GROWTH OF HEMP NOT HOT ISSUE IN CENTRAL TEXAS

Supporters are abuzz over the prospect of once again growing
industrial hemp in the United States.

However, such talk is only sporadic in Texas. And, little enthusiasm
for it can be found in the cotton-growing regions of Central Texas.

Those who favor growing hemp point to the potential for economic and
environmental opportunities. For nonsupporters, the plant's close link
to marijuana apparently invites too much controversy for in-depth
discussion about those opportunities.

Sebastian Williams, coordinator of the Texas Hemp Campaign, said he
thinks industries that might potentially compete with hemp products
are the primary force behind the government keeping its growth
illegal. The organization lobbies and holds vigils once a month at the
Texas Governor's Mansion to promote hemp growth.

"The (industries) don't want change," he said. "They wouldn't be able
to monopolize it."

Hemp grown in this country for products ranging from textiles to
canvas flourished through the early 20th century. That ended when tax
acts aimed at curbing marijuana use in the mid-1930s also stunted the
growth of hemp. The federal government did, however, encourage hemp
growth for fibers and other uses during during World War II when
supplies were short.

Nine states -- Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota,
Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and Virginia -- passed pro-hemp bills
last year that provide for research, study or potential production of
the hemp plant. Federal statutes currently outlaw growing the plant,
which is the nonmind-altering cousin of marijuana.

Many now calling for the legalization of industrial hemp draw
attention to its potential benefits to the earth.

A University of Kentucky study said hemp requires few pesticides and
can increase the yield of other crops grown where it had been planted.

Wider environmental implications come from its use as a source of
paper and as a biofuel. Supporters such as Williams said this could
help stop the depletion of the world's forests and limit the burning
of polluting fossil fuels. An introduction to the Kentucky study said
a serious investigation should be done on turning industrial hemp into
diesel fuel and plastics.

The Kentucky study also said hemp would boost economies where it is
grown, a notion disputed by a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture
study.

The latter research doubts there would be a vast market for it in the
United States. The study said all of the hemp fiber, yarn and fabric
that is imported into this country could be grown on less than 2,000
acres.

Canada legalized hemp production in 1998 and about 35,000 acres were
grown there last year. In Canada, as in the European Community
countries, levels of the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana are
restricted.

Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol -- or THC 97 is found in concentrations of
5 percent to 25 percent in marijuana, according to a report by
Canadian researchers studying the environment and the latitudinal
effects on THC in marijuana. Canada and European countries limit THC
inside industrial hemp to less than 0.3 percent.

A study at Indiana University found that industrial hemp might
actually cross-pollinate and destroy any marijuana in its vicinity.

Despite the apparent distance between marijuana and industrial hemp,
the hallucinogenic plant may keep the other steeped in
controversy.

Gene Hall, spokesman for the Texas Farm Bureau, said neither his
organization nor the American Farm Bureau have policies on the growth
of industrial hemp.

"The American Farm Bureau did two years ago, but they dropped it
because it was controversial," he said. "They attempted to put it back
in this year, but it failed."

Talk of hemp-growing is hardly a hot topic among the farmers around
McLennan County, said Doug Andrews, county extension agent.

"I haven't heard a word about it," he said. "We're still pretty much
growing cotton, corn and milo. That's not to say some of these things
might not enter in someday."

A Baylor University environmental studies instructor said he believes
the cotton culture may have a lot to do with the feelings about the
growth of hemp, a rival crop.

"My understanding is part of the reason hemp never got to be more
central is that hemp is more of a Northern crop and cotton was a
Southern crop," said Dudley J. Burton, professor of environmental
studies. "Because of politics of the time, the cotton lobby and the
Southerners in the (Congress) were able to keep it out and outlawed
for economic reasons."