The History of Cannabis in the UK

Cannabis seeds were present in the UK as early as the mid 9th century - found in Viking ships. But it is thought that the plant itself was brought over in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon invasions.

However, interestingly little was recorded of the plant until the 17th century - although there is significant evidence to show that it was here well before then. During this time many herbalists & academics were researching the use of hemp seeds and concluded it had a beneficial effect on both melancholy and inflammation. From this evidence we can see the types of cannabis they may have been using, for example strains that are high in CBD and low in THC. In 1838, an Irish Doctor William O'Shaughessy brought back with him Cannabis Indica, he had acquired whilst on a trip to India. During his visit O'Shaughessy had seen how the plant was consumed as powdered Cannabis known as 'Bhang', & also as a milk based drink with other herbs and spices called 'Bhang Lassi'. He brought his experiences and knowledge back with him, and on these findings alone cannabis was then used medically in both the British Empire and across Europe for the next half a century. There is even historical evidence showing the Queen Victoria's physician used cannabis to treat pain and he discussed the use in one of his Lancet Articles.

Moving forward to the 1890s the three Thomas's; Thomas Barlow Wood, Thomas Newton Spivey and Thomas Hill Easterfield collectively studied the active constituents in cannabis resin. They did think they had had extracted cannabinol, however, this was later proven to be a mixture of cannabinoids. The isolation of cannabinol itself was not till a lot later in 1938, but by this point cannabis was already prohibited in the UK (it was banned in 1928).

The prohibition was a huge turn around on the previous views of the plant, and until the 1930s Cannabis Sativa was welcome in the United States Pharmacopeia listed amongst other things but mainly as a sedative. Everything dramatically changed in 1937, the Marijuana Tax Act was passed - this prohibited cultivation, sale of the plant, and the use of the plant. This was built up from the 1920s due to growing fear surrounding using the plant recreationally. The public were falsely led to believe with propaganda that the use of the plant would lead to deviancy and therefore posed an extreme threat to the safety of the public. Naturally people believed this and so the fear of cannabis was instilled in people.

Looking back on the era it is clear to see that a lot of the reasons behind this point are some deeply upsetting and outrageous racist views. This again is proven with the first cannabis bans being directed at racial minorities.

Despite all the government efforts, it is clear to see the act did very little to prevent or slow down the use of cannabis recreationally in the USA, and neither did the banning of the plant in the UK. Cannabis still to this day increases with popularity every year. History shows its peak in the 70s where it was collected and used by 'hippies' recreationally who believed strongly of the plants beneficial properties. Cannabis has been moved in and out of the drug classes in the UK over the years, it started as a Class B drug in 1971, then to a class C in 2004 and then back to a Class B in 2009. Nowadays, the UK is very behind with the use of cannabis both medically and recreationally even with UK medical cannabis clinics on the rise and even though there have been drastic changes in other countries about the use of the plant, the UK is still yet to follow suit. We have seen recently some countries have moved the plant back into medical use, these include the District of Columbia, 37 states in America, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Columbia, Peru, Chile, Greece, Israel, Poland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Cypress, Canada, Finland and Germany.

In the UK, medical cannabis was legalised in 2018, this was after a case of 2 children in the country where epilepsy were seen to have drastic improvements after the use of medical cannabis. This then lead to the story being greatly publicised and pushing for the legalisation of medical cannabis in certain cases in the UK, for certain diseases and illnesses. CBD oil is the only part of the cannabis plant that is legal and readily available in the UK without the need for a prescription, and you can find a range of CBD products to assist with different ailments. Unfortunately the UK still remains behind the times and the recreational use of cannabis still stays illegal.

Written by Laura Bartlett 09/08/24 at 09:16am