Source: dailyherald.com
In every war, there is "collateral damage." In
our war on drugs, hemp fell victim to our government's attack. This
week, the Illinois legislature moved a step closer to reviving the plant
once hailed in our state as part of our patriotic duty.
The state Senate voted unanimously
Monday to pass a bill that would allow Illinois colleges and
universities to conduct research on industrial hemp. The House passed
the original bill by a 70-28 margin in April, and it is expected to OK
the version approved by the Senate.
It's a small first step toward revitalizing
Illinois' once-thriving hemp production industry, says Dan Linn, a
former Lake County resident and executive director of Illinois NORML,
the nonprofit advocacy group best known for its efforts to legalize
marijuana.
The tall, agricultural hemp once grown
by farmers in Illinois is not the same as the leafy pot plants grown for
medical marijuana or by illegal drug producers. Industrial hemp
contains less than 0.03 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the
active chemical compound that provides the psychological effects sought
by marijuana users.
Industrial hemp looks like bamboo. Its
fiber is used to make cloth and fabric, while its seeds and oil are used
in foods and other products.
Walk into any health food store and you'll see plenty of hemp products.
"We just import all the raw materials
from Canada or China," Linn says. "We need to have the raw materials
produced in Illinois."
Illinois became a leading hemp producer
in 1943 with the opening of the Polo Hemp Mill in the farming community
about an hour west of Elgin. A small museum in Polo tells the story of
how local farmers grew hemp as part of their patriotic duty during World
War II. The government even produced a film, "Hemp for Victory,"
encouraging farmers to grow the plant needed to make "shoes for millions
of American soldiers," "parachute webbing for our paratroopers," fire
hoses and millions of ropes for our battleships.
The Illinois House voted Wednesday to
allow children with epilepsy access to medical marijuana, but even as
the government has become more open to medical marijuana and the
decriminalization of recreational use of marijuana, the war against
industrial hemp remains.
The agricultural department of
Kentucky, which is looking to let farmers grow hemp, sued the federal
government this month after Drug Enforcement Administration agents in
Louisville seized 250 pounds of Italian hemp seed, which passed through
customs at O'Hare. In court Wednesday, officials appeared to be working
on an agreement that would let Kentucky grow hemp for research.
"It's bizarre how politics have changed over the years about hemp-growing," Linn says.
The United States is the only industrialized democracy that hasn't legalized hemp farms as a crop far different from marijuana.
"We're the only ones who can't tell the difference between these plants," Linn says sarcastically.
Remnants of Illinois' war years as a hemp producer can still be found.
"There's still farmers who tell us it's
growing along railroad tracks where it fell off railroad cars during
World War II," Linn says. The plant grows easily without pesticides and
fertilizers and is classified as a noxious weed in Illinois.
But NORML hopes to change that. The
first week of June marks the fifth annual Hemp History Week, where
supporters note that the Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp
paper; George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams all grew hemp
on their farms; and that lamp Abe Lincoln read by was fueled by hemp
oil.
On May 29, NORML activists will lobby legislators to legalize hemp during a reception in Springfield.
"From those early days of our country
to the 'Hemp for Victory' program during World War II, industrial hemp
has played a vital role in our nation's agricultural history," Linn
says, vowing to restore hemp "to its rightful place as a valuable
agricultural commodity in Illinois."
The lobbying effort will include hemp
fabric, a hemp pizza made with flour from ground hemp seeds, hemp milk,
hemp hummus, hemp oil dressings and even hemp beer.
A botanical cousin to hops, the hemp used to make beer could be enough to alter the minds of hemp-wary politicians.
No comments:
Post a Comment