Signs the consumer pendulum is swinging and that there are heady, profitable years to come for marijuana’s straight kin are everywhere.

Last fall, The Body Shop launched a line of hemp toiletries.

"This kind of diversity is virtually unprecedented in a plant. It (hemp) will revolutionize what we buy and it is probable we could convert our society to a carbohydrate economy from our fuel-based one today," boasts Greg Harriott, president of Hempola, a Brampton company in business since 1993.

The excitement surrounding this wonder plant is so widespread that even Disney is planning a new exhibit on the bio-based economy at Disney World in Florida. Cadillac has announced plans to build a car using hemp, in which everything but the engine and drive train are biodegradable.
(Marijuananews note: I doubt it, but it sounds good.)

Industry insiders are quick, too, to point out industrial hemp is one of nature’s finest renewable fibre sources, is virtually pest-resistant and, unlike cotton, not fertilizer-or chemical-dependent. It has the strength and versatility to be turned into many of the things we consume.

There are 25,000 potential known uses for hemp - from textiles, cellophane and dynamite to low-fat cheese and cooking oil, hemp marketers say.

But perhaps the largest potential market will be in fibreboard and panelling used by the building industry.

"The possibilities are immense when you consider that 5 billion pounds of cotton are produced in the U.S. each year," Kime adds.

Invariably, whenever there is talk about hemp production here, all conversations lead to Kime, who in 1994, along with tobacco farmer Joe Stroebel, became the first government licensed hemp growers in Canada since farming the plant was banned in 1938.
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Hempline sold its 1998 crop to U.S. carpet manufacturers and "there will be a significant product launch, probably by mid-1999," says Kime, who won’t divulge which companies will be marketing the carpet.

He will say that hemp carpets are mildew-resistant and more durable than existing carpet materials, and that it will resemble a soft Berber texture.

Perhaps the biggest indicator that the "hemp home revolution" is already underway, is the growing number of retail stores selling everything from table linens to clothing, paper and furniture made from hemp.

The seeds are cold-pressed to extract the oil, which has a nutty flavour, is emerald green in colour and is high in the good kind of essential fatty oils known as omega-3. That oil will be blended with sunflower oil to produce three types of dressings that will be "premium priced at around $5 a bottle, but they’re the first really nutritious salad dressings on the market," says Harriott.
(Marijuananews note: To buy or just to get more information on hemp seed oil see www.hempery.com )

Hemp flour products, milled from hulled seeds, have a 45 per cent protein content and are gluten-free.

As well as its edible properties, there are many industrial uses for hemp oil. Harriott points to research being conducted on the lubricant qualities of hemp oil.

While Hempola’s hemp is Canadian grown and the products made from it are manufactured locally, many of the hemp goods sold in Toronto-area stores are imports from Eastern Europe and Asia.

Kathy Fairfield, owner of Terraware, two eco-friendly retail stores, one in Oakville the other in Dundas, says most of the housewares and clothing she stocks are imports.

"While there are some local companies beginning to make goods from hemp, mostly textile and fabrics, the fibres are grown and processed elsewhere and then shipped here. I can see that changing as we develop our domestic hemp farming as well as the businesses to process the raw fibre into textiles," she says.

Fairfield says she plans to open a new store in downtown Toronto by next summer.

She is also expanding her Dundas store to include a by-the-metre hemp fabric section and hopes to source out more hemp furniture such as futons and director’s chairs. A line of table linens, cloths, napkins and place mats are already custom-made for her stores by a local company and Fairfield has plans to include custom-ordered bedspreads and curtains as part of the expanded linen section.

"We are a very mainstream housewares store. There is nothing fringe about us. We do choose products for the stores based on environmental principles, but I think more consumers are beginning to see the benefits of buying with a social conscience," Fairfield says.

That awareness has been, until recently, a tough sell with consumers, retailers say, largely due to a lack of awareness about the benefits of industrial hemp and the perceptions about it’s kinship with marijuana.

According to Kime, hemp has been getting a bum rap because "of a lack of correct information out there. Our federal government thoroughly investigated hemp’s potential before passing legislation to allow for licensed farming of the plant."

Although both are part of the same species of plant, cannabis sativa, hemp and marijuana are not the same plant. The difference is in the cultivation. Hemp is densely planted to produce a short, stalky plant and allowed to pollinate and grow seeds. Marijuana plants require more sun and light, need more space to grow and must be cultivated before pollination and seed production.

To combat that view, proponents of hemp farming have distanced themselves from groups lobbying for the legalization of marijuana. They’ve concentrated on educating consumers about the environmental positives associated with hemp cultivation, such as its pest resistant qualities.

Rod Grand of Earthly Goods, a clothing, food and housewares emporium on Toronto’s Danforth Ave., says educating the consumer about the benefits of hemp farming and products has been a focus at his store for a number of years.

Last year, Earthly Goods featured a month-long education campaign, including information seminars with none other than Kime.

"Our focus, not just on the hemp issue, is on education. We believe a green consumer is an educated consumer. And while a lot of younger people are starting to find out about the positives of farming hemp, they have never seen it in its raw form.

"Older Canadians remember using products made with hemp, like rope and canvas, before farming the plant was made illegal," Kime adds.
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Some estimates put worldwide trade in hemp products at more than $100 million last year. That dollar figure could double in the next few years as new hemp-based businesses spring up globally.