Left to Right: Patrick Goggin, David Bronner, Bob McFarland, Senator Mark Leno and David Piller

On May 18th the California Senate voted 22 to 14 to pass SB 676, the hemp farming bill. The bill has now been sent to the Assembly. On Tuesday SB 676 passed out of the Public Safety Committee on a 5 to 2 vote! There are several more committee hearings yet to come, but we are very optimistic that SB 676 will pass the full Assembly and go to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

Although it is perfectly legal to buy, sell, and import hemp products in the US, cultivation of the plant still remains illegal. But there are many reasons to hope that this bill is seen through into law. First, it would offer farmers access to a new cash crop.

Second, it would push hemp production closer toward critical mass and bring down the price of so many healthy and eco-friendly hemp-based products. This would give North American a more sustainable crop alternative to cotton, as well as be an important step toward fighting rising global commodity prices.

But most importantly, it would set a precedent for other US states to rethink their archaic legislation toward the hemp plant. And that would be critical in changing global legislative and industrial attitudes toward a plant that can address so many environmental, energy, and dietary needs.

Credit: Granville Online

Came across this interesting article on Hemp vs Cotton. It’s just another reminder of how the plant is not only extrememly versatile, but can how, once again, it’s an extremely eco-friendlier alternative to a very environmentally damaging crop. Here were some key points:

• It takes about 1,400 gallons of water to produce just 1 pound of cotton
• Cotton require only half that
• One acre of land can produce 250% more hemp fiber than cotton fiber
• A field of hemp can also yield two crops a year
• Cotton consumes 25% of the world’s insecticides and 10% of the world’s pesticides
• Most hemp is grown without pesticides/insecticides
• Hemp doesn’t require herbicide because it over-shades weeds
• Hemp is a tremendous carbon trap

The environmental advantage of hemp, I think, are strikingly clear. But the article also goes on to explore how hemp and cotton compare in terms of industrial applications and market potential, and hemp still comes out on top.

It makes you wonder how hemp every got outlawed as a fiber crop. Oh yeah, I remember: William Randolf Hearst printed his news on cotton paper and owned a bunch of interests in cotton farming, so he used marijuana to launch a smear campaign again the cotton’s biggest (non-psychoactive) rival, hemp.

It’s outright tragic and injust that 70 years later, us and the planet are still bearing the burden of Hearst’s corrupt corporate interests.

The two North Dakota farmers who are suing the DEA so that they can actually use the hemp growing licenses that the state issued them have been granted a renewal on their licenses. As The Dickinson Press reports:

Two North Dakota farmers who were granted the nation’s first state licenses to grow industrial hemp a year ago have been granted renewals. The farmers have tried to get federal permission to grow hemp, which is a cousin to marijuana but doesn’t produce a high.

Although the state of North Dakota (and a few others) permit the cultivation of industrial hemp, it is still illegal under federal law. Consequently, even though a farmer is licensed to grow the plant, they can still face prosecution by the DEA.

Despite the legal murkiness, North Dakota is still issuing licenses to grow hemp, but warns that applicants will still have trouble with federal authorities. Perhaps that these two farmers re-applied for their license is indicative of what they think their chances are of winning their case against the DEA (i.e. good). However, there is no set date for when the judge is expected to hand down his decision on this case.

For those who want more background info on this case, VoteHemp.com has a page all about the North Dakota Case.

Today has been a slow day in terms of hemp related news, so I thought I’d post this video on one man’s effort to replace cotton farms in Whales with industrial hemp farms. Hemp has a number of advantages over cotton:

• it can produce 250% the amount of fibre
• it requires little to no pesticides
• and it requires much less water to grow

Overall, hemp is a much more sustainable crop than cotton. The only thing really holding back the hemp fiber industry is the technology required to spin it into fiber — which could easily catch up if enough interest was stirred up in the marketplace. The need to incite such interest, moreover, couldn’t be more pressing because cotton is one of the most destructive crops there is. Consider the following:

• half the pesticides used in the US go to cotton alone
• cotton takes up 3% of the world’s most arable land, but is responsible for about 25% of the pesticides used
• one pound of cotton require 100 gallons of water, and hemp can subsist off of rainfall in most climates

Add these environmental tidbits to the reality that hemp makes for a more durable, insulating, and absorbent fiber than cotton, and the choice seems obvious. The only drawback is that hemp can’t be used to make fibers as light, fluffy, and soft as cotton can.