Culture · History
The roots run deep.
A Chinese emperor prescribed it in 2737 BCE. George Washington grew it at Mount Vernon. Louis Armstrong smoked it every day for 46 years and changed American music. Carl Sagan wrote about it under a pseudonym. The U.S. government holds a patent on its medicinal properties while classifying it as having none.
Cannabis has been medicine, sacrament, commodity, and contraband — sometimes all four at once. These are the stories they left out of the textbook.
Did you know?
The word "canvas" comes from "cannabis." For most of recorded history, sails, ropes, and rough cloth were made from hemp fiber.
— Oxford English Dictionary, etymology of "canvas"