Hemp Showing Up In New Forms

MAYSVILLE, Ky. (AP) Industrial hemp can help lift you up in the morning,
give your dog the warm fuzzies, help you get a good night's sleep and even
give your baby some TLC without the THC.

The fashion and food industries have plenty of uses for hemp, but the fibrous
plant gets a bad rap because of its hallucinogenic cousin, marijuana. Both
are members of the same species, cannabis sativa; the difference is that
industrial hemp contains only minute amounts of the psychoactive
tetrahydrocannabinol.

Companies big and small, wellknown and obscure are using hemp in everything
from gourmet coffees to mattresses and baby jumpers.

DaimlerBenz is using hemp in its dashboards and interior door panels. Armani
is making hemp jeans. Even familyfriendly Disney has sold hats made of the
stuff.

The plant is being touted for everything from salad oil to fuel oil, paper to
plastic.

``Anything that can be made from a hydrocarbon can be made from a
carbohydrate,'' said Joe Hickey, executive director of the Kentucky Hemp
Growers Cooperative Association.

``I can't believe we're not already growing it,'' said Belinda Bothman,
general manager of Edgemont Yarn Service Inc. in Maysville, which is
exploring weaving hemp into its yarns. ``I was looking for something new and
exciting to do from here.''

Hemp is expensive to come by because, like pot, it's illegal to grow in this
country. Police say it looks so much like marijuana that it would be used to
hide the pot crops.

For now, U.S. companies are importing hemp fiber, oils and seeds boiled to
sterility under the watchful eye of the Drug Enforcement Administration
from China and Europe. But the supply may be moving a little closer to the
demand.

The Navajo Nation is considering using its sovereign status to legalize hemp
production as a source of income, and several state legislatures are
discussing similar measures.

Some estimate the hemp retail market at $100 million a year worldwide.

``I think the demand has been a combination of a certain vogue perception of
hemp. But at the same time, people can feel really good about this vogue
because it's ecomaterials we're talking about here,'' said David R. Gould,
president of Hemp Textiles International Corp. in Bellingham, Wash.

Gould's company has supplied hemp yarn and fabric to the likes of Adidas,
Pierre Cardin and Ralph Lauren. And he said other clothiers are looking to
follow.

Gould said, ``1997 has really been a watershed year in terms of mainstream
companies getting involved and getting geared up to introduce hemp lines.''

Crown City Mattress of San Gabriel, Calif., is putting hemp into about 3
percent of this year's production of mattresses and futons. Vice president
Steve Carwile said the product is durable, moldresistant and just appeals to
his ecoconscious clientele.

He said the familyowned business isn't just looking to cash in on the
marijuana mystique.

``About 15 years ago, we used to have a slogan that said `The happy mattress
manufacturer,'' he said. ``But we don't want to do that on this one.''

Interface Inc. of Atlanta, a big carpet tile manufacturer, is testing hemp as
part of company owner Ray Anderson's quest to make all of Interface's
products recyclable by 2000, said Ray Berard, vice president of technology.

``He wants the company to be sustainable, that is, not dependent on oil or
other materials,'' Berard said.

Others are using the controversy to their advantage.

There's a line of hats from New Jersey called Headcase with labels warning
buyers to ``not smoke this cap.'' Sharon's Finest of Santa Rosa, Calif.,
markets Hemp Rella cheeses and a Hempeh Burger that it calls ``deliciously
legal.''

George Co. of San Francisco has doggie sweaters and beds made of hemp.

And Hempfields Natural Goods of Surprise Valley, Calif., recently introduced
three varieties of organic coffee mixed with roasted hemp seeds. Bruce
Klassen, a coowner, said the seeds give the coffee a nutty flavor, while the
hemp oil reduces acidity.

``You don't have the effects of acid stomach or heartburn ... that you would
get from a normal coffee,'' he said.

Hemp even turned up recently in a Marylandbrewed boutique beer. Don
Wirtshafter's Ohio Hempery in Guysville supplies all the seeds for Hempen
Ale, as well as for Hempfields' coffees.

Wirtshafter said he shipped 44,000 pounds of hemp seeds or one container
to Hempfields in one month. That's about what the annual U.S. seed
consumption was a couple of years ago, he said.

``Our strategy is we're setting up the infrastructure of an industry, so that
when our local farmers are able to grow hemp, there'll be a place for them to
sell it,'' said Wirtshafter, whose mail order company markets the hemp baby
jumper and blankets.