Pubdate: Thu, 23 Aug 2007
Source: Sacramento News & Review (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://newsreview.com/sacto/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/540
Author: Sena Christian
Referenced: the bill 
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0651-0700/ab_684_bill_20070801_amended_sen_v94.html 

Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/industrial+hemp (industrial hemp)

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." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake