If You Can’t Smoke It Make Hemp Clothing

There has long been a debate in our society on the use of hemp as raw material for manufacturing. The debate of course centers on the fact that hemp and marijuana are the same plant. However, there is a very significant difference. In order for a hemp plant to produce THC, the chemical in marijuana that produces the high that makes it so popular, the plant must be prevented from completing its fertilization process. A plant that undergoes the natural fertilization process contains almost no THC and won’t produce the euphoria associated with the drug form of the plant.

Historically hemp production has been a vital industry in the United States and elsewhere. The ancient Chinese used hemp to make paper and nearly everyone used the plant to manufacture rope and sails. Charlemagne made it a law that most farmers had to raise some hemp and could pay their taxes in hemp seeds. The Gutenburg bible was printed on hemp based paper. One of the reasons that Napoleon invaded Russia was to put an end to the Russian export of hemp to England. George Washington raised hemp on his plantation. Henry Ford was a huge proponent of hemp production.

It has been suggested that hemp was made illegal in the United States for reasons that had far more to do with economics than concerns over drug use. The DuPont Company had recently developed a process to make paper from trees and cloth from petrochemicals. William Randolph Hearst owned 800,000 acres of forest he wanted to use for making newsprint and the newspaper magnate helped generate a public hysteria that led to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 that made hemp production illegal.

While growing hemp is still against the law in the U.S. many countries encourage the plants cultivation and American businesses are allowed to use imported hemp for production. Twenty-two states have legislation that contradicts the federal ban on hemp production. A partial list includes North Dakota, Montana, Virginia, and California. The National Conference of State Legislators has endorsed domestic hemp production for years.

Many companies take advantage of imported hemp to manufacture an amazing variety of products ranging from clothing to paper, from jewelry to building materials.

It is easy to lump all proponents of hemp cultivation into a hippy heap and disregard their efforts as an attempt to legalize marijuana. Undoubtedly there is some truth to this but it’s a mistake to discount their environmental arguments because they might smoke pot. It is certain that if hemp production returned to its pre-1937 levels the need for cutting down forests for paper production would be greatly reduced if not eliminated entirely.

Among the more popular of hemp products is clothing. Hemp makes an excellent and durable alternative to cotton. Clothing made from the material is available all over the Internet. Everything from t-shirts to underwear is available on websites located both in the United States and abroad. Generally speaking since hemp clothing production lags far behind cotton and synthetic materials they are much more expensive. However, the target markets for these products are willing to pay more to support what they see as a political issue.

Hemp products are probably best added to a product lines already associated with hippy and alternative culture items. For example, a business selling massage oils and supplies could add a hemp based oil or yoga mats made from the plant.

It isn’t possible to list all the types products made from hemp but merchants can rest assured that just about anything that can be made from cloth or paper. There are hemp belts, towels, wallets, tablecloths, and even diapers and bean bag chairs.

No matter where someone stands on the environmental and political issues associated with hemp production there is no denying the growing economic potential of hemp items. Everyday consumers are growing more and more informed about the unlikely alliance between left wing environmentalists and farmers looking to regain a once highly profitable crop. Searching online will show that hundreds of businesses feel that hemp products will turn a profit. It seems likely that as the population learns the difference between hemp and marijuana that a come back for the fiber is inevitable.