The History of Hemp in America has always been entwined with politics. From the very beginning of our republic until today, our federal government has been intimately involved in either extolling it's virtues or demonizing it as a schedule 1 drug. Hopefully that dark part of history stays in the past and we can quickly move into a brighter future.
Our Founding Father's had no idea how urgently we'd now need hemp to help restore our environment!
Our dream is to reenact Lyster Dewey's historical grow by once again planting hemp on that site, which would be somewhere in the middle of the Pentagon's green zone! We can't think of anything more symbolic of "Turning Weapons into Plowshares", can you?
That Popular Mechanics article was accurate in it's prediction. Annual hemp sales in the U.S. have grown steadily for years. But while it's been federally legal to import and sell hemp products in the U.S., it's been illegal for our farmers to grow all this time, shutting them out of not seeing a penny of the almost 1 billion in annual hemp products sold in America. Now that hemp is federally legal farmers need support from our government like they had....
Jack Herer, the Grandfather of the modern industrial hemp movement was the one who found the government's promotional "How To" film entitled "Hemp for Victory" then authored the classic compendium, "The Emperor Wears No Clothes".
So, the U.S. government knew how vitally important hemp was for the country until the end of WWII. We could have a hemp based economy and ecology right now, if it weren't for a few greedy industrialist's back then.
The suppression and eradication campaign continues until Nixon's era when he thinks he's finally nailed the coffin lid shut for the Industrialist's.
One of the greatest injustices perpetrated against the American farmer has been the fact that for all those years, industrial hemp has been federally legal to import and sell in the U.S., just not federally legal for farmers to grow here. Farmers have lost out on their share of billions.
Now that the biggest hurdle has been jumped, farmers, processors, manufactures, and sellers need government support just like they had during WWII. We need a new, twenty first century "Hemp for Victory" Campaign and thanks to U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, (D-HI), we've now got one sitting in Congress. Bill H.R. 3652
------------------------- 2020 And Beyond --------------------------
The History of Hemp is beginning a new and very hopeful chapter. One where each of us can play a part. Go to Votehemp.com and sign their letter to congress. And wherever you shop, make a habit of asking if they sell any kind of products made from hemp...and if not, ask the manager if they'd please start selling some. If we all start making the capitalistic wheel squeak, the trajectory of a much brighter future awaits. Together we can create a sustainable future...Via Hemp. Thanks for your support!