Most Nations Permit Growing of Industrial Hemp

April 25, 1999

"Who are we kidding?" asked Erwin (Bud) Sholts. "Industrial hemp is grown in Canada, Germany, England all over the place. Why is it illegal here?"

Sholts is director of agriculture at the University of Wisconsin and chairman of the North American Industrial Hemp Council.

"The United States is an island of denial in a sea of acceptance," Sholts said.

Industrial hemp, which was grown in the United States until 1937, was outlawed by federal law at the behest of law enforcement officers who claimed they couldn’t tell the difference between industrial hemp and marijuana.

Supporters of legalized hemp concede the leaves look the same, and both plants are classified by botanists as Cannabis sativa L. However, they say the methods of cultivating marijuana and industrial hemp are so different anyone can tell the difference.

"Industrial hemp seed is planted with a grain drill about six inches apart so as to produce a lot of stalk," Sholts said. "Pot is planted 2 and 21/2 feet apart to produce a low bushy plant with leaves and buds."

(Marijuananews note: The DEA and the Drug Czar keep insulting the intelligence of the DEAland police by claiming that they are too dumb to tell the difference. Personally, I think that this view is based on anecdotal evidence and is not science-based.)

In addition, he pointed out that farmers raising hemp would be planting acres clearly open to view, but marijuana growers would be planting in small, hidden plots.

Sholts said Tennessee and Kentucky farmers could benefit from crops of industrial hemp since producers of certified seed were located in both states prior to 1937.

"You can make a profit of from $200 to $600 an acre on hemp, depending on what the use is," Sholts said. "If you are producing certified seed, as Tennessee farmers probably would, it would be $600."

He said hemp would not replace burley tobacco, a mainstay for East Tennessee farmers, but it could provide a supplemental income.

"If you plant industrial hemp too close to marijuana, it will cross pollinate and ruin the marijuana crop," he said. "It’s actually a marijuana fighter. The cross pollination leads to a lower THC."

THC, tetrahydrocannibinol, is the chemical that gives marijuana users a high.

Sholts said hemp is useful in producing a variety of products ranging from bath accessories to construction materials.

"It is very strong," he said. "In the 1930s, Henry Ford made a car out of hemp and compressed soybean hulls. Then he took a sledgehammer to it and a regular car. The hemp car stood-up a lot better than the sheet metal."

According to Pete Nelson of the Memphis farm-based company Agronomy Technology Communications, Ford Motor Co. has come full circle. He said Ford began in 1997 using hemp in its foreign transport vans. He said Boeing Co. used industrial hemp in manufacturing aircraft.

Strictly speaking, Sholts said there is a system that presumably allows the production of industrial hemp. However, the hemp grower must meet Drug Enforcement Administration guidelines, including that the crop be grown inside a 10-foot high chain-link fence topped by three stands of barbed wire, that it be lighted at night and that it be under 24-hour armed guard.

"A wealthy guy in California met all the requirements and the DEA still wouldn’t give him a permit," Sholts said.