HEMP PLANTING BEGINS IN CHATHAM-KENT

PAIN COURT, Ont. --- Planting of the first legal crop of hemp in more than
six decades in Canada will jump into high gear this week in Chatham-Kent,
according to officials of Pain Court-area based Kenex Ltd.

Approximately 50 Chatam-Kent farmers have been given federal government
permits through Kenex Ltd., a new local company established to oversee the
local production of the crop, to actually plant hemp in 1998.

The 50 growers signed up by Kenex Ltd. will produce approximately 400
hectares (2,000 acres) of hemp this year for the company.

In continuous cultivation for thousands of years in parts of Europe and
Asia, hemp was outlawed in North America during the 1930s -- 1938 in Canada
- -- because of its association with its "reefer madness" cousin, marijuana.

But regulations were put in place in March by Haelth Canada for hemp's
commercial cultivation after Ottawa passed the new Contolled Substance and
Abuse Act in 1996, OK'ing the plant's production.

Bob Lecuyer, general manager of Kenex Ltd., said the first federal permits
for growers in Chatam-Kent were received by Kenex last week. Farmers can
only grow the crop with special permits issued by Ottawa and distributed by
Kenex Ltd.

The 50 Chatham-Kent farmers growing hemp this spring are doing so under
contract with Kenex Ltd., which is also highly licensed and regulated by Ottawa.

At the same time, Lecuyer said more than $2 million worth of
specially-designed processing equiptment from Europe is being installed in a
new processing centre on the Winter Line in the former Dover Township.

lecuyer said it's likely acreage grown in Chatham-Kent will more than double
to the 4,000-plus mark in 1999.

"There is a great demand for hemp products from the automobile industry," he
said.

"If the market takes off like we think it will, hemp production will boom in
the coming years."

Users are derived from the plant's sturdy fibres and nutritious seeds which
can be used in a wide variety of fashion and industrial fabrics, paper,
salad oils, medicines, cosmetics and even beer brewing.

Canadian Press---

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett