Industrial hemp bestows life’s essentials: food, medicines, fabric, fuel, plastics, building materials, and more. Recognized for its multitude of uses for thousands of years, it has contributed to sustenance and economies throughout the world. Today recognition of industrial hemp’s benefits to health, the economy, and the environment has led politicians, farmers, and consumers to legalize its agriculture.

Industrial Hemp and Marijuana

Both industrial hemp and marijuana share the same Latin name, Cannabis sativa, but differ in both their looks and inherent properties. The former grows to a height of four to fifteen feet. Its woody stalk, the hurd, measures one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch in diameter. In contrast, the latter resembles a leafy house plant with berries. Delta-9 tetrahydrocannibinol (THC), a psychoactive chemical, found in marijuana induces intoxication, while the cannabidiol (CBD) found in industrial hemp provides an antipsychotic defense. Estimates of marijuana’s THC content range from 5% to 30%, whereas industrial marijuana contains between .05% and .3%. The former’s THC potency induces intoxication, a capacity lacking in industrial hemp’s trace amounts of the psychoactive chemical.

History of Industrial Hemp

The Latin word hemp means fiber, a general term for fiber-bearing plants. In Arabic hemp means canvas. In 1537, Disconides recorded hemp’s Latin name, Cannabis sativa, a plant used for ropes and medicines.

Archeologists uncovered evidence of hemp usage in China during the year 2500 BCE. Early records revealed its cultivation first for fabric and later for food. Trade brought Cannabis to the Middle East and Europe. Historical records described Herodotus’s purchase of hemp cloth from Gaul in 450 CE. During the reign of English King Henry VIII, the monarch ordered hemp grown and manufactured for the military’s needed ship sails, cordage, and paper. Knowing the vital necessities derived from Cannabis, the colonists brought its seeds with them to the New World.

American colonists cultivated the essential crops for textiles, food, and medicine. They enacted laws requiring all farmers to grow hemp, punishing violators with fines. In 1619, Jamestown, Virginia enacted the first law, followed by Massachusetts in 1631, Connecticut in 1632, and other colonies throughout the 1700s. Hemp, like tobacco, served as currency, permissible for payment of taxes until the 1800s. In 1890, the USDA Office of Fiber Investigations commissioned a study to learn which countries grew the best quality hemp. It found the Russian crop superior. In the United States, hemp was fabricated into burlap, rope, canvas, and Levi Strauss jeans. During the first half of the twentieth century, Wisconsin and Kentucky promoted both hemp growth and industries. Improvements in cultivation and harvesting caused their crops to become more competitive in national and international markets. In 1918, agronomist Dr. Andrew Wright distinguished three types of hemp: “fiber, bird seed, and drugs.”

Industrial Hemp’s Decline in the Twentieth Century

During the early twentieth century, Mexican migrants to the Southern and Western states introduced Cannabis as a recreational drug. The non-medical use of hemp fomented fear in the nation. Western and Southern law enforcement officials claimed that Mexicans smoking Cannabis behaved unruly and enticed Americans into addiction. This contempt for Cannabis did not extend to the Eastern states that reaped the economic benefits of industrial hemp. Acquiescing to pressures from panicked citizens and law enforcement officers, Congress enacted the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The law levied a tax on Cannabis growth and distinguished the difference between the two types of plants, industrial and narcotic. Despite assurances from Commissioner Harry J. Aslinger of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the new tax discouraged farmers from planting industrial hemp.

With the onset of World War II and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the military and industrialists required the Herculean strength of hemp fibers for products such as rope, parachutes, and insulation. To promote hemp cultivation, the United States government produced a film, Hemp for Victory, created the Hemp War Industries to oversee manufacturing and agriculture, and subsidized farmers to plant it. Patriotic Americans rallied to support victory and planted 40,000 acres of hemp. Unfortunately, the war’s end brought the hemp industry’s demise.

Once again, politicians and lobbyists instilled fear in the public, asserting that hemp shared the intoxicating properties of marijuana. The Comprehensive Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (CSA) prohibited all Cannabis growth. However, it empowered the DEA to issue a permit for growing the industrial strain. In reality, the regulation’s expensive cost and stringent qualifications denied farmers certification. Unlike the prior Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, the new law classified all hemp as a narcotic. While it prohibited cultivation, importation remained legal.

Hemp the Super Plant

Hemp crops yield ten tons per acre annually. Cannabis sativa grows in a variety of climates and soils. Hemp thrives in China, Canada, South America, and Sweden. Differing from other plants, the eco-friendly crop does not deplete the soil’s nutrients. Hemp’s long roots prevent soil erosion. Its pest-resistant capabilities eliminate the need for toxic chemical insecticides. Cannabis requires little water for growth. These qualities make hemp an easy and low-cost crop to cultivate.

Modern technologies discovered a multitude of uses for the versatile super plant. Hemp-and-sisal cellulose comes from the hurd and is used for producing biodegradable plastics and fiberglass. Presently, manufacturers utilize petroleum to process plastics. Henry Ford manufactured a car utilizing hemp resin and claimed its strength superior to steel counterparts. He extracted ethanol for fuel. In 2002, automobile factories resumed using hemp for door panels, ceilings, dashboards, and trunks. Today hemp offers two low-cost eco-friendly substitutes to gasoline. Hemp biodiesel is extracted from the seed, while hemp ethanol comes from the fermented stalk.

Other industries have found uses for the sturdy, multi-purpose Cannabis. Fibers become cement, wood, and biodegradable plastics. Builders construct buildings with hemp bricks, plumbing, insulation, panels, walls, and roofs. Hemp paint decorates the walls, while hemp curtains adorn the windows. The textile industry fashions the fibers into clothes, yarn, jewelry, purses, and shoes. In addition, companies have developed processes to transform hemp fibers into snowboards and musical instruments.

Hemp is a superfood. It contains all the nutrients necessary for sustenance. Consumers purchase hemp in the form of liquid milk, protein powder, and whole seeds. Cannabis seeds provide all essential proteins, even more than milk, eggs, and meat. They possess more EFA (Omega-3 and Omega-6) than fish. Each seed consists of 35% fiber. Lowered cholesterol, increased immunity, improved organ function, and reduced arthritis inflammation comprise some of hemp’s health benefits.

Indeed, industrial hemp is an eco-friendly super plant!

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