Hemp

"Industrial hemp and marijuana are different varieties of the same species, Cannabis sativa L. Marijuana typically contains 3 to 15 percent of the psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on a dry-weight basis, while industrial hemp contains less than 1 percent. However, the two varieties are indistinguishable by appearance. In the United States, Cannabis sativa is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, regardless of its narcotic content, under the Controlled Substances Act as amended. Since 1990, varieties containing less than 0.3 percent THC have been legalized in Great Britain, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Canada and Australia legalized hemp production in 1998. In other countries, such as China, Russia, and Hungary, hemp production was never outlawed."

"Strictly speaking, the CSA does not make Cannabis illegal; rather, it places the strictest controls on its production, making it illegal to grow the crop without a DEA permit. DEA officials confirm issuing a permit for an experimental plot in Hawaii in the 1990s (now expired), and they confirm that DEA still has not ruled on an application submitted in 1999 by a North Dakota researcher. Hemp industry officials assert that the security measures the DEA requires are substantial and costly, and deter both public and private interests from initiating research projects requiring growing plots. All hemp products sold in the United States are imported or manufactured from imported hemp materials."

"Previous experience in the United States and other countries indicates that industrial hemp grows well in areas where corn produces high yields. Plants require plentiful moisture throughout the growing season and need substantial amounts of available nutrients to produce high yields. Hemp can be grown as a fiber, seed, or dual-purpose crop. It is a bast fiber plant similar to flax, kenaf, and jute. The interior of the stalk contains short woody fibers called hurds, while the outer portion contains the long bast fibers. Hemp seeds are smooth and about one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch long."

"Current markets for bast fibers like industrial hemp include specialty textiles, paper, and composites. Hemp hurds are used in various applications such as animal bedding, composites, and low-quality papers."

"Approximately 30 countries in Europe, Asia, and North America currently permit farmers to grow hemp, although most banned production for certain periods of time in the past. The United States is the only developed nation in which industrial hemp is not an established crop. Great Britain lifted its ban in 1993 and Germany followed suit in 1996. In order to help reestablish a hemp industry, the European Union administered a subsidy program in the 1990s for hemp fiber production.

"In 1998, Canada authorized production for commercial purposes, following a three-year experimental period and a 50-year prohibition. As a condition of receiving a license to grow industrial hemp, Canadian farmers are required to register the GPS coordinates of their fields, use certified low-THC hemp seed, allow government testing of their crop for THC levels, and meet or beat a 10ppm standard for maximum allowable THC residue in hemp grain products. Agriculture Canada (the Canadian department of agriculture) estimates that more than 100 farmers nationwide are growing hemp, with the majority in central and western Canada."

"From the colonial period through the middle of the nineteenth century, hemp was widely grown in the United States for use in fabric, twine, and paper.19 Production dropped by the 1890’s as technological advances made cotton a more competitive textile crop, and coarse fiber crops were increasingly imported.20 Nonetheless, American farmers continued to grow hemp into the middle of the twentieth century, finding it a useful rotation crop because it acted as a natural herbicide21—a dense, rapidly growing crop, it choked out weeds prior to the next planting of corn and other crops.22 At the urging of the government, production to supply fiber for military purposes was expanded enormously during World War I and again during World War II, particularly after the Japanese cut off exports from the Philippines."

According to David West, PhD, "The THC levels in industrial hemp are so low that no one could ever get high from smoking it. Moreover, hemp contains a relatively high percentage of another cannabinoid, CBD, that actually blocks the marijuana high. Hemp, it turns out, is not only not marijuana; it could be called 'antimarijuana.'"

Although opponents of hemp production claim that hemp fields will be used to hide marijuana fields, this is unlikely because, "Hemp is grown quite differently from marijuana. Moreover, it is harvested at a different time than marijuana. Finally, cross-pollination between hemp plants and marijuana plants would significantly reduce the potency of the marijuana plant. cross-pollination between hemp and marijuana plants would significantly reduce the potency of the marijuana plant."

(2006) "The leading exporters of raw and processed hemp fiber to the United States are China, Romania, Hungary, Italy, Canada, and India. The leading exporters of hemp oil and seed are the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, and China. The USDA trade database shows that the value of Canada’s exports of hemp seed to the United States grew from $0 in 2004 to $1.2 million in 2006, after a long-standing legal dispute over U.S. imports of hemp foods ended in late 2004."

(1997) In a July 1998 study issued by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Kentucky, researchers estimated that if Kentucky again became the main source for industrial hemp seed (as it was in the past), the state could earn the following economic benefits:

(1997) In a July 1998 study issued by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Kentucky, researchers concluded that Kentucky hemp farmers could earn a net profit of $600 per acre for raising certified seeds, $320 net profit per acre for straw only or straw and grain production, and $220 net profit per acre for grain only production. The only crop found to be more profitable was tobacco.

(2006) "Retail sales of imported hemp products exceeded $70 million in the United States in 2006.⁶² Given hemp’s wide-ranging utility, supporters of domestic cultivation estimate that it would create a $300 million dollar industry.⁶³"

In February 2004, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Drug Enforcement Administration cannot ban hemp products. The Associated Press reported that "On Friday, the court said that though the DEA has regulatory authority over marijuana and synthetically derived tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the agency did not follow the law in asserting authority over all hemp food products as well. 'They cannot regulate naturally-occuring THC not contained within or derived from marijuana,' the court ruled, noting it's not possible to get high from products with only trace amounts of the mind-altering chemical. Hemp is an industrial plant related to marijuana. Fiber from the plant long has been used to make paper, clothing, rope and other products. Its oil is found in body-care products such as lotion, soap and cosmetics and in a host of foods, including energy bars, waffles, milk-free cheese, veggie burgers and bread." The case is Hemp Industries Association v. Drug Enforcement Administration, number 01-71662.

"... twenty-eight states have considered some type of legislation liberalizing their laws regarding industrial hemp; fifteen have enacted such legislation, and eight of those “have removed barriers to its production or research.”⁹¹ In 1999, North Dakota became the first state to authorize and create a licensing scheme for industrial hemp production.⁹²"

Update! On January 10, 2010, Oregon became the 9th state to remove barriers to industrial hemp production and research when Senate Bill 676 was signed into law.