THE HISTORY OF CANNABIS IN CANADA
Page 10: Cannabis farms and mills. Medical acceptance.

Following the War of 1812, immigration from Britain and Ireland soared, providing the cheap labour needed to spur cannabis production in Canada. In 1822, the Parliament of Upper Canada invested heavily in hemp processing machinery, and in 1823 passed a law to allow duty-free importation of hemp mills from the USA. Several Canadian new hemp mills were established over the next few decades.

Finally, Canada's cannabis industry had come of age. Farmers still struggled, but cannabis farming and processing was a substantial part of the Canadian economy. Over the next century, hemp would be grown in every province from Nova Scotia to Alberta.

Throughout the 1800s, tincture of cannabis was used to treat many different ailments. One of Queen Victoria's physicians, Sir Russell Reynolds, wrote in the first issue of The Lancet that cannabis was "one of the most valuable medicines we possess" and probably prescribed it to the queen to treat her menstrual cramps. Cannabis seed was also widely known and used as the best food for birds.

FOOTNOTES

• in 1822, Parliament invested
Report: Historical and cultural uses of cannabis and the Canadian 'Marijuana Clash', Prepared For The Senate Special Committee On Illegal Drugs, by Leah Spicer, Library of Parliament, 2002
http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/sen/committee/371/ille/library/spicer-e.htm

• duty-free importation
Article: James Crooks, by David Ouellette, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. 8, University of Toronto, 1985
http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/crooks_james_8E.html

• Sir Russell Reynolds, "most valuable medicines"
Article: Therapeutical Uses and Toxic Effects of Cannabis Indica, by J. Russell Reynolds, The Lancet, Vol 1, p.637-638, 1890
https://web.archive.org/web/20140207201654/http://www.onlinepot.org/medical/Dr_Tods_PDFs/s3_3.pdf

• Sir Russell Reynolds, "most valuable medicines"
Report: Excerpts from the Indian Hemp Commission Report, by Tod Mikuriya, Last Gasp, 1994
http://books.google.ca/books?id=Bq9Qm-7Q95sC&pg=PA10

• bird seed
Study: Hempseed as a nutritional resource: An overview, by J.C. Callaway, University of Kuopio, Finland, 2004
http://www.finola.fi/Hempseed%20Nutrition.pdf