After centuries of cultivation in North America for its fibers used in the manufacture of ropes and textiles, hemp was banned in the United States because it is made from one of the same plant species (Cannabis sativa) as marijuana. He was a victim of the war on drugs. Hemp production was banned across the United States in 1937, with the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act. Two weeks ago, the North Carolina House of Representatives and Senate approved a bill that would legalize industrial hemp production in the state.
Hemp quickly took center stage as an unlikely war material. The United States had banned hemp, but imported it from the Philippines. However, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1942 disrupted supply. Both the United States and Canada had no choice but to temporarily lift the restrictions.
Until the end of the war, farmers in both countries were allowed to grow hemp. They needed special permits and could only cultivate them to aid in the war effort. The rule re-emphasizes an earlier USDA ruling that interstate transportation is legal, even if the shipment travels through a state that does allow the cultivation of hemp. According to Purdue University, the CSA named hemp a Schedule 1 controlled substance because it is a derivative of cannabis, classifying it along with illicit drugs such as heroin and ecstasy.
Hemp has virtually no trace of THC, while marijuana has about 10 percent; some marijuana strains can have up to 27 percent THC. While both contain THC, hemp has the lowest levels so people can enjoy the health benefits of cannabis without the high. While marijuana and hemp have different chemical properties, the two varieties of the cannabis plant look and smell the same. In addition to GLA, hemp seed oil is packed with other omega-3 and 6 fatty acids, making it a healthier alternative to many other vegetable oils, Ambrose told PBS NewsHour.
The ban on hemp can be seen in the language of the CSA, which names marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, meaning that it has no medical purpose and is very likely to be abused. Hemp was vital in almost every sector of industrial society and is the raw material for rope, as shown in this image around 1883. In that legislation there was an amendment that gave states and universities the right to research a plant whose cultivation in the United States has been banned for a long time. The former “Cheers” star and current Senate Majority Leader and Kentucky State Senator have been on separate but parallel crusades to legalize hemp again at the U.S. School of Medicine, Ambrose of the University of Kentucky and the author of “Transylvania University and its Connection to Hemp,” they told PBS NewsHour.
To make it even more difficult to grow hemp, the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970 placed hemp in the same category as marijuana. Last year, a team of scientists led by David Mitlin of the University of Alberta manufactured a supercapacitor, an energy storage device, with leftover hemp, the BBC reported. For decades, the program was thought to be a myth, until the late 1980s, when a group of hemp activists found copies of the video “Hemp for Victory” in the archives of the Library of Congress.
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