Greece has been a cultural bridging point that links Europe to Asia and also Africa, and it shares a lot of traditional practices more often linked with North African as well as Arab culture. Greece has a long history of cannabis cultivation, and even though the current drug laws are strict, some extent of liberalization is currently underway.

The use of cannabis is a big history in this beautiful country called Greece. A lot of cannabis lovers will no doubt have read the passages from Herodotus, which was written during 450 BC and 420 BC, during which people had documented the use of cannabis by the nomadic tribes, which gradually traversed northern Greece.

The Hemp rope that dated to circa 200 BC has been found in the tombs in the northern part of Greece, and it is believed that the textiles for the garment making were also made. The cannabis fiber was hugely used in the making of rope, sail cloth or other textiles in the rope making; cannabis was specially used for making nautical ropes, which is known as kaloi.

It looks like cannabis was not known to the Greeks before its introduction by the Scythians, even though the use very soon became well established. It also looks like the ritualistic use of cannabis as part of the religious practice is not clearly known —there are no such references to cannabis in the Greek Mythology.

The ancient recreational use of cannabis used to be pretty limited, even though some of the sources do describe these seeds being used occasionally as an intoxicant (the seed here may be referring to the entire flowering tops). Around 460 BC, a famous philosopher of that time – Democritus, described a concoction that is known as potamaugis, which was actually a blend of wine and cannabis – this was believed to cause hallucinatory states.

The Medical Use of Cannabis in Ancient Times

In 70 CE, a physician called Dioscorides had made a note of the cannabis in his pharmacopoeia; it is with this that cannabis was majorly used in the Greek medicine during that time. Cannabis leaf was one of the most frequently used medicine cure for nose bleeds, and the seeds were used to treat the tape worms or even inflammation. Cannabis was also made use of in veterinary medicine for treating the sores and wounds in horses.