Cannabis Our first President, George Washington, grew cannabis on his plantation. The cannabis he grew was more fibrous and is better known as hemp. Hemp was used to make rope, twine, paper and canvas and was an important crop in the american colonies. In Jamestown, Virginia it was grown for it's fiber qualities in 1611. (Snyder, 1985) The U.S. Pharmacopeia had it listed as a useful medicine from the year 1870 to 1941. A Pharmacopeia is "a book of directions and requirements for the preparations of medicines, generally published by an authority; a collection or stock of drugs." This tells us the U.S. Pharmacopeia was an authority on the use of drugs for