A strategic crop
Hemp supplied fleets with rope and sail, the Dutch fleet among them.
asdfmvoie — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ank Kumar — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ank Kumar — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ank Kumar — CC BY-SA 4.0
A small museum in central Amsterdam presenting the history of the cannabis plant: its industrial, medical and religious uses across thousands of years, and the history of its criminalisation in the twentieth century. The displays are not what the name might suggest. The larger part is historical and industrial: hemp was for centuries the basic material for rope, sail and paper, which made it a strategic crop for naval fleets — including the Dutch fleet in its golden age. There are also sections on medical use and on religious ritual in India and central Asia, and others on how and why the plant was criminalised in the United States and then worldwide from the 1930s. The museum sits in the heart of De Wallen and is run by the same body that operates a neighbouring exhibition. Entry is ticketed and restricted to over-eighteens. It is a place for anyone interested in the social history of policy rather than in the experience.
Hemp supplied fleets with rope and sail, the Dutch fleet among them.
How and why the plant was banned in the 1930s and then worldwide.
Sections on medical and religious use in India and central Asia.
Oudezijds Achterburgwal, De Wallen
It is not legal but tolerated — an important distinction. Sale and possession of small amounts in licensed coffeeshops are not prosecuted under strict conditions, but wholesale production and supply remain illegal, a contradiction the Dutch call the back door problem. The rules have tightened in recent years: smoking in the street is banned in parts of central Amsterdam, with on-the-spot fines.
No. Entry is restricted to over-eighteens, and the surrounding district, De Wallen, is not a place for children, particularly after dark. If you are travelling with family there are better alternatives in Amsterdam within the same distance: the human body museum, the NEMO science museum and the Artis gardens.
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