Senator Moves To Legalize Cannabis Production For Hemp

Alison Griswold, Forbes Staff - I write about leadership. 

 

Newly proposed legislation would legalize the cultivation of cannabis, in the form of industrial hemp, at the federal level.

Hemp is a variety of Cannabis sativa, the same plant species that yields marijuana, and is illegal to grow in the United States under federal law. But that legislation has long drawn contention from hemp advocates, who point to the health and sustainability advantages of the industrial plant, and note that its genetic and chemical traits differ from those of the Cannabis sativa drug varieties.

Their case gained additional footing Thursday when U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon proposed an amendment to the Farm Bill that would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana, allowing American farmers to grow the plant legally for the first time since 1957. The introduction of the proposed amendment comes as activists nationwide have already rallied to generate support for hemp and educate the public about its properties as part of the third annual Hemp History Week.

“Industrial hemp is used in many healthy and sustainable consumer products. However, the federal prohibition on growing industrial hemp has forced companies to needlessly import raw materials from other countries,” Wyden said in a press release on the website of Vote Hemp, a nonprofit lobbying organization based in Brattleboro, Vt. “My amendment to the Farm Bill will change federal policy to allow U.S. farmers to produce hemp for these safe and legitimate products right here, helping both producers and suppliers to grow and improve Oregon’s economy in the process.”

The 2010 U.S. retail market for hemp products was estimated at $419 million, and was on track to increase to roughly $450 million for 2011, said Tom Murphy, national outreach coordinator of Vote Hemp and spokesperson for the Hemp Industries Association. Some estimates put the global market for hemp at more than 25,000 products – including fabrics, paper, insulation materials, foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, according to a Congressional Research Service report released in January. In Canada, where farmers can legally cultivate hemp, acreage devoted to the crop roughly doubled between 2011 and 2012.

Though hemp comes from the Cannabis sativa species, industrial plants tend to contain small to negligible amounts of THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychoactive component of marijuana, with typical levels of less than 1 percent. THC levels average around 10 percent in marijuana, according to the congressional report. In Canada and the European Union, laws regulating hemp cultivation set 0.3 percent THC as the threshold between industrial cannabis and that with drug potential, the report says.

The legal status of industrial hemp and its products is ambiguous under federal law. The Drug Enforcement Administration considers THC a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act. DEA spokesman Rusty Payne said an exemption in the law removes CSA restrictions on “legitimate industrial products” produced from cannabis plants, but prohibits human consumption of products containing THC. A 2004 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stated that the DEA had misinterpreted the CSA in its regulations, making them invalid. But a ruling by the Eighth Circuit in 2006 claimed that anything with THC was considered a controlled substance.

John Roulac, CEO of Nutiva, a health food company based in Oxnard, Calif. that imports hemp to make several hemp products, said the federal ban on growing hemp is a political issue. He said arguments against the crop include claims that members of the DEA could not distinguish between hemp and marijuana plants, and that it “sends the wrong message to the youth of America.” He likened the government’s ban on growing hemp to banning farmers from cultivating mushrooms.

“To use their logic, all mushrooms should be illegal because there are some mushrooms that are hallucinogenic,” Roulac said.

Language supporting hemp has not reached the floor of the Senate or the House of Representatives for a vote since the 1950s, though Representative Ron Paul has repeatedly introduced a bill to lift restrictions on farming industrial hemp since 2005. The cultivation and research use of industrial hemp is allowed in nine states – including Maine, North Dakota, Oregon and Vermont – but those efforts remain hampered by the federal ban on growing hemp. In North Dakota, for example, cultivating industrial hemp is legal under state law, but federal agents could charge farmers with years of imprisonment or property forfeiture for growing the crop.

Once grown by the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, industrial hemp was a staple crop during the colonial era and the market for hemp has experienced a resurgence in the United States over the past two decades. Hemp can be cultivated for its seeds, fiber, oil and other byproducts, which have a variety of uses. Roulac said hemp seeds are high in omega-3 fatty acids, while its fibers are “ideal” for constructing houses, as material made of hemp is energy efficient, resistant to fire and insects, and more durable than wood. He added that legalizing hemp cultivation would have the additional benefit of job creation.

“We’re turning the hemp sector into a billion dollar industry, and guess what?” Roulac said. “The market place is voting.”

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Hemp Food

Hemp seeds can be eaten raw, ground into a meal, sprouted, made into hemp milk (akin to soy milk), prepared as tea, and used in baking. Hemp-seed is usually very safe for those unable to tolerate nuts, gluten, lactose, and sugar. In fact, there are no known allergies to hemp foods. Hemp-seed contains no gluten and therefore would not trigger symptoms of celiac disease The fresh leaves can also be eaten in salads. Products include cereals, frozen waffles, hemp tofu, and nut butters. A few companies produce value added hemp seed items that include the seed oils, whole hemp grain (which is sterilized by law in the United States, where they import it from China and Canada), dehulled hemp seed (outer shell), hemp flour, hemp cake (a by-product of pressing the seed for oil) and hemp protein powder. Hemp is also used in some organic cereals, for non-dairy milk somewhat similar to soy and nut milks, and for non-dairy hemp "ice cream." 44% of the weight of hemp-seed is healthy oils.
Nutiva Organic Hemp Protein Hi Fiber, 30-Ou... $10.59 - $44.00	Nutiva Organic Hemp Shake, 16-Ounce Canisters $11.50 - $33.84	Nutiva Organic Hemp Protein Hi Fiber, 16-Ou... $19.86
Nutiva Hemp Seeds, 20 lbs. 4 case pack of 5...	Nutiva Organic HempShake, Chocolate, Superf... $24.47	Nutiva Hempseeds, Shelled, Pouch 8.00 OZ (P... $58.58
Organic 100% Virgin Coconut Oil - 128 oz (3...	Nutiva - Shelled Hempseed, seeds, 10 oz bags $14.15
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