While You Were Sleeping: The Hemp Bill

You may be forgiven for missing it, but several weeks ago, amid the hubbub of a Supreme Court nomination, a White House scandal, corporate welfare in the form of energy and transportation bills, and more terrorist uprisings than one cares for during the slow summer season, an historic bill was introduced: H.R. 3037, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005.

This legislation -- sponsored by Reps. Sam Farr (D-CA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Jim McDermott (D-WA), George Miller (D-CA), Ron Paul (R-TX) (yes, that’s a Texas Republican on the docket), and Pete Stark (D-CA) -- is the first bill ever to be introduced in Congress to repeal the federal ban on the cultivation of industrial hemp as a commercial crop.

If passed, H.R. 3037 would allow states the legal authority to license and regulate hemp cultivation without conflicting with federal law. So far, several states have passed legislation authorizing industrial hemp cultivation for research and commercial purposes only. But farmers in these states can’t legally grow hemp without federal permission to do so. The House bill -- assuming it is passed by the House and Senate and signed by you-know-who -- would remove this federal hurdle by granting states "exclusive authority" to regulate the growing and processing of industrial hemp.

Environmentalists have long praised hemp -- not for what you’re thinking, but for its environmental benefits. The widespread use of industrial hemp, they say, could result in numerous environmental benefits, including less reliance on fossil fuels, especially from foreign sources; more efficient use of energy; fewer greenhouse gas emissions; forest conservation; agricultural pesticide use reduction; dioxin and other pollution reduction; and landfill use reduction. Hemp is superior to many other plants for many uses, from cosmetics to clothing to carpet.

According to conservation writer Andy Kerr:

Hemp, because of its very long fibers, rapid growth, and the versatile oil from seed, can be manufactured into many products. It can competitively—both economically and technically—replace industrial feedstocks which are inherently polluting and unsustainable. Hemp fiber can be used to make bio-based plastics and construction materials. The long fibers of hemp can be used in making composite plastics which, while not as strong as fiberglass, is strong enough for many applications. There are also worker safety benefits, it's recyclable and is priced lower than glass.

Currently, the U.S. is the only developed nation that fails to cultivate industrial hemp as an economic crop, according to a 2005 Congressional Research Service report (Download in PDF). The U.K. lifted its ban in 1993 and Germany followed suit in 1996. To help reestablish a hemp industry, the European Union instituted a subsidy program in the 1990s for hemp fiber production.

And these and other countries are eating our hemp lunch! For example, consider a collaborative effort of the National Research Council of Canada and Hemptown Clothing, Inc., to develop a new enzyme technology to produce a softer and whiter hemp fabric, among other things. A classic public sector-private sector partnership -- the type that created the Internet, Velcro, and so many other wonders of our modern world.

But not in the U.S. At least not until H.R. 3037 becomes law.

"It is unfortunate that the federal government has stood in the way of American farmers, including many who are struggling to make ends meet, competing in the global industrial hemp market," said Rep. Paul, the Texan legislator who’s been described as “the libertarian-leaning congressman from East Texas” and who is the bill's chief sponsor. "Indeed the founders of our nation, some of whom grew hemp, surely would find that federal restrictions on farmers growing a safe and profitable crop on their own land are inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of a limited, restrained federal government."

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Comments

[george]

This would indeed be a great step ahead for the U.S.! This drug war thing has really screwed up our nation's priorities.

Hemp oil is healthy and full of anti-oxidants and can even be used as a fuel for vehicles and homes. Hell, Henry Ford built a car that was "grown" from hemp and a combination of other annual crops and designed to run on hemp fuel!

The diesel engine was originally created to run on biodiesel - primarily from hemp!

For more on hemp and its gazillion uses, go to Hemp.com. Also, look for large chemical multinationals like DuPont to lobby against this bill. They're the ones who killed hemp in the first place in America.

[Tom Murphy]

Please encourage everyone you know to go to the Vote Hemp web site to send a letter to their Congressional representative urging them to cosponsor the first-ever hemp farming bill, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005 - H.R. 3037. Here is the link:

http://www.votehemp.com/write_congress.html

Sincerely,

Tom Murphy
Board Member
Vote Hemp
http://www.votehemp.com

[Peter Carroll]

It is about time to say the least but we face a similarly restrictive approach here in Australia where the impacts of cotton on our marginal rangelands is having huge consequences for land and especially water. Australia is the driest continent on Earth except Antartica and we are having to bite the bullet on many water issues yet the cotton industry continues to enjoy huge water allocations to keep its unsustainable production going. All this contrasts sharply with hemp which requires around 80% less water depending on who you consult. Still Australian governments require the most stringent safeguards on production of hemp because of its drug connotation which is in turn driven by misconception since the types grown in the trials must be of low THC content. The question in the post Hoover era with the likes of Du Pont proclaiming their green credentials on issues like zero waste production is to demand of them a justification for any stance taken against a product which can supplant other more unsustainable crops, quite apart from any scaremongering about "reefer madness".

Good luck with the Hemp Bill and hopefully the US will complete the circle of sane hemp production in the near future as so many fibre based industries need it desperately.

Peter Carroll, Sydney Australia

[Hemp.com]

Great information! Hemp is an incredible resource that is underutilized in the United States. This law would help to change that and maybe even relieve some of the burdon of importing so many different products from the rest of the world. http://www.hemp.com has information on some of the uses and has a store where you can see some of the wonderful products made from this amazing plant.

[Marta]

If you need an information about hemp and topics related to the industrial hemp, I'd like to recommend a very good free resource at http://www.HempSearch.com

Good luck