HEMP ADVOCATES PITCH PLANT AS FARMERS' GOLD

Hemp wasn't always the pet plant of tie-dyed liberals. Its spiky
leaves once covered thousands of acres across the country. George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew it. An early draft of the
Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper. Betsy Ross'
flag is said to have been sewn from hemp fabric.

Now, a movement is under way to bring hemp back into the mainstream.
In June, a Texas congressman introduced legislation to legalize the
growing of hemp in the United States for the first time since 1937.
Hemp products are legal in the United States, but growing hemp is not.

In North Carolina, some say the plant -- which looks like marijuana
but has none of its psychoactive properties -- could be salvation for farmers.

"It's so easy," said Gale Glenn of Durham, a former Kentucky tobacco
farmer who is vice chairwoman of the North American Industrial Hemp
Council, which advocates for its legalization. "You close the gate
and don't touch it for months. It's exactly what farmers need. They
don't need four acres of tomatoes that they have to pick by hand.
They need an industrial crop."

To hear advocates tell it, hemp is a gold mine. It grows almost
anywhere without fertilizers or pesticides. Its fibers can be used to
make a variety of products, such as auto parts, bleach-free paper and
high-quality fabric. Its seeds are a nutritious snack or a source of
luxurious oil.

And, though it is in the same family as marijuana, it has such a
minuscule amount of THC, the chemical that gets pot smokers high,
that it can't be used for recreational purposes.

"You could smoke four acres of hemp if you wanted to," Glenn said.
"But all you'd have is a terrible headache and sore throat."

'Diabolically Opposed'

Hemp is cultivated legally in more than 30 countries, including
Canada and much of Europe.

But many farmers in North Carolina are not so eager to jump on the
hemp bandwagon -- which has been populated for years by the
dreadlocked, environmentally conscious and pro-marijuana crowds.

The N.C. Farm Bureau opposes the growing of hemp. President Larry
Wooten said the bureau takes its cues from law enforcement groups,
which he said are "diabolically opposed" to the crop.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration, along with many local
law enforcement groups, points out that hemp does have small amounts
of THC. And they argue that hemp's similarity in appearance to
marijuana would make drug enforcement a nightmare.

"I'm against the manufacture of any illegal substance under the guise
of industrial hemp or whatever," said Wilkes County Sheriff Dane
Mastin, president of the N.C. Sheriff's Association.

Importing Hemp

Some opponents say there's simply no market for hemp.

It has been a long time since the government had a campaign called
"Hemp for Victory," which encouraged farmers to grow hemp for
parachute cords, rope and other military supplies during World War II.

These days, hemp is sold in the United States mostly in the form of
high-end clothing in specialty shops and as oil in natural foods shops.

"If farmers plant hemp, who's going to buy it?" Wooten asked. "Why
isn't the user coming forward saying, 'We need this product. Help us get it.'?"

He points to kenaf, a crop in the cotton family that has similar
uses, as evidence that hemp would flop.

Four years ago, a few Eastern North Carolina farmers planted kenaf as
an alternative to tobacco. They put up money for a processing plant
and made a deal to sell it to car manufacturers, who used the strong
fibers in auto parts. Today, the plant is closed, and the farmers are
no longer growing kenaf.

Paul Skillicorn, former president of the now-defunct Carolina Kenaf
Farmers Foundation, said they were undercut by jute farmers in Bangladesh.

But hemp advocates say American farmers should at least have the
option to supply the existing hemp market. Those who sell hemp
products say it's ridiculous that they have to import all their merchandise.

Frank Brown, who runs Natural Selections in Ocracoke, sells hemp
clothing, bags, cosmetics, oils and food products. All of the raw
materials for his products come from Asia, South America and Europe.

"Hemp is an incredible, incredible plant," Brown said. "Even though
it's not politically correct, God put it on Earth for us to use it."

(Staff researcher Becky Ogburn contributed to this report.)