History of hemp in Finland
One hundred years ago, hemp was widely grown in the Nordic countries for many different purposes.
The following picture of hemp fiber in the north shows the production of hemp fiber and the success of hemp in the north. Above Kainuu, there are more than 120 ponds called hemp ponds, which were used to make the fiber in the soaking process. As late as the 1930s, the cultivation of almost every house included a hemp plantation. (old picture of Ilomantsi)
In addition to fiber cultivation, pharmacists grew hemp in their medicinal vegetable gardens and it was a key ingredient in a large proportion of pharmacy tinctures. Back in the 1920s, cannabis was not a threat to health but a health product. As many as 40 percent of pharmacy tinctures contained hemp extract. (Photo by Maltos)
The situation began to change even after the wars, when the cultivation of hemp practically ceased in the 1970s, and all the varieties that were cultivated also disappeared. One Finnish hemp strain was rescued in the Nordic Gene Bank, but it was also destroyed there.
The new arrival of hemp began in the 1990s and both fiber varieties such as Fedora and food seed varieties such as Finola came into cultivation.
Hemp cultivation allowed in the home garden
The UN Convention on Narcotic Drugs is the basis for the drug laws of Finland and many other countries, and under its agreement there are three permitted educational purposes.
Hemp can be grown on an industrial scale in the fields as both fiber and edible seed.
The third permitted purpose of cultivation is garden use. In English the point was recorded: for horticultural purpose. The term horticulture means, according to the dictionary definition: The art and science of growing plants.
The UN Convention on Narcotic Drugs thus allows hemp to be grown for the development of hemp cultivation skills and also for scientific purposes, for example for plant breeding.
Ornamental breeding has also been interpreted as a permitted breeding purpose.
More and more countries are also allowing cultivation for their own medicinal or recreational use within the permitted limits.
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