Cannabis is one of the first plants cultivated by man and one of the most versatile.
It can supply us with fibre for clothes and paper from its stem, oil for food and fuel from its seeds and medicine from its flowers. Yet despite these facts cultivation, possession and use of hemp can lead to criminal penalties that are harsher than those for many violent crimes. It is either inhaled or eaten. In China and Egypt cannabis has been used as a medicine for at least 5000 years and it is probably one of the most thorougly researched drugs in the world. There has never been even one death from a cannabis overdose or from an allergic reaction to the drug.