Hemp

Cannabis has long had an image problem, because of the extremely widespread use of “narcotic” cultivars as illegal intoxicants. The US Drug Enforcement Administration has the mandate of eliminating illicit and wild marijuana, which it does very well.

Those interested in establishing and developing legitimate industries based on fiber and oilseed applications have had to struggle against considerable opposition from many in the political and law enforcement arenas.

The United States National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) information web site on marijuana, which reflects a negative view of cannabis, is at www.nida.nih.gov/DrugPages/Marijuana.html, and reflects several basic fears:

(1) Growing Cannabis plants makes law enforcement more difficult, because of the need to ensure that all plants cultivated are legitimate;

(2) Utilization of legitimate Cannabis products makes it much more difficult to maintain the image of the illegitimate products as dangerous;

(3) Many in the movements backing development of hemp are doing so as a subterfuge to promote legalization of recreational use of marijuana; and

(4) THC (and perhaps other constituents) in Cannabis are so harmful that their presence in any amount in any material (food, medicine or even fiber product) represents a health hazard that is best dealt with by a total proscription. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-284.html