HEMP: VERSATILE CASH CROP OR EVIL WEED?

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Nestled among the lotions, oils and soaps on a
shelf at the Body Shop on the Kansas City's Country Club Plaza is a
2-foot display that's hard to miss: An illustration of a
familiar-looking leaf, cannabis sativa L., otherwise known as hemp.

Reactions from customers have been mixed - including one woman who
began crying after she rubbed a smidgen of the hemp lotion on her hands.

"She just freaked out," said clerk Micah Schuler. "She was rushing
around saying, `I need water! Where can I wash my hands?' She said her
company did drug testing and she didn't want to be fired."

That customer had nothing to worry about, said manager Peggy McEwen,
who explained that the hemp products have negligible amounts of
delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in
marijuana. In May, the British-based company began selling products
made from hemp.

"I was concerned, too, when I first heard we would be carrying this
line," McEwen said. "But I was misinformed. I'm a parent. And as a
parent you certainly don't want to promote drugs."

The controversy over hemp seems to be growing as fast as wild ditch
weed on back-country roads. As hemp appears in everything from BMW
brake pads to clothing to veggie burgers and beer, consumers face
mounting contradictory information.

What hemp is - a versatile cash crop or an evil weed - depends on whom
you ask.

Is it marijuana?

All marijuana is hemp, but not all hemp is marijuana, said Paul
Mahlberg, a professor at Indiana University in Bloomington and a
molecular biologist who has studied cannabis for 30 years.

"Hemp and marijuana come from the same plant genus, just like sweet
corn, field corn and popcorn come from the same plant genus," he said.
"But the strain of industrial hemp" - used in consumer products - "has
a much lower concentration of THC."

Low THC means that the plant has high concentrations of cannabidiol,
which is antagonistic to the mind-altering properties of THC. In other
words, smoking a hemp plant with low THC would produce a strong
headache - and that's all. But it is impossible to verify THC levels
without a chemical analysis, Mahlberg added.

Industrial hemp is cultivated to encourage a woody stalk, so it is
densely planted and often grows to 16 feet. The plants are harvested
within 100 days. Marijuana is cropped to promote a bushy plant with
bigger leaves. It is harvested after 190 days.

Hemp advocates insist marijuana is a distant cousin to industrial
varieties. But the Drug Enforcement Administration just says no.

"Hemp is marijuana, period," said Shirley A. Armstead, a special agent
and public information officer in the St. Louis DEA office. "Ditch
weed is marijuana. We do not distinguish between the two. Our cannabis
eradication program is about eliminating marijuana."

Industrial hemp advocates distance themselves from recreational
marijuana users. In fact, any hemp organization that even hints of
supporting recreational use is denied entry to the North American
Industrial Hemp Council, a group lobbying to change current DEA
restrictions on growing industrial hemp.

Twenty-five countries, including Canada, England, France, Germany and
China, produce industrial hemp. Both the North American Free Trade
Agreement and the General Accord on Tariffs and Trade recognize hemp
as an agricultural crop. All members of the Group of Seven
Industrialized Nations permit hemp cultivation - except the United
States.

"In the United States we are living on an island of denial, surrounded
by a sea of acceptance," said Erwin Sholtz, chairman of the North
American Industrial Hemp Council. "The rest of the world says yes to
growing industrial hemp. But we stick our heads in the sand and say

no. The federal government has to say it's marijuana because the
minute that it's proved otherwise, their ditch weed eradication
program goes out the window . . . right along with their money."

To Leawood, Kan., policeman Mike Pelger, it's more complicated than
that. When Pelger, who is also a DARE (drug abuse resistance) officer,
sees third-graders wearing hemp jewelry, he sees a society sending the
wrong message to kids.

Some advertisers do play up the drug aspect. At the Body Shop in Kansas
City, the Hemp Handprotector package says it "softens your hands without
short-term memory loss." Hemp 3 in 1 Oil is promoted as "the best
moisturizer in the world, and we promise you won't get the munchies." Hemp
Soap: "No buzz, great sudz."

John Roulac is the author of the books "Hemp Horizons" and "Industrial
Hemp" and the founder of Hemp Tech, a California consulting firm that
tracks the usage of hemp products around the world.

"Hemp is the Rip Van Winkle of fabric, the aloe vera of the 21st
century," he said. "There are over 25,000 documented uses for it."

Hemp is much more than a novelty product, Roulac added. "How do we
know that it'll be a major crop? We don't. But whoever thought that
organic farming, even 10 years ago, would become the $3 billion to $5
billion industry it is today?"

And hemp is versatile in more than just farming, Roulac said. "The
most exciting usage for hemp products is using it in composite
plastics, to replace fiberglass," he said. "It's lighter and it's a
renewable resource. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and the Ford plants in Great
Britain are utilizing hemp in their air bags and brake lining. These
companies have a mandate to make cars by the year 2000 that can be
recycled.

"Retail sales of hemp worldwide was $75 million in 1997. It's expected
to rise to $250 million in 1999. We believe that the hemp industry has
the potential to be a billion-dollar industry in 25 years. It's
definitely coming down the tracks."

Checked-by: "Rich O'Grady"