HEMP SHOP DEFLECTS DEBATE

Marlow - While some people, most notably actor Woody Harrelson, argue about
the value of hemp-made products, Bill Wise is quietly going about his
business and selling many products made form the controversial plant.

Before Wise made the decision to open his Wise 2 B Hemp shop here, he
researched his subject thoroughly and believes hemp is an economic and
environmentally safe product with hundreds of uses.

He also studied the plant enough to know that industrial hemp does not have
the same content of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC for short, as its infamous
relative, marijuana.

Marijuana contains 20 percent THC, and THC at that level will get someone
high if they smoke it, he said.

"The hemp they use to make all these products contains only 0.1 to 0.4
percent THC," Wise said. "You can't get high off it - it would only give
you a headache."

Wise said he ran across a copy of Hemp World, a magazine promoting the use
of industrial hemp. After reading it and getting catalogs from
wholesalers, he decided to start his business.

"I took a leap of faith and jumped into it," Wise said. "I thought it would
be a good business, and I've always wanted to own my own business so I
wouldn't have to do drywall any more."

He first opened his store in Chisholm Mall but later decided to move it to
Marlow where he lives. Despite the controversy surrounding hemp, Wise said
no one has made any negative remarks about the store.

Wise imports all his products from foreign countries, because it is illegal
to grow hemp in the United States.

One of his jobs, as owner of a hemp shop, is to sell the idea of products
made from it to make the products more acceptable.

Kim Tigert, store manager, said several "senior citizens" have come to the
store.

They always want to talk about the many things they once owned, like
overalls, that were made of hemp.

Although Wise and Tigert sell many products at Wise 2 B Hemp, including
clothes, jewelry, backpacks, skateboards, snack food and more, what they
sell is only a fraction of the products that can be made with hemp.

Wise said hemp has a long and illustrious history. It was used for many
things before the time of Christ and was a major crop in early America.

"All three of Columbus' ships had sails and ropes made of hemp," he said.
"George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin all had hemp farms.

"In the late 1800s, farmers had to grow hemp because it was such a valuable
product," he said. "They had to grow at least four acres of hemp or they
would be thrown in jail. Today if you grow it, you're thrown in jail."

Wise said hemp was popular in the Old West because of its durability Many
of the covered wagons heading west during the country's expansion were made
of hemp. Levi Strauss also made his first pair of jeans using hemp.

Henry Ford used a hemp product to make panels in his first cars. It can and
has been used to make flour, food, oil-based paints, soaps, paper, fabric,
medicines, inks and much, much more, he said.

After World War II, the government cracked down on marijuana. The laws made
no distinction between the two plants, and marijuana's relative, hemp, was
a casualty of the first drug wars.

After doing a lot of research, Wise thinks hemp has a place in today's
economy.

"It's a valid crop, and they're going to have to get back to it," he said.
"You can make 10 times more products with one acre of hemp than you can
with 10 acres of trees."

And it's a lot better for the environment, he said. It doesn't need
herbicides because it doesn't matter if insects eat the leaves. Only the
stalk and seeds of the hemp plant are used.

It's also a hardy plant that doesn't require much water or fertilizer, he
said.

It's easier to harvest than trees and cotton, it doesn't deplete mineral s
form the soil, it doesn't destroy rain forests, and it grows back much more
quickly than trees.

Tigert said hemp would not be so controversial if people would stop
concentrating on the "abusive nature" of its relative and start working on
the positive aspects of hemp.