bud boy said:
Man, I'll give you the short version. You can do a Google on "Hemp Plant", without the quotes, and you'll get about a half million results.
Hemp is a plant that has been grown for thousands of years for the making of rope, paper, and about a zillion other things. In it's original form, the marijuana plant was just a very fibrous plant whose fiber was also very strong. It had virtually no THC in it. Through the centuries, the hemp plant has been used for ancient medicines, poultices and brews. It's potency has been purposfully increased through breeding for only the last few decades. The marijuana "hemp" plant has increased in potency 20 fold in just the last 30 years.
OK, that's the short version man.
You can still soak, roll, form and dry marijuana plant stems and make a hell of a tough weave out of them. Way back when, they weaved all kinds of shit out of it. Even some clothing. "Hemp rags" are referred to in literature in regards to the clothing worn by very poor people. To this day, hemp is still used in many countries in the far east for zillions of things. Roman scrolls were made from hemp matts.
OK, I got going again.
Hey, if you go to almost any Oriental store that has "homemade" stuff, you'll find hemp rope used in all kinds of ways right now today.
Personally, I like the version of "hemp" that I'm growing.
It's big. It's bad.
It's Big Bud.
Great weight, great high.
Did I tell you that the Chinese used hemp thread to sew up the wounds of their soldiers?
In some rituals in the far east, hemp wigs are used in ceremonies.
Hey man, let me smoke you hair man. Come on man, just a little.
Hemp belts were very popular among the impoverished.
Dudes pants fell off cause he smoked his belt, man.
OK, I could go on, but I said this was the short story.
It is. Hemp was used for thousands of years, for millions of things.
I didn't even scratch the surface.