History of cannabis in Italy

The cultivation of cannabis in Italy has a long history dating back to Roman times, when it was primarily used to produce hemp ropes, although pollen records from core samples show that Cannabaceae plants were present in the Italian Peninsula since at least the Late Pleistocene, while the earliest evidence of their use dates back to the Bronze Age. For a long time after the fall of Rome in the 5th century A.D., the cultivation of hemp, although present in several Italian regions, mostly consisted in small-scale productions aimed at satisfying the local needs for fabrics and ropes.

Source: Wikipedia — History of cannabis in Italy (CC BY-SA 4.0)