Hemp

HEMP: Background and Industry

By James Tindall, PhD

Hemp is an ancient plant that has been cultivated for millennia. The Columbia History of the World (1996) states that weaving of hemp fiber began over 10,000 years ago! Carbon tests have suggested that the use of wild hemp dates as far back as 8000 B.C. In Great Britain, hemp cultivation dates back to 800AD. In the 16th Century, Henry VIII encouraged farmers to plant the crop extensively to provide materials for the British Naval fleet. A steady supply of hemp was needed for the construction of battleships and their components. Riggings, pendants, pennants, sails, and oakum were all made from hemp fiber and oil. Hemp paper was used for maps, logs, and even for the Bibles that sailors may have brought on board.

Currently, Hemp is valuable in tens of thousands of commercial products, especially as fiber ranging from paper, cordage, construction material and textiles in general, to clothing. Hemp is stronger and longer- lasting than cotton. It also is a useful source of foodstuffs (hemp milk, hemp seed, hemp oil) and biofuels. Hemp has been used by many civilizations, from China to Europe (and later North America) during the last 12,000 years. In modern times novel applications and improvements have been explored with modest commercial success.

Due to the importance of hemp in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619, it was actually illegal not to grow it. Other states during the era such as Massachusetts and Connecticut had similar laws. And, during the 1700’s, subsidies were granted in New York, New Jersey, North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the New England states to encourage hemp cultivation, as well as the manufacturing of cordage and canvas for all types of industrial uses, particularly ships and farming. However, permanency of the industry failed since most of the hemp was used for naval purposes and most of that hemp was imported from Great Britain, ranging from 400 tons in 1770 to 3,400 tons by 1800. Additionally, by the 1840s about 30,000 tons of hemp was produced in the above listed states. Other states further south were also producing hemp.

More than 120,000 pounds of hemp fiber was needed to rig the 44-gun USS Constitution, America’s oldest Navy ship affectionately called “Old Ironsides.” Nearly 55 tons of fiber was needed for the lines and rigging on that vessel alone. Even more hemp fiber went into making canvas for sails and caulking for the wooden hull. Where did all of that hemp fiber come from? It came from the cannabis sativa fields of patriotic Revolutionary War-era farmers who originally grew the fibrous crop for the British Crown. Strong fibers formed strong nations in the pre- industrial age, and hemp was strategically important during the Revolutionary War.

Kentucky first planted hemp near Danville in 1775 and by 1790, hemp fiber was advertised for sale in local papers. The hemp industry rapidly expanded and Kentucky became the industry center for the next 100 years. Most of Kentucky’s hemp was grown in the “bluegrass” region that includes Fayette, Woodford, Jessamine, Garrard, Clark, Bourbon, Boyle, Scott and Shelby counties. In 1811, there were almost 60 ropewalks in Kentucky, and by the late 1850’s, more than one-third of the 400 bagging, bale rope and cordage factories in America were located there. Later in the century, the production of cordage and bagging did not prove to be profitable using domestic hemp, so production ceased as imported Manila and jute fibers were substituted. Other states such as Missouri had large-scale crops by 1835 and within five years were producing almost 13,000 tons. Confederate soldiers from Missouri actually used hemp bales to advance on Union positions entrenched at the Masonic College, in Lexington, Missouri.

Hemp was grown in the eastern part of Illinois near Champaign and Rantoul from 1875 to 1902. Crops were also grown near Houston, Texas in 1899 and 1900 and Nebraska’s hemp industry spanned 1887 to 1910 near Fremont and Havelock. California also grew hemp in many areas from about 1900 to 1920, including Gridley in Butte County, the Courtland in the lower Sacramento Valley, Rio Vista in Solano County, and Lerdo near Bakersfield. The Wisconsin hemp industry, although small began in 1908 through about 1917.

Initially, from 1804 through 1929, the average price paid for hemp fiber was close to or below the farmer’s break-even point. Sharp increases in demand and price occurred, usually in conjunction with wars; in European in the early 1800s, the American Civil War, and the two World Wars. In 1915, 8,400 acres of hemp grew in the U.S. increasing to 41,200 acres by 1917. Production of hemp rapidly declined in the 1920’s to only about 2,000 acres nationally per year throughout the 1930’s. It wasn’t until World War II’s “Hemp for Victory” campaign that domestic hemp fiber was once again in demand as 146,200 acres were harvested in 1943. From 1892- 1916, America used an average of 11,000 tons a year of hemp fiber, evenly divided between imports at 5,555 tons/year, and domestic production at 5,549 tons/year. This is 4% of the average of 254,462 tons of other imported “hemps” (jute, Manila and sisal).

Compared to cotton in 1892, 15,911,000 acres of cotton were grown in America, which increased to 34,985,000 acres in 1916. From 1892-1916, 2.7 million tons of cotton were produced annually, 10 times the amount of all types of hemp fibers. Economies of scale gave cotton a price advantage over field retted, hand broken hemp fiber. Today, farming cotton uses from 25-50% of the worlds crop chemicals.

The Shely Fiber Breaker (Scientific American, June 25, 1892)

“Designed to break six to eight thousand pounds of hemp or similar fiber per day. Takes up to nine people to assist with processing.”

The dominance of the cotton industry is often cited as a factor in the demise of the hemp industry, but there were at least two other factors (use by laborers in the Southeast and Southwest

1. and potential competition with the forest industry revolving around the William Randolph Hearst and DuPont paper industries – the latter is speculation and not proven to date). In 1829, the Navy started making its sailcloth out of cotton. Ironically, though, 15 pounds of hemp were needed to properly wrap each 500 pound bale of cotton. Unfortunately demand disappeared as cheaper jute and metal hoops became commonplace for wrapping cotton bales. Several botanical prints of the era recognize the importance of hemp and cotton.

1903 USDA Yearbook shows that the hemp grown in Gridley CA was well over 10 feet tall.

The need for “naval grade” (i.e., water retted) hemp was apparent because mildew and rot-proof hemp was desirable. As early as 1730, Pennsylvania statutes required the use of water-retted hemp for cordage. In 1808, the Secretary of the Navy asked for sealed bids to supply the Navy with water-retted cordage. In 1810, American Ambassador and future president, John Quincy Adams, wrote a detailed description of how high quality water-retted hemp was produced in Russia.

Despite the prevailing knowledge that water-retted hemp was better suited for naval cordage and the fact that it generally drew a higher price on the market than dew retted hemp, few American hemp farmers adopted the practice. As late as 1913, Dewey noted that “dew retting is practiced almost exclusively”. While a higher price could be received for water-retted hemp, there was a limited market for it. For American farmers of that time, there was a bigger market for dew retted hemp.

The methods used to harvest and process hemp had a major effect on the cost of producing hemp. In general, mechanical breaking and processing machines were not used, resulting in higher cost per acre and lower quality fiber. In 1824, the Hines and Baines Machine for breaking flax and hemp were being used with great success in Ohio. In 1828, this machine was used in conjunction with water-retting to produce hemp fiber “fully equal if not superior in quality to the best of Russian Hemp.” This machine only needed half of its hurd by-product to power its steam engine, saving “two cords of wood a day.”

In 1896 Rudolph Diesel had produced his famous engine. Like many others, Diesel assumed that the diesel engine would be powered by a variety of fuels, especially vegetable and seed oils. Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company seeing the potential of biomass fuels operated a successful biomass conversion plant producing hemp fuel at their Iron Mountain facility in

Michigan. Ford engineers extracted methanol, charcoal fuel, tar, pitch, ethyl acetate and creosote, fundamental ingredients for modern industry. Today these are supplied by oil-related industries.

While inventions relating to cotton were continually modified and improved, the evolution of hemp machinery lagged. In 1913, Lyster Dewey reported for the USDA that “more than three- fourths of the hemp fiber produced in Kentucky is broken out on the hand break”. This lack of progress unquestionably stunted the growth of America’s hemp industry.

Another factor affecting the demand for hemp was a lack of markets. Cordage, twine, and bagging were the primary items for which hemp was used. As late as 1916, hemp hurds were considered a waste product and hemp seed was only used as birdseed, not as food. Hemp Hurds are the left-over fragments of the stems and stalk once all the fibers have been removed. These left-over parts of the Hemp Plant are very useful. The fragments are of most use in two different forms. First as untreated and unrefined bits of plant mass, they can be used in a wide variety of beneficial products, from cement and insulation to the most astounding use as 100% completely tree-free paper. The second useful form of Hemp Hurds is in the form of pulp, when the hurds are smashed and ground, a powdery Hemp Pulp substance is created. Hemp Pulp can be used to make biodegradable plastics, plastics that can easily be broken down and/or recycled, thus they are essentially a ‘green’ product. They can be implied to just about any use, from plastic wrap to kitchen bowls.

This poster (17″x22″) was widely distributed in agricultural areas of the U.S. during WWII.

Jason L. Merrill wrote in a USDA circular that “Our forests are being cut three times as fast as they grow.” Dewey (his co-researcher) and Merrill knew that using hemp for paper could prevent deforestation and help save the environment. Despite the knowledge that hemp produced a more efficient superior grade of paper, wood pulp continued as the primary source of paper. The Library of Congress found that, “While the hemp paper in volumes 300-400 years old is still strong, 97% of the books, printed between 1900 and 1937 on tree paper, will be useable for less than 50 years.” Hemp paper can be recycled 7 to 8 times, compared with only 3 times for wood pulp paper. The USDA reported in 1916 that an acre of hemp produced as much paper as four acres of trees annually, yet 70% of American forests have been destroyed since 1916.

The hemp industry operated under the well known principles of a capitalist society where supply and demand determined price. People decided to grow or process hemp based on the amount of money that they could receive for it.

But the laws of supply and demand were effectively thrown out the window starting in the 1930’s when the market wrecking pogrom that is Reefer Madness was unleashed on an unsuspecting populace. In 1937, the federal government passed the Marijuana Tax Act (MTA), aimed at regulating the narcotic varieties of cannabis. Interestingly, this law turned over the regulation of hemp production to the Department of Revenue, which was then responsible for licensing all hemp growers. Propaganda films like “Reefer Madness” assured hemp’s demise. When Congress passed MTA, the decline of hemp effectively began. The tax and licensing regulations of the act made hemp cultivation nearly impossible for American farmers. Anslinger, the chief promoter of the Tax Act, argued for anti-marijuana legislation around the world.

An interesting situation arose during World War II as American Farmers were prohibited from producing hemp because of the 1937 law. However, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor halted the importation of Manila hemp from the Philippines, prompting the USDA to rethink their agenda and creating a call to action with the release of the film Hemp for Victory, motivating American Farmers to grow hemp for the war effort. The government formed a private company called War Hemp Industries to subsidize hemp cultivation. One million acres of hemp were grown across the Midwest as part of this program. As soon as the war ended, all of the hemp processing plants were shut down and the industry again disappeared. However, wild hemp may be found scattered across the country.

From 1937 until the late 1960s the United States government recognized that Industrial Hemp and marijuana were two distinct varieties of the cannabis plant, although they do not today. After the Controlled Substances Act was passed, hemp was no longer recognized as being distinct from marijuana. “(The Marijuana Tax Act) didn’t really affect us as growers, other than we had to pay a small tax and sign a paper stating that we wouldn’t use the plant as a drug,” explains hemp farmer and Matt’s nephew, Junior Prange. “What really killed the hemp industry in the 1950s was the availability of cheap synthetic fibers.”

In the United States, marijuana prohibition began partly as a throw-in on laws restricting opiates and cocaine to prescription-only use, and partly in Southern and Western states and cities where blacks and Mexican immigrants were smoking it. Missouri outlawed opium and hashish dens in 1889, but did not actually prohibit cannabis until 1935. Massachusetts began restricting cannabis in its 1911 pharmacy law, and three other New England states followed in the next seven years.

California’s 1913 narcotics law banned possession of cannabis preparations — which California NORML head Dale Gieringer believes was a legal error, that the provision was intended to parallel those affecting opium, morphine and cocaine. The law was amended in 1915 to ban the sale of cannabis without a prescription. “Thus hemp pharmaceuticals remained technically legal to sell, but not possess, on prescription!” Gieringer wrote in The Origins of Cannabis Prohibition in California . “There are no grounds to believe that this prohibition was ever enforced, as hemp drugs continued to be prescribed in California for years to come.” In 1928, the state began requiring hemp farmers to notify law enforcement about their crops.

Hemp’s association with marijuana undoubtedly caused reluctance in farmers to grow it, while the bureaucratic red tape surrounding the enforcement of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 effectively regulated the hemp industry out of existence, destroying a huge money market in the process!

The current demand for hemp fiber is still relatively low, although new uses for it continue to be developed. The energy crisis is shining new light on renewable crops, such as hemp, as a source of energy. The value of the cellulose rich hemp hurds as a source of paper, building materials, fuel and animal bedding is now universally recognized, and the multitude of nutritional benefits contained in the hempseed are manifesting themselves in numerous foods and health care products. However, until hemp can once again operate in the free market it will not even be given the chance to succeed.

A map published by the USDA in 1970 shows that hemp can be grown in almost every state of continental U.S.

Hemp Production in US: Timeline Summary

1600- 1890s	Domestic production of hemp encouraged American production of hemp was encouraged by the government in the 17th century for the production of rope, sails, and clothing. (Marijuana is the mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves that comes from the hemp plant.) In 1619 the Virginia Assembly passed legislation requiring every farmer to grow hemp. Hemp was allowed to be exchanged as legal tender in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. Domestic production flourished until after the Civil War, when imports and other domestic materials replaced hemp for many purposes. In the late nineteenth century, marijuana became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was sold openly in public pharmacies. During the 19th century, hashish use became a fad in France and also, to some extent, in the U.S.
1906	Pure Food and Drug Act Required labeling of any cannabis contained in over-the-counter remedies.
1900 – 20s	Mexican immigrants introduce recreational use of marijuana leaf After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Mexican immigrants flooded into the U.S., introducing to American culture the recreational use of marijuana. The drug became associated with the immigrants, and the fear and prejudice about the Spanish-speaking newcomers became associated with marijuana. Anti-drug campaigners warned against the encroaching “Marijuana Menace,” and terrible crimes were attributed to marijuana and the Mexicans who used it.
1930s	Fear of marijuana During the Great Depression, massive unemployment increased public resentment and fear of Mexican immigrants, escalating public and governmental concern about the problem of marijuana. This instigated a flurry of research which linked the use of marijuana with violence, crime and other socially deviant behaviors, primarily committed by “racially inferior” or underclass communities. By 1931, 29 states had outlawed marijuana.
1930	Creation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) Harry J. Anslinger was the first Commissioner of the FBN and remained in that post until 1962.
1932	Uniform State Narcotic Act Concern about the rising use of marijuana and research linking its use with crime and other social problems created pressure on the federal government to take action. Rather than promoting federal legislation, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics strongly encouraged state governments to accept responsibility for control of the problem by adopting the Uniform State Narcotic Act.
1936	“Reefer Madness” Propaganda film “Reefer Madness” was produced by the French director, Louis Gasnier. The Motion Pictures Association of America, composed of the major Hollywood studios, banned the showing of any narcotics in films.
1937	Marijuana Tax Act After a lurid national propaganda campaign against the “evil weed,” Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act. The statute effectively criminalized marijuana, restricting possession of the drug to individuals who paid an excise tax for certain authorized medical and industrial uses.
1944	La Guardia Report finds marijuana less dangerous New York Academy of Medicine issued an extensively researched report declaring that, contrary to earlier research and popular belief, use of marijuana did not induce violence, insanity or sex crimes, or lead to addiction or other drug use.
1940s	“Hemp for Victory” During World War II, imports of hemp and other materials crucial for producing marine cordage, parachutes, and other military necessities became scarce. In response the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched its “Hemp for Victory” program, encouraging farmers to plant hemp by giving out seeds and granting draft deferments to those who would stay home and grow hemp. By 1943 American farmers registered in the program harvested 375,000 acres of hemp.
1951- 56	Stricter Sentencing Laws Enactment of federal laws (Boggs Act, 1952; Narcotics Control Act, 1956) which set mandatory sentences for drug-related offenses, including marijuana. A first-offense marijuana possession carried a minimum sentence of 2-10 years with a fine of up to $20,000.
1960s	Marijuana use popular in counterculture A changing political and cultural climate was reflected in more lenient attitudes towards marijuana. Use of the drug became widespread in the white upper middle class. Reports commissioned by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson found that marijuana use did not induce violence nor lead to use of heavier drugs. Policy towards marijuana began to involve considerations of treatment as well as criminal penalties.
1968	Creation of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs This was a merger of FBN and the Bureau of Dangerous Drugs of the Food and Drug Administration.
1970	Repeal of most mandatory minimum sentences Congress repealed most of the mandatory penalties for drug-related offenses. It was widely acknowledged that the mandatory minimum sentences of the 1950s had done nothing to eliminate the drug culture that embraced marijuana use throughout the 60s, and that the minimum sentences imposed were often unduly harsh. Marijuana differentiated from other drugs The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act categorized marijuana separately from other narcotics and eliminated mandatory federal sentences for possession of small amounts. National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) founded
1972	Shafer Commission The bipartisan Shafer Commission, appointed by President Nixon at the direction of Congress, considered laws regarding marijuana and determined that personal use of marijuana should be decriminalized. Nixon rejected the recommendation, but over the course of the 1970s, eleven states decriminalized marijuana and most others reduced their penalties.
1973	Creation of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Merger of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNND) and the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE).
1974	High Times founded
1976	Beginning of parents’ movement against marijuana A nationwide movement emerged of conservative parents’ groups lobbying for stricter regulation of marijuana and the prevention of drug use by teenagers. Some of these groups became quite powerful and, with the support of the DEA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), were instrumental in affecting public attitudes which led to the 1980s War on Drugs.
1986	Anti-Drug Abuse Act – Mandatory Sentences President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, instituting mandatory sentences for drug-related crimes. In conjunction with the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, the new law raised federal penalties for marijuana possession and dealing, basing the penalties on the amount of the drug involved. Possession of 100 marijuana plants received the same penalty as possession of 100 grams of heroin. A later amendment to the Anti-Drug Abuse Act established a “three strikes and you’re out” policy, requiring life sentences for repeat drug offenders, and providing for the death penalty for “drug kingpins.”
1989	Bush’s War on Drugs President George Bush declares a new War on Drugs in a nationally televised speech.
1996	Medical Use Legalized in California California voters passed Proposition 215 allowing for the sale and medical use of marijuana for patients with AIDS, cancer, and other serious and painful diseases. This law stands in tension with federal laws prohibiting possession of marijuana.

Hemp Production Today

The final 2014 Farm Bill agreement included a provision that would allow institutions of higher education and state departments of agriculture to grow or cultivate industrial hemp.

It also requires that the sites used by universities and agriculture department be certified by—and registered with—their state department of agriculture. This provision will allow universities and agricultural departments to study industrial hemp for its possible future use as a commercial product.

Nineteen states–California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia—currently have laws to provide for hemp pilot studies and/or for production as described by the Farm Bill stipulations. Eight of these states— California, Colorado, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont and West Virginia— sponsored hemp resolutions and have laws to promote the growth and marketing of industrial hemp.

Current state policies include:

• Defining industrial hemp based on the percentage of tetrahydro-cannabinol (THC) it contains.
• Authorizing the growing and possessing of industrial hemp.
• Requiring state licensing of industrial hemp growers.
• Promoting research and development of markets for industrial hemp.
• Excluding industrial hemp from the definition of controlled substances under state law.
• Establishing a defense to criminal prosecution under drug possession or cultivation

Colorado

CRS § 25-18.7-101 to -105

• Permits growing and possessing industrial hemp.
• Establishes industrial hemp remediation pilot program “to determine how soils and water may be made more pristine and healthy by phytoremediation, removal of contaminants, and rejuvenation through the growth of industrial hemp.”

The Colorado Industrial Hemp Program registers growers of industrial hemp and samples the crop to verify that the THC concentration does not exceed 0.3% on dry weight basis. Registration is required for both commercial productions as well as for research and development with industrial hemp.

The State of Colorado, Amendment 64, section 16 (d) to the Colorado Constitution defines Industrial hemp as ‘a plant of the genus Cannabis and any part of that plant, whether growing or not, containing a Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration of no more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis. Under Colorado State law any Cannabis with a percentage of THC above 0.3% is considered marijuana.

Colorado Industrial Hemp Program – 2/4/2014

The Colorado Department of Agriculture’s regulatory role with Industrial Hemp is limited to registration of growers and inspection of crop. The State of Colorado has no jurisdiction over many other factors that producers are faced with. While Colorado legalized the production of Industrial Hemp (Cannabis spp), growing it is still considered illegal by the Federal Law. The following issues may cause concern for those interested in growing this crop in Colorado.

• Seed Procurement/Seed Quality – Seed that exists in Colorado may be variable and have unknown THC levels. Random sampling of hemp fields will be conducted. Plant samples testing at levels higher than 0.3% THC will be in violation of the Colorado Industrial Hemp Registration and Production Act. Importation of viable industrial hemp seed across State lines and Country boundaries is illegal under the Federal Controlled Substances Act.
• Pesticides – There are not any pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc.) currently registered for use on Cannabis spp. (Industrial Hemp and marijuana) due to the predominant federal nature of pesticide regulation. The CDA is developing rules to determine which pesticides could be used on Cannabis spp. and not constitute a violation of pesticide labeling or other federal and state pesticide laws and regulations. The list of allowable pesticides will be extremely limited.
• Federal farm programs such as crop insurance, farm loans and conservation reserve may be jeopardized if industrial hemp is planted; these programs are managed by USDA a Federal Agency. Contact a lawyer for legal advice.
• Banking – even though the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury recently issued guidance on bank involvement with Cannabis operations, banks including

state-chartered banks may be reluctant to provide services to Cannabis growers for fear of being prosecuted for federal laws and regulations violations.

• Processing – Colorado’s industrial hemp rules state that industrial hemp producers must provide documentation of in state processing as part of registration. It is unknown at this time how many processing facilities will be available in Colorado at time of harvest.

Quick Facts – 10/9/2013

• Amendment 64 to the Colorado Constitution directed the General Assembly to enact legislation governing the cultivation, processing, and sale of industrial hemp. Legislation adopted in 2013 delegated the responsibility for establishing registration and inspection regulations to the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
• The new rules, to be published as 8 CCR 1203-23, will sets forth the requirements of registration and inspection. These rules will be adopted and effective by early 2014. The registration deadline is May 1 of each year, beginning in 2014.
• Industrial Hemp means a plant of the genus Cannabis and any part of the plant, whether growing or not, containing a delta-9 tetrahydro-cannabinol (THC) concentration of no more than three-tenths of one percent (0.3%) on a dry weight basis.
• Two types of registration will be allowed: Research and Development (R & D) and Commercial.
  • R & D is limited to 10 acres or less and will be charged a registration fee of $100 plus $5/acre.
  • Commercial registrants are not limited in size of acreage and will be charged a registration fee of $200 plus $1.00/acre.
• When registering, applicants must provide:
  • contact information
  • maps that include GPS locations of all growing locations and varieties planted
  • affidavits or lab tests showing that the crop planted will produce a THC content of 0.3% or less
• CDA will select at least one third of registrants each year for field sampling and verification of 0.3% or less THC content
• Costs of field sampling and lab testing incurred by the Department will be passed on to the registrant.
  • Fees for field sampling are currently $35/hour and will include drive time, sampling time and any per diem or room charges incurred by the Department’s representative(s).

Why Hemp Now?

Hemp breathes in 4x the carbon dioxide (CO2) of trees during its quick 12-14 week growing cycle. Trees take 20 years to mature vs 4 months for Industrial Hemp! Our forests are being cut

down 3 times faster than they can grow! One acre of hemp produces as much cellulose fiber pulp as 4.1 acres of trees!

Oldest known records of hemp farming go back 5000 years in China. For more than 1000 years before the time of Christ until 1883 AD Cannabis Sativa was our planet’s most important industry for thousands of products & enterprises producing the overall majority of the earth’s fiber, fabric, lighting oil, incense, fiberglass replacement, lightweight sandwich boards, composite woods, kitty litter, potting mix, nappies, feminine care products, fuel, medicines & paper, as well as a primary source of protein for humans & animals.

The Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Reactor 4 in the Ukraine caused severe radioactive contamination in April 1986. Industrial Hemp has been used to remove contaminants from the soils, called phytoremediation.

Hemp cultivation and production do not harm the environment. The USDA Bulletin #404 concluded that hemp produces 4 times as much pulp with at least 4 to 7 times less pollution.

More facts about hemp:

• Hemp does not require herbicides or pesticides.
• Hemp can be grown in a wide range of latitudes and altitudes.
• Hemp replenishes soil with nutrients and nitrogen, making it an excellent rotational crop.
• Hemp controls erosion of topsoil.
• Hemp converts CO2 to oxygen better than trees.
• Hemp produces more oil than any other crop, which can be used for food, fuel, lubricants, soaps, etc.
• Hemp nut is a very healthy food, being the highest protein crop (after soybean) and high in omega oils.
• Hemp can be used for making plastics, including car parts.
• Hemp makes paper more efficiently and ecologically than wood, requiring no chemical glues.
• Hemp can be used to make fiberboard.
• Hemp can be used to make paint.
• Hemp can produce bio-fuel and ethanol (better than corn).
• Hemp can be grown more than once per year.
• Hemp fibers can make very strong rope and textiles.

Expansion of Hemp Uses in more Detail

Van Roekel (1994) has pointed out that Egyptian papyrus sheets are not “paper,” because the fiber strands are woven, not “wet-laid;” the oldest surviving paper is over 2,000 years of age, from China, and was made from hemp fiber (Fleming and Clarke 1998). Until the early 19th century, hemp, and flax were the chief paper-making materials. In historical times, hemp rag was processed into paper. Using hemp directly for paper was considered too expensive, and in any event the demand for paper was far more limited than today. Wood-based paper came into use when mechanical and chemical pulping was developed in the mid 1800s in Germany and England. Today, at least 95% of paper is made from wood pulp.

The pulp and paper industry based on wood has considered the use of hemp for pulp, but only on an experimental basis. Hemp’s long fibers could make paper more recyclable. Since virgin pulp is required for added strength in the recycling of paper, hemp pulp would allow for at least twice as many cycles as wood pulp. However, various analyses have concluded that the use of hemp for conventional paper pulp is not profitable (Fertig 1996).

With respect to fiber, a “composite” is often defined as a material consisting of 30%–70% fiber and 70%–30% matrix (Bolton 1995). However, in North America particleboards and fiberboards, which generally contain less than 10% adhesive or matrix, are sometimes referred to as composites. This section addresses plastic-type composites. In plastics, fibers are introduced to improve physical properties such as stiffness, impact resistance, bending and tensile strength. Man-made fibers of glass, Kevlar and carbon are most commonly used today, but plant fibers offer considerable cost savings along with comparable strength properties.

Plastic composites for automobiles are the second most important component of the hemp industry of the EU. Natural fibers in automobile composites are used primarily in press-molded parts (Fig. 18). There are two widespread technologies. In thermoplastic production, natural fibers are blended with polypropylene fibers and formed into a mat, which is pressed under heat into the desired form. In thermoset production the natural fibers are soaked with binders such as epoxy resin or polyurethane, placed in the desired form, and allowed to harden through polymerization. Hemp has also been used in other types of thermoplastic applications, including injection molding. The characteristics of hemp fibers have proven to be superior for production of molded composites.

Thermal insulation products (Fig. 20, 21) are the third most important sector of the hemp industry of the EU. These are in very high demand because of the alarmingly high costs of heating fuels, ecological concerns about conservation of non-renewable resources, and political- strategic concerns about dependence on current sources of oil. This is a market that is growing very fast, and hemp insulation products are increasing in popularity. In Europe, it has been predicted that tens of thousands of tons will be sold by 2005, shared between hemp and flax (Karus et al. 2000). Hemp is also widely used to make fiberboard and to reinforce concrete, much like the Egyptians used straw to strengthen bricks.

“Geotextiles” or “agricultural textiles” include (1) ground-retaining, biodegradable matting designed to prevent soil erosion, especially to stabilize new plantings while they develop root systems along steep highway banks to prevent soil slippage (Fig. 32); and (2) ground-covers designed to reduce weeds in planting beds (in the manner of plastic mulch). At present the main materials used are polymeric (polythene, spun-blown polypropylene) and some glass fiber and natural fibers.

The cultivation of hemp in the EU is heavily weighted toward fiber production over oilseed production. In 1999, the EU produced about 27,000 t of hemp fiber, but only about 6,200 t of hemp seeds, mostly in France, and 90% of this was used as animal feed (Karus et al. 2000). The seeds (Fig. 33) have traditionally been employed as bird and poultry feed, but feeding the entire seeds to livestock has been considered to be a poor investment because of the high cost involved (although subsidization in Europe allows such usage, especially in France where hemp seeds are not legally permitted in human food). As pointed out later, higher yield and better harvesting practices may make whole hempseed an economical livestock feed.

In the EU and Canada, hemp has often been grown as a dual-purpose crop, i.e. for both fiber and oilseed. In France, dual purpose hemp is typically harvested twice—initially the upper seed- bearing part of the stems is cut and threshed with a combine, and subsequently the remaining stems are harvested. Growing hemp to the stage that mature seeds are present compromises the quality of the fiber, because of lignification. As well, the hurds become more difficult to separate. The lower quality fiber, however, is quite utilizable for pulp and non-woven usages.

Dehulled (i.e. hulled) hemp seed is a very recent phenomenon, first produced in quantity in Europe. Hemp seeds have been used as food since ancient times, but generally the whole seed, including the hull, was eaten. Hemp seed was a grain used in ancient China, although there has been only minor direct use of hemp seed as food by humans. In the past, hemp seed has generally been a food of the lower classes, or a famine food. Peanut-butter type preparations have been produced from hemp seed in Europe for centuries, but were rather gritty since technology for removing the hulls was rudimentary. Modern seed dehulling using mechanical separation produces a smooth, white, gritless hemp seed meal that needs no additional treatment before it is consumed. It is important to understand, therefore, that the quality of modern hemp seed for human consumption far exceeds anything produced historically.

The use of Cannabis for seed oil (Fig. 36) began at least 3 millennia ago. Hempseed oil is a drying oil, formerly used in paints and varnishes and in the manufacture of soap. Present cultivation of oilseed hemp is not competitive with linseed for production of oil for manufacturing, or to sunflower and canola for edible vegetable oil. However, as noted below, there are remarkable dietary advantages to hempseed oil, which accordingly has good potential for penetrating the salad oil market, and for use in a very wide variety of food products. There is also good potential for hemp oil in cosmetics and skin-care products.

Fatty Acids. The quality of an oil or fat is most importantly determined by its fatty acid composition. Hemp is of high nutritional quality because it contains high amounts of unsaturated fatty acids, mostly oleic acid (C18:1, 10%–16%), linoleic acid (C18:2, 50%–60%), alpha- linolenic acid (C18:3, 20%–25%), and gamma-linolenic acid (C18:3, 2%–5%) (Fig. 37). Linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid are the only two fatty acids that must be ingested and are considered essential to human health (Callaway 1998). In contrast to shorter-chain and more saturated fatty acids, these essential fatty acids do not serve as energy sources, but as raw materials for cell structure and as precursors for biosynthesis for many of the body’s regulatory biochemicals. The essential fatty acids are available in other oils, particularly fish and flaxseed, but these tend to have unpleasant flavors compared to the mellow, slightly nutty flavor of hempseed oil.

The list of uses for hemp is quite long, including personal care products, industrial fluids, biomass, essential oils, livestock feed, agricultural barriers, bioremediation uses, wildlife habitat and on and on. It is sufficient to say that hemp has been around for a very long time since in modern Hebrew, קנַּבֹוסqannabōs (modern pronunciation: [kanaˈbos]) is used, but there are those who have theorized that it was referred to in antiquity as ינק םשוב q’nei bosem, a component of the biblical anointing oil.