Hemp for Victory
The U.S. Department of Agriculture persuading farmers to grow hemp for the war effort in the 1940's coined the slogan "Hemp for Victory." Webster's Dictionary defines hemp as "a genus of widely cultivated annuals, this plant's fiber used for ropes and coarse fabrics." Hemp is a variety of cannabis sativa which is similar in structure to the street drug called marijuana. Yet Kulpa ( 1999, p.61) indicates, "hemp is marijuana's straight cousin-classified as cannabis but containing microscopic levels of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in pot, according to the North American Industrial Hemp Council." Marijuana is much higher as stated by Sternburg (1999, p.1A), "contains THC levels as high as 20%." The uses of the hemp fiber are numerous and have been woven into our nation's heritage. The first immigrants reaching America used sails, rigging and nets made of hemp ( White 1999 p. 4). In the early colonies 'must grow' hemp laws were enforced to provide sufficient clothing and materials( White 1999 p.4). The Declaration of Independence, an unofficial transcript of the Constitution and the first flag of the United States were all written on hemp. "Today anything made from petroleum or synthetic products can be
Currently U.S. farmers are looking towards hemp as a new crop to provide diversity and better prices then the present corn, wheat, barley, etc. In 1998 Canada lifted the ban on hemp, allowing farmers with government permits to provide a new rotation crop. Sternberg states (1999 p.1A) "The farmers must pass criminal records checks and prevent the THC level in the plants from exceeding .03 percent, which is monitored by law enforcement." The price difference between hemp and traditional crops is considerable. The average price for farmers growing traditional crops is around $25 an acre while in Canada profits from hemp provide approximately $225 an acre (Ackerman 1999 p. 51). The crop also provides other benefits to the farmer as indicated by White (1999 p.1) People have suspicions about marijuana growers hiding their plants in hemp fields. This is a large concern of the Drug Enforcement Agency making it difficult to spot the illegal plants by airplane. In addition, the National Drug Control policy states "that permitting hemp production would send the wrong message to the public, especially young people," as quoted by Ackerman (1999 p.51). Yet there is opposition to these beliefs that it makes no sense to grow the hemp and marijuana in the same vicinity. Ackerman states (1999 p.51) "hemp will cross-pollinate
Some common words found in the essay are:
Drug Control, Smith Industrial, Webster's Dictionary, Council Marijuana, Declaration Independence, Department Agriculture, Enforcement Agency, industrial hemp, white 1999, ackerman 1999, hemp fields, Hemp Victory, essential fatty acids, 1999 p51, essential fatty, fatty acids, 1999 p1a, grow hemp, hemp victory, ackerman 1999 p51,
Approximate Word count = 892
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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