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HOPE FOR HEMP?

A Look at One Victim of the War on Drugs

Although smoking industrial hemp will get you about as buzzed as
smoking wheat, "War on Drugs" hysteria in the United States has
created a conundrum for those who'd like to grow it.

Hemp can be fashioned into eco-friendly clothing, paper, plastics,
body-care products, building materials and energy alternatives. It's
also a profitable crop for American farmers. But politics have
complicated attempts to tap into this annually renewable natural
resource. Ever since the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 placed
strict controls on its farming, hemp remains illegal to grow in the
United States without a hard-to-obtain permit.

"Every product derived from [hemp] is legal but the plant itself is
illegal. That's crazy," said Steve Levine, president of the Hemp
Industries Association.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency classifies hemp as a Schedule I
controlled substance. Failing to distinguish between varieties of
Cannabis sativa, the label groups hemp and marijuana together even
though industrial hemp contains almost no THC--the chief intoxicant
of pot. Levine quipped that a poppy-seed bagel probably has more
opium than a hemp cookie has THC. He also said that you could smoke
several pounds of industrial hemp and still test negative on a drug
test because hemp's .03 percent THC content is nothing compared with
3 percent to 15 percent THC levels in marijuana flowers.

"It's what politicians try to hide behind," said Kyle Pulliam, owner
of Hemp in the Heartland in Old Sacramento.

The U.S. federal government permits trade in nonviable hemp oil, seed
and fiber, and Americans remain the largest consumers of hemp
products. We import raw material from roughly 30 countries, including
Canada, Mexico and parts of Eastern Europe. Yet the United States is
the only major industrialized nation to ban the cultivation of
non-psychoactive industrial hemp.

So we can import, transport and consume hemp. But we can't grow it?

Pulliam stocks his shelves with flip-flops, massage oils, clothing,
bath salts and bags--all made out of hemp. The store also carries The
Emperor Wears No Clothes, the seminal piece of literature that
awakened the modern hemp movement when it was first published in 1985.

"People come in and say, 'So can we smoke your clothing?' It's the
misperception from the media," Pulliam said.

But educational efforts by hemp re-legalization advocacy groups might
just pay off. A recent survey by Vote Hemp showed that 71 percent of
California voters support changing state law to allow hemp's cultivation.

The federal Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007 would allow states to
regulate its farming. In June, two North Dakota farmers with
state-issued hemp licenses filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court
against the DEA for obstructing their attempts to farm the crop.
Fifteen states have passed pro-hemp legislation, and several others
have bills on the table, including California.

Authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Assemblyman
Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, AB 684 is the second bipartisan attempt in
two years to legalize hemp farming. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
vetoed last year's bill, claiming that the federal government's stand
on the issue would put California farmers at risk of federal
prosecution. Organizations in favor of the bill argue that the
federal government has no jurisdiction if viable hemp plants do not
cross state lines. The bill has passed the Assembly.

"It would be great for California to legalize industrial hemp,"
Pulliam said. "It would save companies money for importing and
transportation costs."

Hemp is a near perfect crop. It grows year-round, enriching the soil
as it develops, and the drought-resistant plant does not require
herbicides, pesticides or fungicides.

Anti-hemp camps argue that farmers might plant marijuana in their
hemp fields if cultivation were truly legalized. But marijuana and
hemp plants have different needs and harvest times. Hemp plants are
grown together to form a dense canopy that snuffs out other weeds,
while allowing seeds to spread and pollinate. Marijuana plants need
space to obtain nutrients to form their THC-infused flowers.

Mixing the two genetically distinct varieties of Cannabis would
result in cross-pollination, reducing marijuana's potency--not the
smartest idea for someone hoping to get rich off the recreational or
medicinal product.

Levine said it confuses him that politicians and law enforcement use
this false fear as an excuse to continue banning hemp cultivation
"when all these other countries can easily identify the difference."

Hemp has been around for thousands of years. Today, it's used to make
necessities, like textiles, paper and food, as well as a few modern luxuries.

The automobile industry is using hemp-derived cellulose to make
biodegradable plastics for door panels and luggage racks, replacing
harmful fiberglass composites. One-third of the cars in Germany
feature these plastics and automobile applications are expected to
increase European cultivation of hemp to more than 100,000 acres by
2010. Hemp is even an energy-efficient producer of ethanol for biofuel.

Hemp is also a friend to the forest. It can be used to make paper,
generating more pulp per acre than timber. Manufacturing hemp reduces
wastewater contamination; its low lignin content decreases the need
for pulping acids. Its creamy color reduces the need for the harsh
chlorine compounds that timber-based paper production requires. The
result? Fewer chemical byproducts.

Advocates have pushed for hemp to serve as an environmentally
friendly replacement for cotton. More than 25 percent of all
pesticides in the world are sprayed on cotton fields. Additionally,
hemp yields three times more fiber per acre than cotton, and results
in a strong, durable and long-lasting fiber. Hemp textiles already
have carved out a niche in eco-chic fashion. Now the goal is to make
it less expensive.

Wildflower Boutique in Midtown sells organic and fair-trade clothing
for women and babies. About 50 percent of the store's merchandise is
made from hemp, said owner Emily Hays.

"It lasts forever and it's the greatest fabric," Hays said. "At
first, I could hardly find any designers using hemp. Now, they're
coming out of the woodwork."

As the $300 million hemp product retail market in the United States
continues to grow, American farmers want in on the action. And the
consumer would reap the benefits of low-cost, locally grown hemp
merchandise. Growing it locally would help reduce the trade deficit
while promoting sustainable agriculture and eco-friendly alternatives
for common products. Until politicians pass legislation removing
restrictions on hemp farming, the rest of us are left scratching our heads.

"I really don't know why common sense doesn't prevail," Levine said.
"It's frustrating."