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US Stands Alone In Hemp Ban, Congressional Research Service Report Says
NORML | 01/13/2005

Washington, DC: The United States is the only developed nation that fails to cultivate industrial hemp as an economic crop, according to Congressional Resource Service (CRS) report published last week. Hemp is a distinct variety of the plant species cannabis sativa that contains only minute (less than 1%) amounts of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Farmers worldwide grow hemp commercially for fiber, seed, and oil for use in a variety of industrial and consumer products, including food.

"In all, more than 30 countries in Europe, Asia, and North America grow hemp," the report states, adding that the European Union instituted a subsidy program in the 1990s for hemp fiber production. "The United States is the only developed nation in which industrial hemp is not an established crop."

Federal law makes no distinctions between cannabis and industrial hemp, and makes it illegal to grow hemp without a license from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). According to the CRS, "The DEA has been unwilling to grant licenses for growing small plots of hemp for research purposes," even when such research is authorized by state law, because the agency believes that doing so would "send the wrong message to the American public concerning the government's position on drugs." As an example, the report notes that the DEA "has still not ruled on an application submitted in 1999 by a North Dakota researcher" to grow a trial plot of hemp in compliance with state law. More than a dozen states have enacted laws authorizing the licensed cultivation of hemp for research purposes.

"The federal ban on hemp cultivation and production is a direct outgrowth of the government's absurd war on cannabis," NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said. "This report should help to galvanize support among US farmers, industrialists, and environmentalists for the legalization and regulation of hemp as an agricultural commodity."

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vladimir

hemp fibers are better suited for paper making than wood fibers, and hemp grows a lot faster than trees. hemp can also be made into clothing, food, and other common products.
ford actually made a car out of hemp fibers. in france, they are building houses made out of hemp fibers.
and there is hemp today that contains about 0,3% THC, which means you cant possibly get high off it.
i dont see how the hemp ban even relates to the war on drugs anymore, its not a drug.

Unregistered

Can we say money...you can't control a plant...you can control a formula that you make. Such companies as Dupont, BASF, and the Bayer Corporation come to mind when this subject is mentioned.

SinsemilaStreet

I remember reading from the history books when our country was newly founded that not only did people (including some of our early presidents) grow hemp and lots of it; there were actually times when you could be jailed for NOT growing hemp because of its economic importance to our country.

The same should still hold true today, but it doesn't. We are living in a time and age of farm subsidies and farm welfare off of the goverment when our nations farms could be growing a cash crop of American Hemp that could be used for all the numerous purposes hemp can be used for and benefit our U.S. farmers so they can get off the federal bankroll and we can put those federal dollars into education and healthcare instead of un-needed farm subsidies.

With the recent ban lifted on hemp foods I hope that the fledging hemp industry will be able to persuade U.S. lawmakers that hemp is not the 'wacky-weed' like it's psychoactive sister and that it can truly benefit our nation.

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"...marijuana is one of the safest, therapeutically active substances known to man." ~DEA Law Judge Francis Young

"Don't do drugs because if you do drugs you'll go to prison, and drugs are really expensive in prison." ~John Hardwick

Bluee

I remember when the United States used to be at the forefront of everything that had to do with developed nations.

Now, the United States is only at the forefront of backwards thinking of developed nations...

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Pessimism is being content when things go bad, while enjoying life when proven wrong.

Niteshift

You know, I have to ask something here..........

I hear people extolling the virtues of hemp, some make it sound like the answer to everything bad............

And I hear about all these hemp powered cars etc, and how if the US govt. would just legalize hemp..........

Yet it's legal in all those countries, even subsidize by their governments. But they still are oil dependant. Still pollute like crazy. What is so substantially different because they have hemp and we don't?

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A burning desire for social justice is never a substitute for knowing what you're talking about. -Thomas Sowell

Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is muzzle flash.