Hemp Farming Legislation Gaining Momentum

This is good news. Vote Hemp announces that California, New Hampshire, Oregon and North Dakota are likely to pass legislation this year that would allow farmers and researchers to grow industrial hemp, bringing back hemp farming almost 50 years after the crop was taken away from farmers who grew the versatile plant for centuries.

Dupont, shortly after developing the synthetic fiber nylon, destroyed the hemp industry with the complicity of the federal government. In a way the war on cannabis escalated all those decades ago at least partly with that in mind. Come to think of it, considering the cross licensing agreement Dupont signed with Monsanto in 2002 and the current usage of herbicide as a weapon in the war on some drugs, Dupont is still profiting from the prohibition.

In any event the evident success of hemp farms overseas is suddenly being noticed by American farmers and they're asking why our government persists in its ban when the "restrictions are not based on scientific arguments and actually hurt U.S. economic interests since it is legal to import, process, sell and consume hemp seed and hemp fiber products."

In light of the growing pressure from the public, the issue may be addressed at the federal level soon. The farmers rightly ask why the U.S. government won't distinguish low-THC hemp from high-THC drug varieties. In light of the well documented ecological and economic advantages of agricultural hemp, it's a question we should all be asking.