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Duo Praise Hemp's Value
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Sep 2005
Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2005 The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact: http://www.herald.ns.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Peter Duffy
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?330 (Hemp - Outside U.S.)
DUO PRAISE HEMP'S VALUE
'All Marijuana Is Hemp, But Not All Hemp Is Marijuana'
EYES narrowing, I lean forward.
"Hemp?"
"Hemp!" they enthuse.
My eyes narrow further. "Are you both druggies?"
Anne Franey and Chopin Leon Viger burst out laughing.
"Anything but!" he assures me with a broad grin.
"I had to get that out of the way," I apologize. "I mean, when you think of
hemp, you automatically think of marijuana."
"All marijuana is hemp," says Anne patiently, "but not all hemp is marijuana."
Anne and Chops, as she calls him, are passionate boosters of hemp, a plant
that was legalized in Canada in 1998 but whose benefits are constantly
dwarfed by its misuse in the drug community.
Quite frankly, these two friends-cum-business partners seem to be as far
from glaze-eyed potheads as you can possibly get.
Mother-of-four Anne runs a business in Aylesford called Totally Hemp. She
used to be a successful Kentville stockbroker who became so taken by hemp's
potential that she quit her career in 2001 and opened her own hemp-based
company.
She shows me a selection of the range of lotions, potions and health
products she sells. She's even brought along a bag of tiny hemp nuts for me
to taste. After a little prompting, I try them. To my surprise, they turn
out to be delicious.
Montreal-born Chops, who's 74 and reminds me of French explorer Jacques
Cousteau, is the more animated of the pair. His enthusiasm for hemp's
potential as a planet-saver is infectious, which is rather ironic,
considering his background. He was an air force pilot who rose through the
ranks to command a wing of nuclear fighter-bombers in Europe during the
Cold War.
When he left the service, he bought and ran a Canadian Tire dealership,
which allows him to devote serious financial resources to this hemp campaign.
Chops has 11 grandchildren and he makes no bones about the fact they are
what drive him to promote hemp as part of a sustainable future.
"We've got to find alterative ways of making things work," he exclaims. "If
we don't make changes, the condition of life is going to continue to
deteriorate."
To that end, he and Anne have a staggering ambition. Along with their
supporters, they want nothing less than to bring a $25-million bio-refinery
to Nova Scotia.
It would use steam to turn hemp and other plant material into non-polluting
fuel alternatives like ethanol and biodegradable substances with all the
flexibility of plastic.
Chops says these materials are already used in Europe and elsewhere. He
hands me a large biodegradable bowl from Austria. It's made from hemp and
amazingly solid.
Some countries even make burial caskets from hemp, he adds, leaning forward
to tap the table next to my leg. "You could even make this table from
hemp," he enthuses.
"Anything made of plastic can be made of hemp."
He hauls out a large brown batt of what looks like insulation material.
Which it is, but it's not made from fiberglass; it's made from hemp.
"You could breathe through this for the rest of life and not do any harm,"
he promises. "Hemp is an extraordinary plant."
Anne nods vigorously. Today, she says, it's used to make everything from
cat litter to construction material, even beer and foodstuffs like chips
and biscuits.
"In China, they make lace from it."
Keen as they are, Anne and Chops know they must first prove that the
bio-refinery will work in Nova Scotia. That's why they're lobbying for a
$3-million government loan to help build a $6-million pilot plant near
Kentville.
And as a show of good faith, they say, they've invested more than $2
million of their own time and money in this project.
Chops has already made one serious attempt to introduce hemp as a major
cash crop in Nova Scotia. He planted several hundred hectares near
Kentville in 2 000 but, unfortunately, nothing came of it. "(Farmers) were
very interested at the time," he recalls, "but we couldn't find a market."
He estimates he's spoken with at least 1,000 farmers and other interested
parties, trying to raise awareness of the benefits of planting hemp. The
region could use a new crop, he reasons. "There are 75,000 acres of
farmland in this (Annapolis) Valley not being used."
The two friends are determined to educate the rest of us about hemp and
make the bio-refinery happen. This isn't just about helping farmers, they
assure me; it's a matter of saving the entire planet.
"It will come true," Anne vows.
"It has to be done," declares Chops. "We don't have a choice."
"Absolutely!" I cry. "Pass the nuts!"
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