made the trained assassins to take “hashish”. After experiencing the beautiful hallucinations afterwards, he told them that heaven is like that. So these assassins performed their missions all going forward courageously. Is “hashish” marijuana or opium? Considering the hallucinations after taking it, it might be marijuana! The name of the Assassin faction later became the source of the word “assassin”.
