The US is still a rather large agricultural exporter of a wide range of produce and fruit.
We actually became an importer for a month or two this past year. I don't really understand that, and find it a bit scary.
Yes, fiber hemp and marijuana both belong to the same genus.
I know people smoke both C.indica and C.sativa. I'm not sure what the fiber producing plants are. I've heard you can get a high off hemp, if you smoke enuf of it. I should do some checking; the fiber variety may even have names. They are grown quite differently, and, as I said, I don't think the growers will be too happy to find their seedless products pollinated by hemp.
As to why the illegality, I've heard 2 similar stories. Some guy invented a hemp gin, similar to the cotton gin, in the early 30's. (I think I have a link at home, but this work computer is filtered, and won't let me get into a lot of sites; even a review of "The End of Oil"; calls it entertainment. Grumble, mutter, mutter.
Anyway, this would have made hemp competitive with other fibers, since the big drawback was in processing the plant. About the same time, DOW came out with Rayon, and wanted the fiber market for themselves. The other story is that Hearst owned vast forests for paper production, and saw hemp as a competitor. I don't know if either story is correct.
Later. Headed home. |
