> Holistic Healing > Functional Foods/Nutraceuticals > G-L > hemp (Cannabis sativa)

Hemp. There, it’s now in black and white, and there’s nothing controversial about it. After all, what could be less contentious than an industrial crop grown on about 3,000 to 4,000 acres in Canada, with applications for use in everything from body care and food products to fuels and fibres?

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is not to be confused with marijuana, an illegal plant from the same genus family. The difference lies in the fact that hemp contains only trace amounts (if any) of THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), which gives marijuana its drug-like effect.

A hardy plant with low nutrient and water requirements, hemp can be grown almost everywhere. Its short growing cycle, 120 days after going to seed, makes it a good rotation crop for farmers using sustainable farming practices. Industrial hemp doesn’t need chemical fertilizers to thrive. It actually nourishes the land and, with its long roots, prevents soil erosion. Perhaps best of all, the plant itself is highly nutritious and multipurpose. On a typical day, Canadian shoppers can pick from among dozens of items containing hemp seeds, oils or fibres.

Hemp seeds and oils, which are very high in essential fatty acids, amino acids and vegetable protein, are regularly found in foods and body care products. Throughout the ages, hemp seeds have offered humans a combustible fuel source, while hemp oil is a more recent ingredient in paints, plastics and inks. With its high cellulose level, hemp paper has had a resurgence of interest, but it is, in fact, an old idea; the oldest known printed paper is a 100-per cent hemp Chinese text dated about AD 770. In addition, the clothing and textile industries recognize hemp fibres as strong and durable-as did Christopher Columbus in 1492 when he sailed the ocean blue using hemp sails.

Despite hemp’s long history, industry proponents are worried that recent US regulations may impose unnecessary restrictions on the hemp market, which generated more than $25 million US in 2000, up from $1 million US in the early ’90s. On Oct. 9, 2001, the US Drug Enforcement Administration clarified the status of industrial hemp in the Federal Register by stating that hemp food products containing even infinitesimal amounts of THC would be treated as Schedule I controlled substances and banned from the country.

The US Hemp Industries Association is currently pursuing legal action against the new ruling. Critics point out that industrial hemp products that contain trace amounts of THC have no potential for psychoactive abuse. Canada and the European Union allow up to 10 parts per million of THC in hemp oil and seed. But because hemp farming isn’t allowed in the US, American hemp food companies must import product from Canada, where hemp farming has been allowed since 1998. This means that Canadian companies wishing to export will have to conform to American laws.

Canadians can help by voicing their opinions at votehemp.com. And shoppers can also vote with their dollars to support this "cents-ible" eco-friendly industry.

Source: alive #233, March 2002