Hash & Hemp Museum and the Torture Museum

Hash & Hemp Museum

Intro

On Thursday, May 23, 2024, we all went to the Hash and Hemp Museum. This is a museum about the history and uses of hash, maijuana, and hemp. This tour was self-guided and we just walked through the small, three-roomed museum looking at pictures and objects relating to the history of hash, marajuana, and hemp. We learned about how cannabis was used when it was first discovered and what people thought of it, we learned about people who used it throughout history and we learned about how it is used in the medical field today. Then, we went to the hemp part of the museum, we saw strange things made of hemp, like shoes and other random objects. I enjoyed learning about the hash part of the museum more than the hemp sections, but both things were cool to look at.

What is the Hash and Hemp Museum?

This museum is called the Hash and Hemp museum. Before learning more about the museum, we must know what hash and hemp is. Hemp is referred to as the plant cannabis, while hash is a substance that comes from cannabis. Hash is a type of oil that comes from the plant. Now that we know about it, we can talk about the Hash and Hemp museum. This museum was made up of two parts, the history and the uses. There were two rooms dedicated to the history of hash and hemp. The two rooms consist of the beginnings of the use of hash and hemp, when cannabis became an evil thing to do, and medical uses of cannabis. After walking through these rooms you walk down the street to see a room that showed us other uses of hemp like for cars, shoes, fabrics, and much more. 

Importance

Marajuana is a big part of The Netherlands culture. The first thing people usually think of when Amsterdam is mentioned is weed. Although The Netherlands is a tolerant country, a common misconception is that weed is legal to sell. The buying, selling, and using marijuana is actually illegal in The Netherlands, but it does have a rich history. 

History

In the museum we learned about the history of the use of cannabis. One thing I learned is that there is a female plant and a male plant, but the female plant is what is used to smoke and make oils. The history I enjoyed the most and the history I wanted to focus on in this essay is the history of cannabis being a forbidden plant. It all started in 1937 when a law in the United States was passed that made cannabis illegal. After making it illegal, the United States made advertisements and media painting marijuana in a bad light to cause people to not want to use it. The plan was to make people fear marijuana and what it could do to you so the people would be scared into not using it. There were aunty-marijuana propaganda films made about the negatives of using marijuana. In the museum there were many advertisements, posters, and images showing what anti-marijuana propaganda was like in the 1930s. This was an early part of the War on Drugs that happened later, in the 70s. This part of the history was interesting to me because before all the anti-marijuana propaganda, this drug was fine to use

Conclusion

I would not go back to the Hash and Hemp museum. Although it was fascinating, it was a boring experience. I have never had the urge to learn about cannabis. The museum was also small and the self-guided tour was too long. I got to the point where I listened to only parts of it. This tour wasn’t a waste of time, but I wouldn't go back. 

Torture Museum

Intro

On Friday, May 24, 2024, we went to the torture museum, one of the professor’s favorite places to go see. It felt haunted and the mood was scary, just like all the torture devices we were about to go see and read about. Although this isn’t something that goes on today in the United States, this was relevant to a criminal justice trip because it hits on the themes of punishment for crimes. Would these forms of punishment go in today's society? Of course not! But learning about them only makes me grateful for the way we do trials today and teaches us how flawed trials and punishment were centuries ago. Instead of torturing people to confess for something they may or may not have done, we gather evidence and put them through a trial with judges and a jury. 

What is the Torture Museum?

The torture museum is a museum about middle ages and renaissance European punishment. Right when you walk into the museum it feels like a haunted house. Right away you are thrown into dim purple, blue, and red lights. The first thing you see will make your stomach turn, but that isn’t even the worst of it. This museum only gets more and more disturbing. Although disturbing, it is interesting to learn about the sick and twisted things people would do to ‘punish’ people for doing things that were against the law. Just like in the prison museum, if you were accused, you were guilty. As you walk through, you look at images, read short paragraphs, and see examples of torture used as punishment. 

History

This torture museum goes back to ancient torture used in the middle ages and renaissance time period. Mostly all the forms of torture were to give the person a painful and slow death. In some cases the person would live, but this was unlikely. Most forms of torture were made for specific crimes. For example if a person was homosexual they would sew the person in half upside down. Another example was for people who spoke out of turn, they would have to wear masks that wouldn’t allow them to speak and would be shameful. Many different ‘crimes’ had many different ‘punishments’. 

What was Most Interesting?

What I found most interesting was the chastity belt. This was the most fascinating form of torture because this would be worn by women who were seen as too promiscuous so wearing a chastity belt wouldn’t allow them to have sex. However, in the case that women would travel, they would wear a chastity belt so men wouldn't be able to assault them. The chastity belt would be a punishment, but in a way it also had the powers to save a woman from being assaulted. The thing I thought looked the most painful was the sawing of a person upside down. This not only looked painful, but it was also a slow death because the person wouldn’t actually die until the saw got to the chest. 

Conclusion

I can’t believe people actually came up with these ideas to do to people and some people were punished for things we are free to do today. I didn’t know anything about this kind of torture before going to the torture museum, so everything was new and compelling. I would definitely go back to the torture museum. It was cool to discuss everyone’s thoughts about everything, and to read about the things that happened to people over simple things like gossiping. I liked that the tour wasn’t too long and the facts the museum gave about each torture machine was a short paragraph. I would 100% go back to the torture museum.