Greece's hemp industry experiencing rebirth

Early in the morning on the Mantineia plateau, the air is chilly. Even in summer, the temperature drops considerably during the night despite climbing above 30 Celsius during the day. "Big swings in temperature aid the production of resin in cannabis plants," Argyris Mountzouris told us as he laid out a large cloth on the ground upon which to collect the plants.

With a magnifying glass, he showed us the tiny trichomes on a flower that produce cannabidiol (CBD) oil, a major nonpsychoactive component of Cannabis sativa with anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant, antioxidant, antiemetic, anxiolytic and antipsychotic properties.

We were in a field in the uplands of northern Arcadia, in the northeastern Peloponnese, where members of To Kannavi, a collective that also informs and educates the public on the potential of cannabis and hemp in industry and medicine, were harvesting...