Although they won the fight to sell
hemp products in the good ol’ red,
white and blue, the hemp industry is
still working to get the ban removed
on growing industrial hemp in the
United States.
As in Canada, hemp was lumped in
with marijuana in U.S. anti-drug legislation. Although a federal bill to legalize industrial hemp has been
introduced three times since 2005,
there still has not even been a hearing.
This past April, Rep. Ron Paul introduced H.R. 1866, the “Industrial
Hemp Farming Act of 2009,” and is
asking proponents of hemp to make
their voices heard. According to Murphy from Vote Hemp, hemp supporters can help by writing and calling
their state legislators and asking them
to support H.R. 1866.
While hemp has not made it far on
the federal level, several states have
passed pro-hemp legislation. North
Dakota, which borders Manitoba, is
leading this effort. The state agricultural department has already developed background check forms,
licensing forms, and even issued licenses to farm hemp under state regulations. Manitoba Harvest has been
working very closely with farmers in
North Dakota and has several ready to
start growing as soon as they get a
green light from the federal level.
“As we expand, having partners in
the United States will be important.
Also, the mass awareness from pro-hemp legislation will be very good for
business,” Fata said.
Although Manitoba Harvest has
played a key role in the early U.S. legislative efforts, the company’s founders
are now focusing on encouraging political change through creating robust
consumer demand. Murphy from Vote
Hemp supports this approach.
“One of the best ways to get the government to listen is to buy hemp food
products, hemp cosmetics and cloth-
ing,” he said. “Increasing the marketplace makes it easier to sell to legislators as
something we should be doing here instead of importing.”
With that said, there is no better excuse to go out and buy a hemp brownie to
show your support for the issue. It’s legal—and while it won’t get you high, with
all its health benefits it will give you a feel-good effect that will last not just a few
hours, but for years to come. ;
Kat Schuett is the editorial director of Organic Processing Magazine. She can be reached at
kat@organicprocessing.com.
