The endless story of the hemp plant

From the history of the first evidence of use to highlights of recent decades around the valuable and versatile hemp ingredients

The historical and prehistoric significance of the raw material hemp is primarily based on the use of the fiber. Meanwhile, hundreds of essential components in the hemp plant have been identified. In addition to terpenes, flavonoids, and other plant substances, phytocannabinoids such as cannabidiol enjoy particularly high interest. So far, more than 100 phytocannabinoids have been detected in the hemp plant. The best known among them are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabidiol is extracted from the hemp plant. Other phytocannabinoids have also increasingly come into focus in many scientific studies in recent years.

First mentions and archaeological finds

Already between 8,000 and 10,000 BC, the first written mentions and relevant archaeological finds document the use of hemp as a raw material for clothing. Thus, even back then, the hemp plant was one of the most widespread and popular fiber plants. Many scholars of that time were also already engaged with various pharmacological applications of the plant and products derived from it.

First hemp - heyday of ocean shipping

With the rapidly increasing seafaring in the Middle Ages, hemp gained importance as a fiber plant and thus marked its first heyday. This is partly due to its durability in use for sails and ropes in shipping, but also due to its spread through seafaring itself. From the 13th century onwards, hemp was considered a primary raw material in paper production. In 1455, the Gutenberg Bible was printed on hemp paper. In 1776, the American Declaration of Independence was also drafted on hemp paper. The first Levi's jeans were also made from hemp and not – as might be assumed – from cotton. Hemp textiles have a significantly longer lifespan compared to cotton due to their fiber quality.

Innovation and mechanization of industrialization lead to a temporary decline

After this long hemp heyday, decline began with the advent of modern times. Synthetic fibers, as well as extensive technical developments and mechanization beyond seafaring, and the paper industry based on wood, led many in agriculture to focus on other, more productive plants. As a result, hemp lost importance in many regions of the world by the turn of the century.

The low point in hemp’s history was finally reached in 1937 in the USA, where the Marihuana Tax Act of 1927 was legally established. From 1937 onwards, all hemp manufacturers and dealers were subjected to a high tax, and eventually hemp cultivation was completely banned.

CBD was first isolated and identified in 1940 by the American chemist Roger Adams.

The hemp renaissance and second heyday from 1990

From the 1990s onwards, the rediscovery of the hemp plant began in Europe. Many countries ended their existing bans on industrial hemp cultivation. Since 1995, the cultivation of hemp as an industrial crop has been permitted again in the European Union. Since then, industrial hemp can be cultivated again in the respective member countries according to national laws.

In 1992, in cooperation with the Israeli cannabis research pioneer Raphael Mechoulam and the research team led by William Devane and Lumir Hanus at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA), the endocannabinoid system (ECS) was discovered.

With the ongoing legalization debate about cannabis in many countries, the hemp plant is experiencing a societal high probably never seen before. This is also thanks to increasingly intensive scientific research on the plant and its health-promoting ingredients.

This gives hope for the near and medium future that the hemp plant will not disappear from public discourse and our everyday lives anytime soon.