Cannabis timeline · 500 to 1800
Trade and empire
3 milestones from c. 800–900 CE to 1753 and 1785: hashish appears in Islamic-world writings; virginia pushes colonists to grow hemp; linnaeus and Lamarck name the species.
c. 800–900 CE
Hashish appears in Islamic-world writings
Arabic scholars learned of cannabis medicine from translated Greek texts, and by the late 9th century some groups in Persia and Iraq used it as an intoxicant.
Sources differ on whether intoxicant use began in the 8th or the late 9th century.
1619–1633
Virginia pushes colonists to grow hemp
Virginia's first General Assembly urged householders with hemp seed to try growing it, and by 1633 the colony required every planter to sow hemp and flax.
The 1619 text urged trials only. The planting mandate dates to 1632–1633.
1753 and 1785
Linnaeus and Lamarck name the species
Linnaeus described one hemp species, Cannabis sativa, in 1753, and Lamarck added a second, Cannabis indica, from India in 1785.
Written from the listed sources. Not legal or medical advice. Reviewed October 19, 2026.