The history of hemp

8,000 BC: The first traces of hemp seed and hemp oil used for pottery were found in places like Europe, Africa, and South America.
2,000 BC – 800 BC: Hemp “sacred grass” is one of India’s five sacred plants.
600 BC – 200 BC: Hemp products such as rope was found in southern Russia and Greece.
100 BC: China begins to use hemp paper.
1606: North America uses hemp as key ingredient in clothes, shoes, ropes, and paper.
1619: Virginia Assembly passes legislation requiring every farmer to grow hemp.
1776: Hemp fabrics were used in early versions of Betsy Ross’ flag while Thomas Jefferson used hemp paper for the draft of the Declaration of Independence.
1840-1841: Congress requires the US Navy to purchase hemp from American farmers to produce cordage and sails while Abraham Lincoln uses hemp oil to fuel his household lamps.
1916: USDA releases their findings showing hemp produces four times more paper per acre than trees which triggers industry leaders DuPont and Hearst to lobby against hemp by associating hemp with the increased consumption of marijuana.
1929: The first commissioner of the United States Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger, calls cannabis the “devil drug” that “turned men into wild beasts that would attack women”.
1937: Prominent businessmen decide that cannabis poses a threat to their business, with no distinction between marijuana and hemp. Harry Anslinger along with William Randolph Hearst, Androw Mellon, and the DuPont family draft the Marihuana Tax Act. This act criminalizes cannabis throughout the United States, even though hemp does not have the psychoactive effects like marijuana.
1942: Henry Ford builds an experimental car body made from hemp fibers which were ten times stronger than steel. After prohibition, the majority of America’s hemp was imported from the Philippines. After the Japanese invasion of the Philippine Island, the Department of Defense produce a film called “Hemp for Victory” calling on farmers to grow hemp once again.
1952: The last American commercial hemp fields are planted in Wisconsin.
1970: The Controlled Substance Act is passed making all forms of cannabis (marijuana, hemp, and hemp extracts like CBD) a Schedule 1 drug. This put CBD in the same grouping as heroin, cocaine, and LSD.
1985: The US government approves a synthetic form of cannabis for the pharmaceutical industry. Marinol, made with a synthetic from of THC is approved as a legal drug to treat nausea and vomiting in cancer, HIV/AIDS, and anorexia patients. Even today Marinol brings in more than $150 million in annual sales for the U.S. pharmaceutical industry.
1999: The US Department of Health and Human Services successfully file a patent on cannabinoids. Patent 6,630,507 recognized that cannabinoids are beneficial to human health, stating the antioxidant properties as one of the key benefits of cannabinoids in treating oxidation associated diseases.
2004: A court case between the Hemp Industries Association and the DEA permanently protects the sales of seed-based hemp foods and personal care products in the U.S.
2007: The first US industrial hemp cultivation licenses in over 50 years are granted to two farmers in North Dakota.
2014: The Farm Bill is signed into law which legally separates hemp from marijuana. Hemp is defined as cannabis sativa L plants with 0.3 percent concertation of THC or less. This Farm Bill also allowed research institutions to begin pilot programs for hemp cultivation. The ignites the hemp revival across America.
2018: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves Epidiolex, a cannabidiol (CBD) oral medication for seizures. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp for cultivation in the U.S. Hemp is removed from the controlled substance list. Industrial hemp is now federally legal for the first time in 50 years.
2021: Revival Pharms is established, a business that promotes the plant’s natural properties to improve one’s overall wellbeing. Hemp and its various cannabinoids are an essential part of their product offerings.