The plant was first given its taxonomic identification by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and thoroughly described to Westerners in the 1800s, when the medical doctor William O’Shaughnessy gave a report to the Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta in India in 1839. The doctor described its effects on people and did a few case reports on “gunjah,” the Indian name for the drug.
Cannabis grown for industry is called industrial marijuana, or hemp. Hemp typically has very low concentrations of THC. Hemp has many uses. The seeds can be crushed for oil, food and beauty products. Hemp fibers can be used for paper, sturdy fabrics and rope. People have grown hemp for millennia.