1. A Brief History Lesson and shore…Hemp for victory!” After the war was won with
the help of hemp, the U.S. Government ceased its support
Currently, the United States is the only industrialized of hemp farming, subsequently the American hemp industry
country in the world that does not allow its farmers to grow faded into extinction.
industrial hemp. Ironically, the U.S. imports more hemp and
hemp-related products than any other country in the world. Where Are We Now?
According to the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) domestic
retail sales of hemp products surpassed $419 million in 2010 The Obama Administration has shown no signs of
and have continued to grow each year. considering an open dialog on industrial hemp, and it
remains noticeably absent from the party’s platform heading
Industrial hemp contains a minute amount of the into the 2012 election. Interestingly, while he was an Illinois
infamous molecule THC (delta-9- State Senator, Obama voted in favor of SB
tetrahydrocannabinol) - about 1397, The Industrial Hemp Act that “Requires
0.3 percent worth. Marijuana, a
different variety of cannabis, contains
“Hemp is an the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois
University to study the feasibility and desirability
roughly 5-30 percent THC. Hemp’s agricultural crop of industrial hemp production in this State.” Go
THC content is not nearly enough figure. At least Obama knows what hemp is.
to have psychoactive effects, but grown on tens of Earlier this year at a New Hampshire town hall
certainly enough to be considered
illegal by the federal government. thousands of acres meeting republican Presidential Candidate
Mitt Romney was asked what his stance on
After heavy lobbying from chemical
giant Dupont, The Marijuana Tax Act
in Canada, China industrial hemp was. “Industrial Hemp? I’m
not quite sure what industrial hemp is,” he said
passed in 1937 and required farmers
to obtain a tax stamp for the production
and Europe whose quickly changing topics.
of all cannabis. This effectively ended law enforcement Some politicians at the federal level, however,
hemp agriculture in the United States do know what industrial hemp is. They listened
and paved the way for the synthetic have no problem to their constituents and proposed hemp
chemical and lumber industries to gain legislation to both the House and the Senate.
market share, where hemp products whatsoever and Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) is undertaking
had been previously used. However,
it wasn’t illegal to grow hemp until the
whose farmers are his fourth attempt at hemp legislation.
H.R.1831: The Industrial Hemp Farming Act is
passage of the Controlled Substances
Act of 1970. This act nailed the coffin
laughing all the making its way through Congress at molasses
speed, but on a bright note, as of August 2012
shut on a farmer’s right to plant way to the bank there were 33 bi-partisan co-sponsors, the most
industrial hemp by classifying THC as the bill has ever received. “It is unfortunate,”
a Schedule 1 drug, which Kerlikowske as we continue said Paul in a speech on the House floor, “that
pointed out in his response to Murphy’s the federal government has stood in the way
hemp petition. to hand them the of American farmers, including many who are
Though American hemp farming was U.S. hemp struggling to make ends meet, from competing
in the global industrial hemp market.”
severely regulated after 1937, hemp
fiber and seed oil was still a necessity
market.” On the other side of the Capitol, history was
for many industries, particularly
the U.S. Army and Navy. To satiate
-David Bronner made on August 2, 2012 when U. S. Senator
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the first ever
America’s demand, hemp was hemp bill (S.3501) to the Senate along with
imported from the Philippines and East India. During World co-Sponsors Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Bernie Sanders
War II Japan took control of these sources of hemp. In 1942, (I-VT), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR). Speaking on the Senate
needing a replacement source for the military’s increasing floor Wyden said, “Introducing this bill is the first step toward
demand, the U.S. requested farmers grow 32,000 acres a common sense policy on hemp that helps create American
of industrial hemp. That same year, the Department of jobs.” He continued, “It is vital that all advocates for industrial
Agriculture actively encouraged American farmers to grow hemp redouble their efforts to win support in Congress if we
even more hemp for the war effort with the film “Hemp for are going to re-establish this economically important crop.”
Victory,” which expounded hemp’s usefulness throughout
human history. The film highlighted the importance of While this is promising news for hemp farming in America, it
hemp’s role in America’s fight against its enemies. The still is a delicate political game. The home page of Wyden’s
patriotic voice of the film’s narrator declares, “The goal for website has a news section that covers his latest work in the
1943 is 50,000 acres of seed hemp.” Against the backdrop Senate. Oddly, there is no mention of him introducing this
of images of proud American warships, the voice campaigns historical bill. In fact, when contacted by the author for this
on, “Hemp for mooring ships; hemp for tow lines; hemp for article, Wyden’s media representative refused to comment
tackle and gear; hemp for countless naval uses both on ship on the bill because The Hemp Connoisseur looked “to be
32 October/November