CNN Highlights Industrial Hemp

A special CNN investigative report, historical timeline, and two video clips present a strong case for changing federal rules so that U.S. farmers can once again raise industrial hemp. The report shows that industrial hemp is now an economic success just across the border in Canada. The report notes that NAIHC board member Dave Monson and fellow North Dakota farmer Wayne Hauge have sued the DEA to overturn federal rules which ban industrial hemp as a U.S. crop. A hearing on their lawsuit is set for Nov. 14 in federal court.

David West, Andy Kerr et al on Research Page

David West, Andy Kerr et al on Research Page
Index to Industrial Hemp research papers by NAIHC Board Members Andy Kerr, Paul Mahlberg, Shelby Thames and Robert Armstrong. — and by David West on“Hemp and Marijuana: Myths & Realities.“

 

Visit http://naihc.org/IndustrialFibers.html

 

 

Advances in Hemp Research

Offering up-to-date information on the uses and composition of the plant, Advances in Hemp Research provides growers, researchers, manufacturers, and suppliers with methods and data for the processing and cultivation of hemp for textile and paper products.

Journal of Natural Fibers

The Journal of Natural Fibers meets the growing demand for a comprehensive guide to new applications, processing methods and techniques, and up-to-date research findings on natural fibers. 

Kerr Testifies on Oregon Senate Bill to Re-legalize Industrial Hemp

Testimony on Oregon Senate Bill 348 to re-legalize industrial hemp in Oregon.
NAIHC member Andy Kerr’s testimony in Oregon Senate hearing, to explain how industrial hemp is not marijuana, how marijuana growers won’t want industrial hemp growing anywhere near their drug crop, and how most of the rest of the world distinguishes industrial hemp from marijuana.

Andy Kerr’s Testimony on Industrial Hemp

Testimony on Oregon Senate Bill 348 to re-legalize industrial hemp in Oregon.

NAIHC Board Member Andy Kerr’s testiomony on how industrial hemp is not marijuana, how marijuana growers won’t want industrial hemp growing anywhere near their drug crop, and how most of the rest of the world distinguishes industrial hemp from marijuana.

DEA Blocks Spring Planting of Industrial Hemp in North Dakota

DEA Blocks Spring Planting of Industrial Hemp in North Dakota
North Dakota’s clearly frustrated Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson calls the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) failure to act on two farmers’ applications to grow industrial hemp “not unexpected but still disappointing.” He said “DEA’s latest response is a de facto denial of permission. If the applicants cannot have a decision in time to plant the crop, then the applications are meaningless. . . DEA has far more important concerns – stopping methamphetamine, for example – than continuing to prevent farmers from growing a legitimate crop. Industrial hemp should not be considered a drug because it cannot produce any psychoactive effect. Every other industrialized country in the world allows production of industrialized hemp. It’s really time DEA let the United States catch up.”  

Congressional Research Service’s 2007 Update on Hemp

 

“The United States is the only developed nation in which the production of industrial hemp is not permitted.” That’s according to the U.S. Congress’s research arm which reported favorably on industrial hemp in a Jan. 2005 report and then issued an even more favorable updated report March 23, 2007. Click here to read the complete 2007 report.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) update concludes that the U.S. government and its Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) oppose hemp legalization based on their arguments that legalization “would increase the likelihood of covert production of high-THC marijuana, significantly complicate DEA’s surveillance and enforcement activities, and send the wrong message to the American public concerning the government’s position on drugs. DEA officials and a variety of other observers also express the concern that efforts to legalize hemp — as well as those to legalize medical marijuana — are a front for individuals and organizations whose real aim is to see marijuana decriminalized.”

The CRS report notes that the proposed Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007 “would open the way for commercial cultivation of industrial hemp in the United States.” It goes on to point out that according to the Canadian government, which legalized hemp production in 1998: “Hemp’s remarkable attributes are hard to beat: it thrives without herbicides, it reinvigorates the soil, it requires less water than cotton, it matures in three to four months, and it can yield four times as much paper per acre as trees. Hemp can be used to create building materials, textiles, clothing, inks, and paints and has potential use in other non-food products. These advantages are in tune with the environmental and health preferences of today’s North American public. The growing curiosity of consumers, the interest shown by farmers and processors, and Canada’s excellent growing conditions for industrial hemp allow optimistic views for its future.”

Click here to read the complete 2007 CRS report.

Click here to read the Canadian government’s 2007 report from Agriculture Canada.

California Poll and Vote Support Industrial Hemp Farming

A California Poll and Vote sponsored by Vote Hemp shows 71 percent support for changing state law to allow farmers to grow industrial hemp, including 46 percent who strongly support and another 25 percent who somewhat support changing state law. This follows a 5-to-2 California State Assembly Public Safety Committee vote supporting state legislation to allow California farmers to grow industrial hemp without state or federal licenses.

DVD – “Hemp and the Rule of Law”

DVD - “Hemp and the Rule of Law” – http://www.tinroofvideo.com/page/page/5566214.htm
Now on DVD — a documentary by Kevin Balling premiered at the Asheville Film Festival and at the ARTIVIST Film Festival in Hollywood. The one-hour documentary traces hemp’s legendary past in U.S. agriculture and chronicles the heated debate to return the crop to American farmers.