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Hemp in the Early United States
By Ted Smith There is little doubt the most important crop in the founding of America was hemp. Used for canvas and rope on the British sailing ships, importing hemp fibre was critical to the ambitious monarchs of the UK. Growing hemp to support the British navy was so valuable that from 1631 to the […]
Absurdities in the War on Drugs: A New Timeline
1. The Indian Hemp Commission was carried out in India at the behest of British Parliament. Some of the wealthier classes had complained that “Indian Hemp,” as Cannabis as called, was making the working classes lazy. The Commission found the “hemp drug” innocuous. 2. Albert Hofmann discovered LSD in 1938. In 1943 he took […]
After Prohibition We Will Still Need Cannabis Activists: Lessons From Colorado
We once had alcohol prohibition in North America. The arguments that promoted it are depressingly similar to those that maintain cannabis prohibition today. Both revolve around the notion that mind-altering plants harm children and families. But there, as they say, the similarity ends. Alcohol prohibition, for all its faults, was attended by widespread public dialogue. Moreover, it didn’t last long. Within half a generation, it was over and […]