Cannabis Time Capsule, 1903: Egyptian Weed Consumption Pales to Colorado's Today

At the time of this tiny news brief from the May 16, 1903 Glenwood Post, "hasheesh" was being blamed for all of the crime and "insanity" in Egypt. Efforts to stamp it out resulted in sixteen tons of hash being confiscated in the country for the year 1901. The population...

By William Breathes

September 5, 2014

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

At the time of this tiny news brief from the May 16, 1903 Glenwood Post, "hasheesh" was being blamed for all of the crime and "insanity" in Egypt. Efforts to stamp it out resulted in sixteen tons of hash being confiscated in the country for the year 1901.

The population of Egypt at the time was somewhere around 8 million people, according to historical sources. The population of Colorado, currently, is around 5.1 million people -- and we use a lot, lot more....

...about 114 metric tons of pot, that is. Colorado regulators say Colaradans will consume 130 metric tons of pot this year. That's 57,777 times more weed than there is gold on top of our state capitol.

Take that colonial Egypt!

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Westword has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.