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Drug use and the regulation in medieval Egypt
The opinions of Mamluk sultans and native officers in Egypt relating to the permissibility of cannabis fluctuated over time. Whereas some have adopted strict positions, with some sultans advocating extreme penalties, such because the loss of life penalty or tooth extraction for possession, others present leniency. For instance, throughout a plague epidemic in 1419, an area market inspector solely restricted the open sale of cannabis, suggesting tacit approval if consumed in a non-public place.
Those that supported restrictions on cannabis confronted an uphill battle. By the fifteenth century, the drug turned more and more obtainable and extensively consumed, usually in public baths or non-public gatherings. Consequently, a subset of society, usually related to the decrease lessons, emerge as addicts, congregating in particular locations to fulfill their needs.
The historian al-Maqrizi, noting how a lot cannabis was used within the early a part of the fifteenth century, complained that this was ruining society:
Character and morals turned very vile, the veil of shyness and disgrace was lifted, individuals used foul language, boasted of faults, misplaced all the Aristocracy and advantage, and adopted each potential ugly high quality of character and vice . If it weren't for his or her human type, nobody would suppose they had been human. If it weren’t for his or her sense notion, nobody would choose them as residing beings.
Nonetheless, the phrases of one other medieval poet make clear what the frequent man could have considered the drug:
I mentioned to the cannabis man:
Woe to you! Aren't you afraid of this corn?
Individuals die from a plague that has appeared.
He answered: Let me dwell by consuming this breast.
Learn extra and sources at
Getting Excessive within the Center Ages: Drug Use in Medieval Egypt