Hemp in America

Hemp, believe it or not, has had a rich history here in America. The Native Americans had long known of the wondrous hemp plant and used it for clothing and rope. This continued with the new European settlers, the colonists of Jamestown where REQUIRED to grow hemp. The use of hemp continued and its industrial applications flourished. The word canvas is actually derived from cannabis. Eventually hemp grew to become such a popular plant that in 1938  popular mechanics called it the next BILLION dollar crop. This all ended sadly in 1937 when reefer madness began to set in and the marijuana tax was created. This new tax effectively ended hemp and cannabis cultivation and by 1968  the united states government outlawed it completely.

Why is Hemp illegal?

Hemp is a plant with over 50,000 known uses: industrial, food and medical. this plant however is considered a schedule 1 Drug by the United States government; this means that is on of the most dangerous drugs in the entire spectrum of illicit drugs. This might be true for Hemp's close family member marijuana however, hemp is a completely separate plant. Marijuana is best defined by its THC content and averages over 10% with high quality marijuana topping 30% - the average hemp plant has less then 1% THC. THC is the main psychoactive compound in the plant that causes the high associated with marijuana.

Hemp History

Hemp is one of the most important plants ever to be cultivated on this planet; hemp has played an important role to nearly every culture and has had a major role in the creation of writing and the development of clothing. The Chinese have been using hemp since the Neolithic age!

 Hemp has been grown in America from the very first settlement, settlers in Jamestown where required to grow hemp as one of their annual crops. This early hemp cultivation was used in every aspect of the settlers lives, they used the fibers to craft everything from rope to sails. The word canvas is derived from cannabis.

Today, hemp has over 50,000 known uses, yet only 30 countries allow the cultivation of hemp.