NANAIMO MAN PROBING HEMP INTEREST

A Nanaimo horticulturist is probing the local farming community for
interest into a hemp-growing venture.

Richard Copland attended a Nanaimo Cedar Farmers' Institute meeting earlier
this month to ask local farmers if they are interested in growing hemp and
establishing a processing co-op.

Copland said hemp is easy to grow especially on Vancouver Island, is a
versatile alternative to wood and can yield profitable crops for local
farmers. But there is presently no local infrastructure to process hemp
into products such as cosmetics, clothing, paper, construction products,
ethanol fuel and cooking oils.

Hemp has been a passion for Copland since 1993 when he began reading about
hemp as an alternative source of wood fibre and pulp. He was working in a
pulp mill and was disgusted with the waste incurred after the wood chips
went through to be processed into pulp and then paper. He also noticed how
small the trees were getting as they rolled in off the trucks.

"It made me realize we can't be taking all the wood for forestry. At one
time we are going to run out."

He said the planting programs aren't working the way they should and what
is taken off the land is not being replaced with the same species.

"To me that is one of the saddest things to witness and it's not getting
any better," he said. "We've got to come up with some other alternative.
Hemp seems to be one of the natural solutions."

Copland's hemp dream strengthened once he completed the one-year
horticultural program at Malaspina University-College and started a
landscaping business.

Although there are over 30 government permits a hemp farmer must obtain
before being granted a license to farm hemp, Copland hopes there is enough
interested producers to form a hemp coop to build the infrastructure
necessary to process the raw hemp and produce many of the countless
materials hemp can be turned into.

He also envisions a sustainable farming operation where hemp oil lubricates
and hemp ethanol fuels the farm machinery that harvests and plants the
hemp. While the hemp fibers cloth the family and hemp oils and seeds help
feed them.

For more information about hemp and the hemp co-op, email Richard Copland
at hempsterc71@hotmail.com.

It's hemp, it's not pot

Hemp, or cannabis sativa, is not to be confused with its cousin marijuana.
Although the two plants have a similar leaf shape and are from the same
species, hemp contains a minute amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which
is what gives pot smokers their high. While marijuana produces between .03
per cent THC and .2 per cent THC, marijuana has between five and 35 percent
THC levels in the leaves.

Hemp plants thrive in the same soil conditions as corn but attract very few
pests so it doesn't require a lot of pesticides.

Hemp farming is legal in Canada but is closely monitored by the government.
Seeds are usually imported from Europe and Asia and are certified by the
government to ensure the THC levels don't go above .2 per cent.