Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum

The Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum opened in 1985 in the middle of the De Wallen red-light district and is regarded as the world's oldest cannabis museum. Founder Ben Dronkers set out to show that hemp was central to 12,000 years of cultural use in textiles, medicine and religion, not just as an intoxicant. The exhibition spans pipes from around the world, pre-industrial breaking and spinning tools, medieval medical recipes and a live growing room behind glass. A dedicated floor covers the Dutch gedoogbeleid, the policy of tolerance that has allowed coffeeshops since the 1970s. A Sensi Seed shop on the ground floor sells seeds of every legal strain. The museum belongs to the Sensi Seed Bank, one of Europe's most influential cannabis breeders.