Hemp a Vital Resource: the History, Myths and Truths of its Restrictions
Shannon Wilson
Abstract
Industrial Hemp has been restricted in the United States for seventy plus years; there is now renewed interest, research and demand for its products. Industrial Hemp is a variety of, Cannabis sativa, which is classified as a controlled substance with D.E.A. Unlike marijuana which is commonly used as a drug, Hemp has unlimited potential to be a vital resource to the world. Many industrialized nations now recognize the difference, based on THC content, have legalized Hemp.
Hemp, a product that goes back thousands of years with archeological discoveries dating back to 5000 B.C. China where they used it for food, clothing, shelter, medicine has become a substance that has been vilified and maligned and now is controlled by the D.E.A. Over 70 years ago Popular Mechanics magazine called Hemp “The New Billion Dollar Crop” in which the article stated would create thousands of American jobs and replace imports of raw materials with American grown. It is my belief that Hemp restrictions have been based on emotion not logic and the greed of wealthy men who used fear and smear tactics to convince Americans of the evils of ‘marihuana’.
The purpose of this paper is to examine and expose the truths, the history and the real story of Hemp. The focus will be to critically review the myth and fallacies of what hemp legalization in the United States would mean to us. Thus, I believe the restrictions to grow industrial Hemp in the United States should be lifted because it is a legal product; I plan on showing how it is a vital resource to the world. I believe the U.S. Government should not impede on economic freedoms of its citizens.
One of the concerns that opponents to the legalization of Industrial Hemp has is that it is a gateway to legalizing marijuana. I do not believe this will happen because marijuana is a drug and Hemp is a product that has major ecological, agricultural, and economic potential. I agree some people who support legalizing Hemp also support legalizing marijuana but should we oppose it because simply because of that? That would be unsound reasoning; most supporters of hemp are manufactures, farmers, consumers and workers. The hemp industry has evolved into one that has become focused on the agriculture and industrial products and potential. Even under the 1970 Controlled Substance Act, marijuana is labeled a Schedule I drug, while products derived from hemp- are explicitly excluded from the definition of marijuana and from the regulation. Under federal law, these products are legal yet the U.S. DEA control production and growth though restrictive practices.
Currently the U.S. government spends millions of dollars on eradicating Hemp; they have a vested interest in keeping the product labeled a drug so that they may protect their budgets. They call it their cannabis eradication program in which a large portion of their budget goes to destroying ‘ditch weed’ a remnant of the past production farms that doesn’t contain the THC levels of marijuana. These funds could be used to fight real drug issues and criminals. All the time and effort to destroy wild hemp plants could be used to collect valuable DNA of a plant that was cultivated and survived from the beginnings of our nation.
This herb was originally native to Asia; it was then introduced to Europe and then the Americas. (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia) China was called the ‘land of hemp and mulberry’, because mulberry was the food of the silkworm and hemp was what everyone used every day (food and oil from the seed, cordage from the fiber, stitching, textiles, and clothing from the stalk, medicinal concoctions from the female flowers, and fertilizer when the leaves were returned to the earth to rebuild the soil). The Altai nomads of northern Russia cultivated early hemp crops, they relied mainly on the oil and the concentrated hemp protein because they were relatively easy to transport. Hemp spread outward in two directions: through Russian lowlands to Scandinavia and through the Asia Minor to the Mediterranean countries into the provinces of the Roman Empire. Archeologists have found samples of rope and fabric, that have been confirmed hemp, in the “Christmas Cave”, a cave near the Dead Sea that dated back to the Roman [44 BC to 1453 AD] and Chalcolithic periods [between 4500 and 3500 BC] (Murphy, T. M., Ben-Yehuda, N., Taylor, R. E., & Southon, J. R. (2011).
In the 17th century, production of hemp was encouraged for the production of paper, rope, sails, and cloth. The settlers of the American colonies were ordered by the governor, Sir Thomas Dale, to plant Hemp so that they would have a self-sufficient supply, yet because of the demand for tobacco hemp production lacked. So in 1619 the Virginia Company directed every colonist in Jamestown to plant 100 plants each and the governor to plant 5,000. Between 1662 and 1698 rewards were set for the encouragement of hemp production; they offered tobacco for hemp and made hemp legal tender for as much as one-fourth of a farmer’s debts. There was a constant shortage of Hemp for manufactures from North American as well as Britain. The trade system that England had adopted as policy was the colonies were the suppliers of raw materials and then would purchase finished goods from England. Colonists were not buying enough British-made goods given their alleged dependency on English manufacturing so England passed the Stamp Act in 1765, the colonists then vowed only to wear clothes manufactured in America. The colonists became self-sufficient and were able to supply uniforms and clothing for their army as well as ropes and sails for their navy. During this time period the American economy operated on the barter system, Hemp was recognized as a standard commodity and could be traded for anything. After the war import tariffs were imposed on hemp at the urging of Alexander Hamilton, secretary of treasury, making the United States independent of foreign nations for essential military items. Hemp was in such demand that there was a shortage of labor and slave labor was used until the Civil War. In which time trade between the North and South destroyed the market for Hemp by using foreign materials and substituting items such as iron wire cables and bands, cheaper bagging, many farmers switched to other commodities.
Other countries such as France and Spain had colonies during the same time period and were encouraging the production of Hemp. Like the American settlers the French had a shortage of labor and concentrated their efforts on growing food. The finance minister of the Quebec colony confiscated all the thread in the colony and declared he would sell it only in return for hemp. He gave hemp seed free to farmers and they would have to replace it with seed from their next year’s crop.
Curadrado,a conquistador in Corte’s army, is believed to have brought hemp to Mexico in which they went into business raising it. In 1777, Spain sent hemp exports to its Spanish America to teach them how to grow and prepare hemp for market. Around 1801 the area around San Jose, CA had a farm producing hemp for market, spreading to Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. But in 1810 a revolution in Mexico isolated California from Mexico and the production was halted.
The production of hemp would wax and wane with demand; during states of war it would increase and with invention of technologies would decrease. In the early 1900’s the USDA produced a bulletin promoting the use of hemp instead of forest products as a source of paper pulp (USDA bulletin #404) stating the hemp produces 4 times as much usable pulp then trees and is a renewable resource on a yearly basis. In 1917 WWI starts and imports from Russia cease so producers look to domestic production of hemp and the production for hemp doubles that year. New inventions in harvesting and production make the future look promising. Then a bulletin that the USDA produces in1932 called hemp a ‘waste product’ and advocated the development of southern pine for paper. At this point politics really plays a part in history. It is alleged that DuPont and other large pharmaceutical manufacturers used their influence to sway the government’s choice of products for making paper. DuPont controlled the patents and processes for making paper from tree pulp. Jack Herer, in his book The Emperor Wears No Clothes, outlines the role that DuPont and Hearst played in pushing intense regulation for hemp.
In1938 DuPont patents Nylon for ropes and Hearst has substantial timber holdings. Hearst, who owned a majority of newspapers in the country, is credited with introducing the term ‘marijuana’ to the American public and conducting a smear campaign to discredit ‘marijuana’ or hemp and shape Americans view of Mexicans [lazy], Negros[raping white women and creating satanic music] and marijuana. Fear and prejudice were associated with marijuana; they called it ‘reefer madness’. Congress and the public thought it should be outlawed for public safety.
Andrew Mellon, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, and owner of the 6th largest bank in America and investor in DuPont appointed his niece’s husband, Haryy Anslinger, to be the first director of the Federal Narcotics Bureau in 1930. He was the former Assistant Prohibition Commissionor for the Bureau of Prohibition [of Alcohol]. He secretly wrote the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 for two years before it was introduced into Congress. In August 1937 the Marijuana Tax act was enacted with only 30 minutes of debate in front a relatively empty congress, with William C. Woodward of the American Medical Association opposing the act saying, “We cannot understand yet, Mr. Chairman, why this bill should have been prepared in secret for two years without any initiative, even to the profession, that it was being prepared”. He continues, “No medial man would identify this bill with a medicine until he read it through, because marihuana is not a drug, simply a name given to cannabis.” (Ernest L. Abel, Marijuana the First 12,000 Years) They did not understand they were about to outlaw one of their main agriculture commodities of the time. The heavy taxation and strict fines made it virtually impossible to cultivate, distribute, prescribe, or manufacture hemp based products forcing many farmers, businesses, and consumers to accept the new synthetic based economy.
The Navy continued needing raw materials for their war machines. During WWII their crucial imports of hemp and other materials were disrupted. The U.S Department of Agriculture launched the “Hemp for Victory” program, they produced more than 150 million pounds in 1943 (USDA Agricultural Statistics, various years through 1949). They provided “products spun from American-grown hemp” including “twine of various kinds for tying and upholsters work; rope for marine rigging and towing; for hay forks, derricks, and heavy duty tackle; light duty fire hose; thread for shoes for millions of American soldiers; and parachute webbing for our paratroopers,” as well as “hemp for mooring ships; hemp for tow lines; hemp for tackle and gear; hemp for countless naval uses both on ship and shore.” (Hemp for Victory, produced by USDA) After the war with more competition from synthetic fibers, The Tax Act and anti-drug sentiment, the termination of the relaxing of the laws against hemp production; hemp wasn’t produced legally after 1957.
The Controlled Substance Act of 1970 listed marijuana as a Class I drug but exempted the… “mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound ... or preparation of such mature stalks (except theresin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination.” ( It would seem that the CSA definition exempts industrial hemp under its term exclusions for stalks, fiber, oil and cake, and seeds. DEA refutes this interpretation. Since federal law prohibits cultivation without a permit, DEA determines whether any industrial hemp production authorized under a state statute is permitted, and it enforces standards governing the security conditions under which the crop must be grown. DEA has not issued any permits for industrial hemp to be cultivated and has no plans to since in the production of industrial hemp you must grow ‘marijuana’ even if it has a low THC content.
Hemp is an annual herbaceous plant of the species Cannabis sativa. It is a high yield commercial fiber crop with a low THC level. There are two potentially viable approaches to growing hemp commercially: growing hemp for fiber or for seed. Hemp is what they consider a value-added commodity meaning it can be used for food and non-food items. Hemp seed and its oil have many nutritional benefits and provide high amounts of omega 3 essential fatty acids and protein. . According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, hemp seed (and its byproducts) can be used to supplement diets poor in EFAs to maintain good health. Hemp seed can be ground and added to foods as ‘flour’ or its oil can be used in items such as dressings. Hemp oil is also used in health care products and as medicine. The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) estimated that the retail value of North American hemp food, vitamin and body care products was in the range of $121 to $142 million in 2010. From clothing and textiles to composite parts for autos to building material including concrete Hemp as a fiber source is gaining popularity and respect. Many opponents of the legalization of Hemp are concerned for two reasons; one it would give marijuana a step toward legitimacy and two criminals would covertly grow marijuana in Hemp fields.
Hemp is planted in narrow row spacing, branching is discouraged, plants are not allowed to flower (unless growing for seeds), the stems are kept small by the high density and foliage develops only on the top as opposed to marijuana which is short and fat with production of the leafs and flowers encouraged where the THC is concentrated. Illegal growers of marijuana would not want their plants anywhere near a field of Hemp if (and when) cross pollination occurred it would lower the THC content or potency of the marijuana. Hemp has a growing period of 120 days when then it is harvested, marijuana isn’t ready to harvest at that time and would risk being harvested with a combine. In countries that have legal Hemp production illegal activity has been limited, usually the ignorance of youth. The Royal Mounted Canadian Police (RMCP) stated that industrial hemp has not contributed to a rise in marijuana activity or arrests nor have the observed any significant co-mingling of crops. The other argument that opponents have is that legalizing hemp is tied to marijuana legalization. The argument is proven to be false. Countries that have legalized hemp production in fact have not changed their drug and marijuana laws. They recognize and test for THC content in Hemp production. In Canada Industrial hemp fields are subject to regular random THC testing if found out of compliance the entire field is tilled under. Industrial hemp is proven to be different than the illegal drug marijuana and federal restrictions on farmers growing a safe and profitable crop on their own land are inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of a limited, restrained federal government that promotes economic freedoms of its citizens.
According to the Index of Economic Freedom of 2011, the United States has declined in business freedoms: a quantitative measure of the overall burden of regulation and the efficiency of government in the process. Regulatory uncertainty hampers business expansion and employment creation. The world along with our country has recognized the need to use renewable products and hemp can accomplish that. One acre of hemp produces four times as much pulp as an acre of timber, can be grown annually, as crop rotation, and to enrich the soil. Once established hemp can be grown with limited pesticides due to the rapid growth is crowds out weeds. Deforestation is a problem beyond a fiber and pulp crisis, trees clean our air and its roots filter our water. Cotton is a major product which hemp could be substituted for which accounts for a large portion of the pesticides used in the US. On a global scale world malnutrition is regarded as the greatest threat to the world’s public health declares The World Health Organization. Hemp contains essential fatty acids (EFA’s) and protein also is high in iron and calcium and dietary fiber. Local farmers could be provided resources to grow hemp and eliminate transportation costs; in conjunction with investing in modern farming technologies could help eradicate world hunger. The problems of the world malnutrition and declining resources seem to be escalating exponentially. There is a feeling of urgency in finding solutions in our generation.
In an economically free society you have two main rights: the right to control and benefit from your own property and the right to transfer property by voluntary means, with that freedom both protected by the state and unconstrained by the state. Farmers should have the economic freedom to self determine what they grow, when they grow it and how they trade it as long it is a legally traded product. In 2010 The National Farmers Union of the U.S. urge the President, Attorney General, and Congress to direct the DEA to differentiate hemp and marijuana and to adopt a policy to allow American farmers to grow hemp under the USDA without licenses from DEA. 17 states have passed laws that allow for facilitation and/or research of hemp production in their states thus recognizing the importance of a domestic source of a valuable agricultural commodity. A federal bill, H.R. 1831, sponsored by Representatives Ron Paul and 29 co-sponsors has been introduced seeking to remove restrictions on the cultivation of non-psychoactive industrial hemp by amending the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marihuana, and for other purposes. Many Eastern Bloc countries, China, South Africa and Europe have thriving markets for the natural fibers and are developing even more, exporting a majority of it to the United States. The time has come for the United States to recognize the great potential and accept the fact that this is not a drug.
In short, changes are needed because industrial hemp should be an agricultural product with the USDA in charge with law enforcement only brought in when a law has been broken. Industrial hemp is proven to be different than the illegal drug marijuana and federal restrictions on farmers growing a safe and profitable crop on their own land are inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of a limited, restrained federal government that promotes economic freedoms of its citizens. I believe this debate has more to do with corporate revenues than public health and safety; we should use reason and facts not emotion or myths to guide us in deciding the laws for our country. Hemp is a bulky crop and the cost of transportation to a processing center is a disadvantage. Local processing centers could lead to local jobs and an entire industry, crushing facilities and pulp mills. Industrial hemp could lead to a thriving industry, creating employment and profits once there is incentive to develop new technologies that would maximize its profitability.
Bibliography
Ernest L. Abel Marijuana The First 12,000 Years (New York: Plenum 1980) Pp. 244
Hemp Industries Association v. Drug Enforcement Administration, 357 F.2d (9th Circuit 2004)
Hemp. (2011). Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1.
Herer, Jack, The Emperor Wears No Clothes Ah Ha Publishing Company; 11th edition (November 2000) pp 23, 29
HIA Releases Hemp Retail Stats, Marketplace News pg 12, Organic Products Retailer, retrieved from www.oprmagazine.com June 2009 L.C. Gray, History of Agriculture in the Southern United States to 1860 (Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1958), 1: 25.
Lower, George A., “Flax and Hemp: From the Seed to the Loom”, Mechanical Engineering, Feb. 26, 1937. pp. 282-283
Murphy, T. M., Ben-Yehuda, N., Taylor, R. E., & Southon, J. R. (2011). Hemp in ancient rope and fabric from the Christmas Cave in Israel: talmudic background and DNA sequence identification. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38(10), 2579-2588. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.05.004
Text from a short film produced by USDA in 1942, “Hemp for Victory,” to promote the cultivation of hemp during WWII. Text from this film, as reported by HIA, is available at http://www.hempology.org/ALLARTICLES.html USDA Agricultural Statistics, various years through 1949. A summary of data spanning 1931-1945 is available in the 1946 edition. See “Table 391—Hemp Fiber and hempseed: Acreage, Yield, and Production, United States.”
2011 Index of Economic Freedom, The Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, http://www.heritage.org/index/PDF/2011/Index2011
