The then sadistic Ottoman Empire conquered Egypt and, in the 16th Century C.E., tried to outlaw cannabis—because Egyptian hemp growers along the Nile were leading tax revolts. The Turk complained that cannabis use caused Egyptians to laugh and be disrespectful to their Sultan and his representatives. In 1868, Egypt became the first modern(?) country to outlaw cannabis ingestion, followed in 1910 by white South Africa to punish and stop the blacks practicing their ancient Dagga cult and religions.

    In Europe, hemp was widely used both industrially and medicinally, from the Black Sea (Crimean) to the British Isles, especially in Eastern Europe. The papal ban on cannabis medicines in the Holy Roman Empire in 1484 was quite unenforceable north of the Alps, and to this day the Romanians, Czechs, Hungarians, and Russians dominate the world cannabis agronomy.

    In Ireland, already world famous for its cannabis linen, the Irish woman who wanted to know whom she would eventually marry was advised to seek revelation through cannabis.

    Eventually, the hemp trades once again became so important to the empire builders who followed (in the Age of Discover/Reason, the 14th to 18th Centuries) that they were central to the intrigues and maneuverings of all the World’s great powers.

the authorized on-line version of Jack Herer’s “The Emperor Wears No Clothes”
text from “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” © Jack Herer
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