HEMP HAS POTENTIAL TO BE A GREAT NATURAL RESOURCE

Dear Editor,

I feel it is our right, and our obligation to us and our future to grow
industrial hemp. Our forefathers, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson,
did. The first draft of the Declaration of Independence was written on
it. And, if I remember reading correctly, it was mandatory to grow the
crop for World War II. Still standing northwest of Springfield are fields
left over from better days.

Hemp grown for industrial use is very low in THC (the psychoactive chemical
in marijuana) -- less than .03 percent -- thus making industiral hemp
useless as a drug. One acre if hemp will produce as much raw pulp for
paper as two to four acres of trees. It takes trees years to grow until
they can be harvested for paper. Hemp is ready to be harvested 120 days
after it is planted.

Hemp doesn't need any chemicals, pesticides or herbicides to grow so we
won't pollute our own water. Hemp has enormous potential to become a major
natural resource that can benefit the economy and our environment. In my
view, hemp is the future for a better environment.

Deborah Rudolph

Springfield