Potential impact of Industrial Hemp -- a plant that's useful, but you can't grow

by Andrew Keller
Source: upnorthlive.com

Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners passed resolution supporting hemp

HILLMAN, MI -- The Presque Isle Board of Commissioners passed a resolution today to support the legalization of a crop that is banned in the United States.  We’re talking about industrial hemp.
One local man says this cash crop could fuel the Northern Michigan economy.

More than 25,000 products are made from hemp, including some shoes and the rope you'd use to tie your boat to the dock.  A Northern Michigan man says it's time to lift restrictions." "If you smoked it, you'd get a headache," said Everett Swift, the executive director of MI-Hemp, the Michigan Industrial Hemp Education and Marketing Project. Swift says if you light up a hemp cigarette, you're not getting high. “Kind of like having a bad cousin, and you get the blame for what the cousin is doing," he explained.

The DEA calls hemp a controlled substance.  But would you believe the fibers from marijuana's distant cousin make products like nap-sacks, baseball hats, and even suntan lotion?  It’s legal to buy it, but there's a problem, you can't grow it in the US. “Common sense to me says we need to use this product since we are importing $360-million of it a year," said Swift.

Swift says this could be money put into farmer's pockets. “We need to be growing it here and pump money into our economy, instead of shipping it out." According to a 2006 report released by the Fuel and Fiber Company, a national group promoting the growing of hemp from Arizona, legalizing the plant could create 1,700 to 4,200 new jobs.  Farmers would also benefit.  They could profit $50 to $500 dollars an acre. "The more I learn, the more i see this is a ridiculous law we have here in the United States on this," said Swift.

States, like North Dakota, Hawaii, and Kentucky, have passed laws saying farmers can grow hemp, and like the Presque Isle County Commission, they're hoping to put pressure on the federal government to change the law.

“I would like to see the DEA step back and allow state rights on this issue," said Swift. Everett says hemp offers nutritional value, like in this granola bar, you can find Omega 3 and other essential fatty acids. Tastes like a protein bar, but overall, it's pretty good.

Everett Swift questions why you can't grow hemp in America. Swift is the executive director of MI-Hemp, an organization that educates and informs people of the benefits of industrial hemp.  He says last year, the US imported $360-million in hemp that is used for more than 25,000 products, some numbers show maybe closer to 50,000 products.  Manufacturers can use it, you can wear it, you can even eat it, but like its close cousin marijuana, you can't grow it.

Swift says even though hemp a close cousin and resembles marijuana, you can't get high off of it like you can marijuana, and the plant is used primarily for its fibers, which can be turned into several different types of items.

His argument is the time has come to lift the ban from growing hemp in the United States, which could potentially pump millions into the Northern Michigan economy.