The cannabis plant is often associated with the drug marijuana, which is harvested from strains of cannabis that have high levels of THC. Industrial hemp is a strain of the cannabis plant that has low levels of THC, rendering it useless as a drug. Cannabis plants are illegal to grow in the United States, regardless of their THC content, because some strains of cannabis can be harvested to produce the drug marijuana. Since hemp is a strain of cannabis, industrial hemp is illegal to grow in the United States.
Hemp is a very useful resource and has numerous uses. Before hemp was outlawed in the United States it was seen as valuable cash crop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture actually released a film called "Hemp for Victory" in 1942 in order to promote the production of the hemp plant to support the war effort. Industrial hemp plants produce very strong fibers and, along with cotton and flax, are one of the most useful natural fibers known to man.
There is a theory that cannabis plants were originally outlawed in the US in order to stop hemp from taking business away from many other industries. This theory is fairly widely accepted by advocates of industrial hemp. Of course, some consider this theory to be inaccurate. Regardless of whether or not there was a well-planned conspiracy to outlaw the production of industrial hemp, the fact still stands that industrial hemp is outlawed in the United States.
There are no good arguments for keeping industrial hemp illegal. One common argument against industrial hemp is that it would be too hard to tell industrial hemp apart crops from medical cannabis crops. This is not true. It is fairly easy to tell industrial hemp crops and medical cannabis crops apart based on appearance, the way in which they are grown, and the time of year they are ready for harvesting. David P. West's Hemp and Marijuana: Myth's & Realities sheds some light on the truths about industrial hemp.
Legalizing industrial hemp is not a lost cause. Organizations such as Vote Hemp are trying to legalize industrial hemp in the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture published a study on hemp in 2000. Ron Paul introduced the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005 and the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007 to Congress. A wealth of information is available on industrial hemp. Hopefully U.S. politicians will wake up and see the light soon.
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It sure is interesting that years ago the largest California farm crop in terms of dollars was marijuana. So, all hemp crops are illegal, but due to crop value, one is widely grown.
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