Hemp

HEMP

HEMP. Although England sought hemp from its American colonies to rig its sailing ships, and although the British government and colonial legislatures tried to encourage its production by bounties, it never became an important export crop. But the virgin clearings and moderate climate of America did invite its small-scale cultivation. Many colonial homesteads had hemp patches—hemp and tow cloth were familiar household manufactures, and local cordage supplied colonial shipyards.

After the American Revolution, when settlers began developing the rich Ohio Valley bottomlands, hemp became a staple crop in Kentucky. Lexington erected mills for manufacturing it, and Southwesterners used hemp cordage and bale cloth to pack their cotton crops. Output peaked around 1860 at about 74,000 tons, of which Kentucky produced 40,000 tons and Missouri 20,000 tons. Thereafter, the advent of the steamship, the substitution of steel for hemp cordage, and the introduction of artificial fibers lessened demand. American production of hemp for fiber ceased shortly after World War II.

With some twenty-five thousand uses, industrial hemp has undergone a revival in many countries such as France and Canada. The United States, however, continues to ban commercial hemp production because of fears by the Drug Enforcement Agency that the plant, which belongs to the same species as marijuana, would be put to illicit use. Agricultural advocacy groups have protested the DEA policy, pointing out that the THC content of hemp is so low that it would be useless as a drug and that the prohibition places American farmers at competitive disadvantage, depriving them of the income from a highly useful and potentially lucrative crop.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hopkins, James F. A History of the Hemp Industry in Kentucky. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1951.

Nader, Ralph. "Farm Aid: The DEA Should Get Out of Regulating Hemp Agriculture." San Francisco Bay Guardian, April 3, 2000. Available at http://www.sfbg.com/nader/95.html.

Victor S. Clark / c. w.

See also Bounties, Commercial ; Narcotics Trade and Legislation ; Shipping, Ocean .