Hemp Would Have Tremendous Implications For Profitability

I am writing about a crop that would have tremendous implications for
profitability in Okanogan County as well as the entire nation. This crop
is industrial hemp. I want to emphasize that industrial hemp is in no
way psychoactive. There is nothing you can do to it to get "high" on it.

Hemp was once indispensable to world commerce. The ropes and sails of
sailing vessels which brought settlers and commerce to the New World
were made of hemp. It has 25,000 uses according to an article in
"Popular Mechanics" in 1938. The outer layer is peeled off and used for
heavier applications, such as pressboard for construction. The inner
fibers are used for cloth and paper. The seeds can be made into cakes
for both human and livestock consumption. Oil can also be pressed from
the seeds and used as a substitute for petroleum as well as medicinal
bases and cosmetics.

The crop is annual, growing six to 10 feet a year.

The farm production and the processing plants would create jobs for
everyone.

Then why aren't we growing this fabulous plant? Because it's not legal.
In 1937, when the U.S. Congress, in a panic to stop the use of
Marijuana, passed the Marijuana Tax Act, they made the growing of
industrial hemp so complicated that it was no longer economically
feasible to go through the red tape required to grow it. To bring it
back as a cash crop will require a grass roots movement. Anyone who is
interested in this should write to your state senators and
representatives as well as your national senators and representatives. I
would suggest writing to Vice President Al Gore also. The states may
legalize growing on their own without federal approval. I would like to
see county commissioners getting behind this. The increased revenue for
the county would make it worth their while.

Hemp is already being imported for manufacture of products in this
country as well as prefabricated hemp products. Are we going to stand by
once again and let other nations rob our farmers and our workers of
their income?

Further information can be obtained from Hemptech, P.O. Box 1716,
Sebastopol. Calif. 95473 or on the Internet at www.hemptech.com.

"Mother EarthNews" July issue also has an excellent article.

Jean S. Smith
Oroville, WA