Dear All,
Imagine the scene above in the United States. Please encourage everyone you know to go to the Vote Hemp web site to send a letter to their US representative urging them to cosponsor the first-ever hemp farming bill, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005 - H.R. 3037. Here is the link:
First-Ever Hemp Bill Introduced in CongressThe Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005enter your Zip Code and click Go! and follow the instructions to contact your representative.
You can help pay for this service by making a donation to Vote Hemp via credit card or PayPal at:
http://www.VoteHemp.com/contribute.htmlOr mailing your donation to us at: Vote Hemp, P.O. Box 862,
Bedford, MA 01730.
Sincerely,
Tom Murphy
Board Member
Vote Hemp
http://www.votehemp.com/The bill is so new the text of the bill is not yet displayed in THOMAS. Here is the THOMAS link:
Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005.
Here is our PDF of H.R. 3037.
We put out our press release this morning on
U.S. Newswire:
Industrial Hemp Farming Act Introduced at Packed Capitol Hill Hemp Food LunchHR 3037 Would Give States the Right to Regulate Farming of Versatile Hemp PlantWASHINGTON, DC - For the first time since the federal government outlawed hemp farming in the United States, a federal bill has been introduced that would remove restrictions on the cultivation of non-psychoactive Industrial Hemp. At a Capitol Hill lunch on June 23 to mark the introduction of
H.R. 3037, the
Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005, about 100 congressional staff feasted on Bahama Hempnut Crusted Wild Salmon and Fuji Fennel Hempseed Salad. The five course gourmet hemp meal was prepared by
Executive Chef Dennis Cicero of the New York City based
Galaxy Global Eatery http://www.galaxyglobaleatery.com At the luncheon the chief sponsor of the bill
Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) described how H.R. 3037 will remove federal barriers to U.S. hemp farming by returning the regulation of hemp to the states. "It is unfortunate that the federal government has stood in the way of American farmers, including many who are struggling to make ends meet, competing in the global industrial hemp market," said Dr. Paul. "Indeed the founders of our nation, some of who grew hemp, surely would find that federal restrictions on farmers growing a safe and profitable crop on their own land are inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of a limited, restrained federal government. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to stand up for American farmers and cosponsor the Industrial Hemp Farming Act." Dr. Paul was joined by four original co-sponsors including
Reps. Sam Farr (D-CA),
Pete Stark (D-CA),
Jim McDermott (D-WA),
George Miller (D-CA) and
Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ). The bill may be viewed at:
http://www.votehemp.com/PDF/Hemp_Farming_Act.pdfAt the luncheon consumer advocate
Ralph Nader called the US ban on hemp farming, "bureaucratic medievalism" because over 30 industrialized countries are growing hemp and the U.S. is the number one importer of the crop, but won't allow cultivation the U.S. A highlight video of the speakers may be viewed online at:
http://flow.mediavac.com/ramgen/sinkers/2005/rayburnbldgJun2305.rmRepresenting farming interests at the event was
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson. "Industrial hemp is used in a tremendous variety of products, including food products, soap, cosmetics, fertilizer, textiles, paper, paints and plastics," Johnson said. "Once the crop is legalized in this country, I believe science will find even more uses for industrial hemp, uses that will make industrial hemp a popular and profitable crop."
North Dakota State Rep. David Monson, (R-Osnabrock), a farmer who successfully sponsored several bills in the North Dakota Legislature regulating the production and research of industrial hemp said, "Industrial hemp production is on hold in North Dakota and the entire U.S., due to roadblocks in Washington D.C.," Monson said. "We have had tremendous bipartisan support for legislation we've introduced in North Dakota."
U.S. companies that manufacture or sell products made with hemp include
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, the number-one-selling natural soap,
Interface, the world's largest manufacturer of commercial carpet and carpet tiles,
FlexForm Technologies, an Indiana company whose natural fiber materials are found in 1.5 million cars,
Alterna, a professional hair care company whose hemp products are beloved by Julia Roberts, California based
Nutiva Hemp Foods and
adidas USA which has been selling hemp sneakers since 1995. Although hemp grows wild across the US, a vestige of centuries of hemp farming,
the hemp for these products must be imported.
There is widespread support among national organizations for a change in the federal government's position on hemp. The
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture "supports revisions to the federal rules and regulations authorizing commercial production of industrial hemp."
The National Grange "supports research, production, processing and marketing of industrial hemp as a viable agricultural activity."
Individual states have also expressed interest in industrial hemp. Twenty-six states have introduced hemp legislation and six,
Hawaii,
Kentucky,
Maine,
Montana,
North Dakota, and
West Virginia, have removed barriers to its production or research. Representative Paul's bill will allow laws in these states regulating the growing and processing of industrial hemp to take effect.
"Industrial hemp has become a lucrative crop for farmers in Europe, Canada and Asia, so farmers here are asking "Why are we being left out?'" says Alexis Baden-Mayer, Director of Government Relations for Vote Hemp. For thousands of years different varieties of Cannabis have been cultivated for non-drug uses such as paper, canvas, soap, food, building materials and recently high-tech bio-composites used in automobiles. Hemp and marijuana come from different varieties of the Cannabis plant. "Because there are millions of cars on the road with hemp door panels, tens of millions of dollars spent annually on hemp food and hemp body care and hemp paper is being made in the U.S., people are asking tough questions about why the U.S. government won't distinguish low-THC hemp from high-THC drug varieties. I believe this federal legislation will gain momentum over the next year as we spend time educating Congress and their constituents about the need for reforms," says Baden-Mayer.
For more information on industrial hemp, please visit
http://votehemp.com, the website of Vote Hemp, a non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of industrial hemp.
###
So, one again - please encourage everyone you know to go to the Vote Hemp web site to send a letter to their US representative urging them to cosponsor the first-ever hemp farming bill, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005 - H.R. 3037. Here is the link:
First-Ever Hemp Bill Introduced in CongressThe Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005enter your Zip Code and click Go! and follow the instructions to contact your representative.
At long last a hemp bill has been intoduced in Congress. The bill number is
H.R. 3037, the bill's Short Title As Introduced is
Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005, and Official Title As Introduced is "To amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marihuana, and for other purposes."
Please note that the information below comes from
THOMAS which is a service of the Library of Congress. It is named after Thomas Jefferson, a founding father, statesman, hemp farmer & breeder.
Here is the full text from the Congressional Record:
[Congressional Record: June 22, 2005 (House)]
[Page H4984]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr22jn05-86]
PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS
Under clause 2 of rule XII, public bills and resolutions were introduced and severally referred, as follows:
By Mr. PAUL (for himself, Mr. Farr, Mr. McDermott, Mr.
Stark, and Mr. Grijalva):
H.R. 3037. A bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act to
exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marihuana, and
for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Commerce,
and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
____________________
[Congressional Record: June 22, 2005 (Extensions)]
[Page E1313-E1314]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr22jn05-19]
INTRODUCTION OF THE INDUSTRIAL HEMP FARMING ACT
______
HON. RON PAUL
of texas
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Industrial Hemp Farming Act.
The Industrial Hemp Farming Act requires the Federal government to respect
State laws allowing the growing of industrial hemp.
Six states--Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, and West
Virginia allow the growing of industrial hemp in accord with State
laws. However, Federal law is standing in the way of farmers in these
States growing what may be a very profitable crop. Because of current
Federal law, all hemp included in products sold in the United States
must be imported instead of being grown by American farmers.
Since 1970, the Federal Controlled Substances Act's inclusion of
industrial hemp in the schedule one definition of marijuana has
prohibited American farmers from growing industrial hemp despite the
fact that industrial hemp has such a low content of THC (the
psychoactive chemical in the related marijuana plant) that nobody can
be psychologically affected by consuming hemp. Federal law concedes the
safety of industrial hemp by allowing it to be legally imported for
uses including as food.
The United States is the only industrialized Nation that prohibits
industrial hemp cultivation. The Congressional Research Service has
noted that hemp is grown as an established agricultural commodity in
over 30 nations in Europe, Asia, and North America. My Industrial Hemp Farming Act will relieve this unique
[[Page E1314]]
restriction on American farmers and allow them to grow industrial hemp in accord with State law.
Industrial hemp is a crop that was grown legally throughout the
United States for most of our Nation's history. In fact, during World
War II, the Federal government actively encouraged American farmers to
grow industrial hemp to help the war effort. The Department of
Agriculture even produced a film ``Hemp for Victory'' encouraging the
plant's cultivation.
In recent years, the hemp plant has been put to many popular uses in
foods and in industry. Grocery stores sell hemp seeds and oil as well
as food products containing oil and seeds from the hemp plant.
Industrial hemp is also included in consumer products such as paper,
cloths, cosmetics, and carpet. One of the more innovative recent uses
of industrial hemp is in the door frames of about 1.5 million cars.
Hemp has even been used in alternative automobile fuel.
It is unfortunate that the Federal government has stood in the way of
American farmers, including many who are struggling to make ends meet,
competing in the global industrial hemp market. Indeed, the founders of
our Nation, some of whom grew hemp, would surely find that Federal
restrictions on farmers growing a safe and profitable crop on their own
land are inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of a limited,
restrained Federal government. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to stand
up for American farmers and cosponsor the Industrial Hemp Farming Act.
____________________
Last week I was reading some hemp news clippings and I came upon this gem "
Cook wrote the book on local hemp fields" in the Intelligencer Journal in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. I emailed Les Stark, the author of the new hemp history series Hempstone Heritage and asked him if I could plug his book here on The Hemp Report. He emailed me this noce cover shot and a press release that was sent out to local libraries. I hope that you all take the time to order Les' new book at the
Hempstone Heritage web site. All too much hemp history in North America has been lost and only efforts like this will help restore hemp's place in the history books.
Tom
New Book by Pennsylvania Author Reveals Previously Unknown History of Early Pennsylvania Hemp Insustry. Important Discoveries Made. My name is Les Stark and I am from Ephrata, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I would like to tell you a bit about my book, Hempstone Heritage I: In Accordance with Their Wills; "All the Heckled Hemp She Can Spin"- A Study of the Early American Homespun Hemp Industry as Revealed by the Wills of Old Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: 1729-1845.
The book is the first book in a series that will explore the old Pennsylvania hemp industry. Hemp was a big industry in early Pennsylvania but for some reason the story has never before been told. Although the growing of hemp for fiber was grown in all parts of Pennsylvania, larger scale commercial production of hemp was primarily centered in Lancaster and York Counties.
Between the years 1720-1870 there were over 100 water- powered hemp mills for processing hemp fiber in Lancaster County alone and there were dozens more in York County plus many more in the surrounding region. Before the invention of the Cotton Gin and for decades after, hemp was the number one fiber for use in homespun clothing.
Hemp fiber was used for everything from course cloth to fine linen and all shades in-between. The Conestoga wagons were covered in hemp canvass. In fact the word canvass is the Dutch pronunciation of the Latin word Cannabis. Hemp was also used for grain bags, rugs, curtains, tablecloths, napkins, handkerchiefs, towels, pillow cases, sheets, tough, durable work clothes and even fine linen.
Hemp fiber was often blended with wool, flax, silk or cotton. The tow fibers were carded like wool and made very soft. The fabric was often dyed and made into a variety of fashions.
There were almost as many mills for processing hempseed oil as well as flaxseed oil. The oil was used in paints, varnishes, laquers, lubricants, printers' ink and as lamp oil. The remaining seed cake was fed to the livestock. Seed was also saved for the next years crop, sold to other hemp farmers, used as poultry feed and for many years was a leading ingredient in birdseed mixes.
In 1999 and again in 2000, the Lancaster Farm Bureau passed resolutions in favor of re-introducing hemp to Lancaster County.( Lancaster County's East and West Hempfield Twps. were named for the vast amounts of hemp raised there.)
In November of 2000, the Lancaster Farm Bureau advanced the issue at the Pa. State Farm Bureau meeting and every Farm Bureau representitive from every farm district in Pa. voted in favor of the resolution supporting the re-introduction of hemp to Pennsylvania. At the recent state session for the Pennsylvania State Grange, the standing committees voted in favor of a resolution to "support developement of industrial hemp research and education on its use." The Pennsylvania Farmers Union also supports growing hemp.
Philadelphia was a major manufacturer of sailing ships. Wherever there was a major ship building center there was always a major hemp growing region right next door. Every ship took up to 60 tons of hemp fiber for the anchor cables, rope rigging and canvass sails. All that fiber had to be replaced every couple of years, thus ensuring an insatiable demand for hemp from the interior of Pennsylvania.
Hempstone Heritage I contains important information that Pennsylvanians need to know. Ordering information can be found at
Hempstone Heritage.
