cannabisnews.com: Cape Colony Founded On A Pipe Dream? 





Cape Colony Founded On A Pipe Dream? 
Posted by FoM on February 02, 2001 at 18:09:06 PT
Africa News
Source: Mail and Guardian
 A new study of residue left in age-old "tobacco" pipes could soon dispel the myth that it was only black tribesmen who used dagga in the early years of South African history. Palaeontologist Dr Francis Thackeray of the Transvaal Museum will be examining the blackened residues found in the bowls and stems of smoking pipes from across South Africa that date from the pre-colonial and colonial periods. "We want to find out what people were smoking over the last millennia," he says. 
Thackeray is hoping that the study will help bring to light the hazy history of dagga use in South Africa. For a start it is not even known how cannabis found its way to the southern tip of Africa. "One theory suggests that dagga was indigenous to South Africa, while another suggests the idea that the drug was introduced by Indian traders into East Africa and from there it made its way into Southern Africa," says anthropologist Johnny van Schalkwyk of the National Cultural Museum, who will also be involved in the project. Cannabis has been used by black communities in Southern Africa for at least 600 years; it was even grown by Khoi pastoralists. But what has remained a mystery is the extent to which white colonists used the drug. Indications are that some were getting goofed on a little weed. "In documents there have been references to wild or Indian tobacco that is believed to have been dagga," says Thackeray. Cannabis was also a well-known Dutch cure. Even in England, Queen Victoria is believed to have indulged in dagga tea to help ease menstrual cramps. The pipes will come from museum collections throughout the country, including exhibits from the National Cultural History museum, which has a variety of pipes that date from both pre-colonial and colonial periods. Also to be tested are several clay pipes that were discovered in old rubbish heaps in the Cape Castle. "We will also be examining stone pipes that have been found particularly in the interior of the country. We are not sure of the age of these pipes, but it has long been suspected, due to geometric engravings, that they were dagga pipes. Geometric designs have been associated with hallucinogenic drugs," explains Thackeray. The residue analysis, which will be conducted in a laboratory, is believed to be accurate enough to analyse samples that are more than 700 years old. While the study will determine who was smoking what in the days before and after Jan van Riebeeck, it is also hoped that more information will be obtained on the cultural uses of dagga. Thackeray usually spends his time studying hominids, but recently became interested in pipe residue while trying to ascertain whether Shakespeare smoked pot. He was struck by the idea that the Bard might have had a drug habit when he came across a reference to "invention in a noted weed" in Shakespeare's Sonnet 76. Thackeray got hold of several pipes that were found in the vicinity of Shakespeare's home in Stratford-upon-Avon. "We don't know if Shakespeare smoked these pipes, but it will show what his contemporaries were smoking," says Thackeray. Forensic tests were conducted on the pipes and pipe stems at the police forensic laboratory in Pretoria. The findings of the study are to be officially released this month and Thackeray says they will make interesting reading. The South African pipe project is still in its preliminary stages but as it grows Thackeray believes he might find more than he bargained for. "While we expect to find the use of dagga, there might have been other substances smoked that we don't know of." Note: A new study of residue left in age-old "tobacco" pipes could soon dispel the myth that it was only black tribesmen who used dagga in the early years of South African history. Source: Mail and Guardian (South Africa) Published: February 2, 2001Copyright: Mail & Guardian, 2001Contact:  letters mg.co.za Website: http://www.mg.co.za/mg/ Forum: http://www.mg.co.za/mg/services/chat.htmlRelated Article:The Bard and Dopehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/7/thread7581.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by Dan B on February 02, 2001 at 23:54:56 PT:
You're Right, Kickaha.
I mentioned this "study" to an English professor back in November, and he agreed that the whole idea was preposterous. Aside from your very well-thought-out remarks regarding the wording of the sonnet, while it is true that one can test for cannabis residue in these old pipes, how can one be certain that they were not used at least once in the past 400 years since Shakespeare's death? And the presence of residue does not necessarily mean that Shakespeare himself smoked the herb. So, yes, the foundation upon which this entire study is built is tenuous at best. And would anyone really be surprised to learn that cannabis was used in 16th Century England? They were, after all, using hemp for textiles by this time, and we know that George Washington (in the 18th century) knew the importance of culling the female from the male plants, as evidenced by his journal. And the Chinese had been using cannabis for millenia as a medicine.Dan B
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Comment #1 posted by Kickaha on February 02, 2001 at 22:49:18 PT
Science makes you stupid
This guy sounds like a blithering idiot. The word 'weed' refers to clothing. The sonnet in question is about constancy. Even a cursory examination reveals that Shakespeare is using the word as a metaphor for writing in a known style. Basically, the sonnet asks the question "why does he continue to write the same way and ignore new fashions?" and answers that his style hasn't changed because his love hasn't changed, and in this manner he continually re-affirms his love. I'm not an English major, and I worked it out. And they say pot makes you stupid.Why is my verse so barren of new pride,So far from variation or quick change?Why with the time do I not glance asideTo new-found methods and to compounds strange?Why write I still all one, ever the same,And keep invention in a noted weed,That every word doth almost tell my name,Showing their birth and where they did proceed?O, know, sweet love, I always write of you,And you and love are still my argument;So all my best is dressing old words new,Spending again what is already spent:For as the sun is daily new and old,So is my love still telling what is told.
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