The explorer Christopher Columbus made multiple trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain in 1492, 1493, 1498, and 1502. The Sailor set out looking for a path directly to Asia from Europe but got lost and stumbled upon the Americas - or somewhere near. The brave explorer is very controversial, but with the amount of Cannabis he had on board those three famous ships, his role in drug smuggling will forever go down in history as unworthy to any Stoner that loves THC.
Columbus brought hemp seeds to a country that eventually prohibited the plant and blamed people of color for its presence in the United States. All of this is uncanny as he boasted of the freedom in the new world, a place that would soon enslave many to work the farms from the Hemp Seeds he brought.
He was known for bringing things back from his trips - like tobacco, gathered in trades from the Native inhabitants of America to show off upon his return.
Did he smoke joints with the original inhabitants of Cuba back in 1492 as an appropriate celebration of his discovery? If so, were they cannagars with CBD, or were they Indica's loaded with THC? We're pretty sure that CBGa Crumble and ECS Balance Control weren't considered back in that day, as truly people enjoyed Cannabis without shame or blame, as there were only laws that supported its growth and none that called it a dangerous drug with no medicinal value.
In Barcelona, Spain, a beautiful monument of his journey was built long ago with two cannabis branches at the base of Columbus's feet.
Hemp was the second most used material in shipbuilding:
When Cannabis comes up for discussion, most people immediately associate it with the psychoactive THC and with stoner smoking or puffing away instead of what the plant stalk could do. But there's so much more to the hemp plant than cannabinoids, which was imperative for Columbus and any sailor back then.
Hemp is a solid plant with many uses, which made the voyagers of that era desire it for their sales and ropes - and so much more. The fibers found in Hemp are as strong as an anchor mooring rope and as soft as silk, making it the second most used material in shipbuilding after wood of the past.
The hold of his flagship, the Santa María, was filled with hemp seeds used as staple feeding the crew a protein-rich source of nutrition. They were stowed away and shipped so that Hemp could be quickly planted and sowed in newly discovered regions.
Hemp was used to fill in cracks found between the planks of the 3 ships to make the vessels watertight. Accounts of rope and candles of Hemp abound, as well as the canvas they used to track their journeys. All of the luxurious lighting of that time also came from the lamps fueled using hemp oil.
It's well documented Columbus read the Bible, made of hemp paper, and saw by the light fueled by the plant.
Without Hemp, Columbus would never have been able to discover the New World. No other natural fiber of that time could have withstood the gales and rushes of waves the three boats endured. With saltwater splashing across the decks and upon the sails - the strength of the hemp plant, without a doubt, helped them make their discovery.
The beautiful Hemp plant we admire was utilized throughout the journey kids read about in school, and we've all learned to debate over the decades - especially around Thanksgiving. There's no doubt he sailed the ocean blue and found new lands - and in doing so, he brought along some plant medicine which they burned - in lamps. They had papers - in bibles. And they had seeds to eat!
The magnificent history of Cannabis Hemp, or Indian Hemp, is fun to read, and it demystifies a plant minimized and marginalized by laws made by men that feared it.
Cannabis is Hemp - Hemp is Cannabis - let's all learn this together!
It's one plant genus known as Cannabis in the family Cannabaceae; only governments wanting to make tax dollars and confuse the masses with more delays in legalizing it all have divided Cannabis and Hemp. They are the same; Hemp is Cannabis Sativa-L.
