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The high and low of how hemp is used
A man carries a hemp plant.
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TEXT OF STORY
Bill Radke: Earlier this month, Oregon joined a handful of other states that allow their farmers to grow hemp. Cash Peters looks at how businesses are turning to this alternative product, and dealing with the stigma that comes with it.
Cash Peters: Hemp's an amazing plant. Ask Lawrence Serbin, he imports it.
LAWRENCE SERBIN:It's the only plant around that can provide fuel, clothing, building materials, and medicine.
Told you. In the 1800s, it was grown all over the U.S. The first Bibles were printed on hemp paper. The first Model-T Ford car was made from hemp. Then suddenly, in 1937 -- pouff -- it was gone: made illegal under federal law. How come?
Ted McDonald: Well, a lot of people associate hemp with marijuana.
Oh, right, that'll do it. Same plant, different uses. Since then, even though it has a whole bunch of environmentally-friendly applications, it's been banned at the federal level. Ted McDonald is a strong hemp advocate. Why's it banned Ted?
McDonald: I wish I had an answer to say. It would be simple. Just clear this whole plot of land here and let's start growing hemp and make the products that we need to make and life would be great, but it doesn't seem to be going in that direction.
No. I mean it would help if the general public wasn't completely clueless about it.
Peters: D'you think hemp should be legalized in America?
WOMAN: I don't have any opinion on that.
WOMAN TWO: I don't know what you're talking about.
WOMAN Three: I have no opinion.
WOMAN Four: Go away.
WOMAN FIVE: I know nothing about hemp.
PETERS: D'you want to sit down and I'll tell you all about it?
WOMAN FIVE: No, not at all.
Wow. The way Lawrence Serbin's company, Hemp Traders, gets around the law is to import it from China.
SERBIN: While it's illegal to grow hemp here, it's not illegal to import any of the hemp products -- like the fiber, the cloth, the clothing, the seeds.
PETERS: How do you use hemp in your ordinary life? Is this laptop computer made of hemp?
SERBIN: No, but my shorts are made of hemp. In my refrigerator I have some hemp seed milk.
Peters: Yeah, yes the milk. We'll come back to that.
Oddly, consumers are slowly discovering hemp. Jay Beeton's, just, you know a guy. But he's been buying it for years.
JAY BEETON: There's a little store in Manitou Springs where I live and there's a hemp store. They've got marvelous fabrics in there, right down to hiking boots. They even sell hemp ice cream.
PETERS: Okay, so this is hemp milk.
LAWRENCE: Hemp seed milk.
PETERS: That tastes a bit like ground up ceiling tile.
So not as versatile as we thought then.
In Los Angeles, I'm Cash Peters for Marketplace.
Bill Radke: Humorist Cash Peters. His latest book is called "Naked in Dangerous Places."
This is why we need to pass HR 1866, the bill introduced into Congress by Ron Paul that would exclude industrial hemp from the federal definition of marijauna. This would allow Oregon farmers and farmers all across the nation to grow hemp. Here in Pennsylvania we grew some of the best hemp in the world from some of the best soil on earth for over 250 years. The book Hempstone Heritage tells the story of the Pennsylvania hemp fields. We think that Pennsylvania, although behind right now, will eventually get onboard and set the standard in American hemp production as we did in our past, especially during the era of the Revolution. We are in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the great depression. It just doesn't make any sense to deprive the American farmers and entrepeneurs of any opportunity. The time to grow hemp is now. In fact it's long overdue.
Hemp is illegal because of Dumont, paper manufactures, cotton growers , plastic manufactures and the list goes on. It is about money. Hemp is the strongest fiber known to man , that is why they use it for the ropes on ships . If you had a shirt made of hemp it would last for years. Cotton does not last so long thus the need to BUY MORE. Now I have heard marijuana referred to as the evil twin , the dark side, the down side of hemp. I hate to be the one to tell you this but pot is not as bad or evil as the propaganda leads one to
Believe. In fact their have been a few { pot heads } that lead incredible lives. George Washington, yes boys and girls. The father of these United States
grew and smoked the plant that you all fear.
Thomas Jefferson. Loved to smoke yet still found
time to author the Declaration of Independance. My point is this, it is all about money.
Cotton production was huge business in the U.S. in the 30’s. As more became known about hemp and its superior versatility, strength, and comparative ease of production, cotton growers became afraid of competition. The Cotton Industry lobbied Congress to make hemp illegal and since hemp and marijuana are virtually identical to the untrained eye, they were able to convince Congress that folks were going to be getting stoned off their hemp sandals if this â€heinous†production continued. In reality, hemp contains no THC, giving the smoker no high at all. Congress was easily convinced, since the cotton industry was big money at the time, and hemp production was banned (in 1937 according to your show).
Thanks for bringing this to the public “earâ€. Hemp is a great fiber that has had a bad rap for years because of its evil twin…
Laura Quinn
Professional Horticulturist
(not pothead!)
Nate W, You have fallen for the classic trap of prohibitionists. Cannabis for hemp is grown differently from cannabis for smoking. Smoking hemp will give you a headache and nothing more. It really matters not if supporters of hemp smoke pot, too. That doesn't change the facts about hemp. There are a lot of enviro-friendly plants in the world but there is not another plant on Earth that is as versatile as hemp. Hemp can save the planet. Read The Emperor Wears No Clothes at http://www.jackherer.com
It has nothing to do with any of this. Hearst killed hemp by demonizing it, lobbying the former Prohibition bureaucrats to protect his investment in timber pulp in the Northwest. If you want to know why it doesn't seem to make sense, review the history of its criminalization who was behind it,and who its current legalization would take out, including the cash going through the Federal Reserve. Time is running out for the common sustainable good compromised by narrow powerful interests, orchestrating an populace incapable of critical thinking. Dangerous brew.
If we could just get past the (obvious?) downsides of it, yes, hemp would be wonderful.
Maybe it's a prejudice, but I wonder: what percentage of "legalize hemp" proponents could pass a drug test as compared to the rest of the population? What's the _real_ motive behind this?
Think about it: there are a _lot_ of envirnmentally friendly plants out there with a large number of possible uses. You don't see stores popping up to support them, but you do see hemp stores (occasionally).
I'm still struggling with the hidden side of the argument for hemp and haven't found a way past it yet.
I've wondered for years how long it would take for the federal government to recognize the benefits of hemp. Not only is environmentally safe it would do wonders for economy in farming communities. I even read an article that stated the University of Bath has discovered a mixture of hemp and lime can create building materials with a less than zero carbon footprint.
