NEW VIEWS OF HEMP; A NOD TO ITS HISTORY

George Washington grew it.

So did Thomas Jefferson.

For the founders of the Lancaster Hemp Project '98, industrial hemp
farming is not a revolutionary idea. They've organized a sort of hemp
business exposition this Saturday and Sunday at Pequea Silver Mine
Park to raise public awareness and showcase the many uses of hemp.
Backing the project are local business people who make or sell hemp
products.

Lancaster Hemp Project organizers cooked up a smorgasbord of foods
made from the hemp seed and its oil as a preview to this weekend's
exhibition. They served burgers, breads, pretzels and pizza made from
hemp flour; hemp pesto and hot sauce, hemp seed treats and hemp-based
ale, which is brewed in Frederick, Md. Hemp paper and clothing also
were on display.

"We're trying to give people a multi-faceted view of hemp," said
organizer Shawn Patrick House, owner of Lancaster Hemp Co., a
wholesale distribution company.

"The food, the fiber, the fashion, the history. The history is right
here in the county," House said.

According to Les Stark, researcher and historian for Lancaster Hemp
Project, Lancaster County's rich limestone soil made it a top producer
of hemp from the time of the Revolutionary War until the mid-1800s.
Every major waterway had a hemp grinding mill with its distinctive
cone-shaped millstone. Hemp produced canvas that covered the Conestoga
wagons, and the sails and riggings for many a tall ship. Clothing and
paper also came from the plant.

The industrial revolution changed all that.

"The cotton gin made mass-produced cotton cheaper," Stark said. "At
about the same time, the invention of the steamship reduced demand for
hempen sails, each of which needed 60 pounds of hemp to produce."

The hemp market's gradual decline ended when hemp was outlawed in 1937
along with its look-alike cousin, marijuana. Hemp contains little or
no THC, the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana. It was briefly
grown again during World War II for rope.

Today, hemp production is skyrocketing. A renewable resource, it's
grown all over the world to make cloth, rugs, paper, particle board
and seed oil. This fall, Canadian farmers will reap their first hemp
harvest in decades after it was legalized last year. Farmers in
Kentucky and several other states are lobbying hard for permission to
plant hemp again.

"One of our goals is definitely to reach out to the farmers," Stark
said.

His brother, Jim, agreed.

"(Canadian farmers) are glad that we haven't legalized it yet," he
said. "They have the opportunity to get the edge on the market."

Organizers say the Lancaster Hemp Project is a chance to show people
the many positive uses of hemp.

"Once people understand, there's really nothing to be concerned
about," said Don Riese, co-owner of No Problem/Hempzels in New
Holland, which makes hearth-baked pretzels from hemp flour. After all,
he said, hemp production was encouraged during World War II and helped
the United States win the war.

"If it was good then, why not now?"

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady