cannabisnews.com: Hemp -- It's Rope, Not Dope!





Hemp -- It's Rope, Not Dope!
Posted by FoM on May 31, 1999 at 06:03:14 PT
Farmers, activists seek to legalize crop!
Source: SF Gate
In the quiet heart of the conservative Bluegrass state, a small corps of techno-savvy activists is playing a big role in the national campaign to legalize industrial hemp, a crop the activists call an economic life preserver for U.S. farmers but which the federal government says is a dangerous drug.
The tall, cane-like hemp plant was cultivated throughout the United States for decades to make clothing, rope and other items but lost its respectable reputation in 1937, when the government banned marijuana -- and hemp along with it. However, it isn't illegal to import hemp from countries like China, and right now, hemp is an eco-celebrity of the green movement, used to make everything from diapers to dashboards, shampoo to sneakers. Nut butter, fuel, lip gloss, horse feed -- the list is as long as the hemp stalk. In 1997, North Americans spent $75 million on hemp products, up from $3 million in 1993, according to John Roulac, founder of Hempbrokers, an international hemp-seed product supplier in Sebastopol. He estimates that annual sales could approach $1 billion within the next five years or so. Click the above link to read the whole article!
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