Hemp -- the Fiber

This may come as a surprise -- it did to me -- that the prohibition of marijuana had absolutely nothing to do with the drug itself. It was 100 percent about hemp fiber. There is an excellent article in the Audubon magazine that spills the beans about the conspiracy between Hearst, with massive timber holdings, and DuPont, with lots of interest in synthetic fibers, when automated hemp stripping machines were about to come on line and give the other fibers serious competition. There was no drug problem until one was invented for this purpose.

Come World War II and the occupation of the Phillipines by Japan, the US had a big problem. The prohibition hysteria had resulted in the US government shooting itself in the foot; hemp fiber was sorely needed. Actually it always had been, and in the early days of the white man's invasion of the North American continent it was bad form and even sometimes illegal to NOT grow hemp on your farm. For a while imported fibers had filled the gap left by prohibition, but suddenly a big hemp production program became part of the war effort. You can't smoke it, by the way. All you'll get is a headache.

Don't just take my word for it; read the article in Audubon. Here's a quote:

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were drafted on hempen paper. During the Revolutionary War, Old Ironsides, our most formidable battleship, carried 60 tons of hempen sail and rope. Betsy Ross made the first American flag out of hempen "canvas," a word derived from cannabis. "Make the most of hempseed and sow it everywhere," declared George Washington in 1794.

Enough for today.

My home page is at: http://www.zianet.com/ebear