Cannabis in the United Kingdom

Cannabis in the United Kingdom is widely used as an illegal drug, while other strains lower in THC (commonly called hemp) have been used industrially for over a thousand years for fibre, oil, and seeds. Cannabis is completely illegal.

Cannabis has been restricted as a drug in the United Kingdom since 1928, though its usage as a recreational drug was limited until the 1960s, when increasing popularity led to stricter 1971 classification. Since the end of the twentieth century, there has been rising interest in cannabis-based medicine, and a number of advocacy groups have pressed the government to reform its cannabis drug policies.

The oldest evidence of cannabis in Britain was from some seeds found in a well in York; seeds found at Micklegate were associated with a 10th-century Viking settlement. Since it appears to have been mostly grown around the coastal areas it suggests the main reason for cultivating it was as a source of vegetable fibre which was stronger and more durable than stinging nettle or flax. This makes it ideal for making into cordage, ropes, fishing nets and canvas.

With hempen ropes being fundamental to the success of the English Navy, King Henry VIII in 1533 mandated that landowners grown allotments of hemp; Elizabeth I later increased those quotas, and the penalties for failing to meet them. As fibre became more available and the growing of hemp became more widespread, people began to find many other uses for the crop. It became a very important part of the British economy. Eventually, demand had expanded to the point that the demand for more fibre was part of the driving force to colonize new lands. Thanks to its hardiness and ease of cultivation, it became an ideal crop to grow in the new British colonies. Moreover, the naval ships built to protect the new colonies and those built to bring the hemp back, also increased demand, as every two years or so much of their two hundred tonnes of ropes and sail cloth had to be renewed.

Cannabis gained new attention in the Western medical world at the introduction of Irish physician William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, who had studied the drug while working as a medical officer in Bengal with the East India Company, and brought a quantity of cannabis with him on his return to Britain in 1842.

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