Hemp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The variety of appearances for cannabis. Only
C. sativa (left) is suited for industrial hemp, but it also has medicinal varieties.
Hemp (from
Old English hænep) is the name of the soft, durable fibre that is cultivated from plants of the
Cannabis genus. "Hemp" is also a name for the Cannabis plant. Some use it to mean only the low THC strains of the plant, although this is a neologism. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper,
textiles,
biodegradable plastics,
construction, health food, fuel, and medical purposes
[1] with modest commercial success.
[2][3] Since 2007, commercial success of hemp food products has grown considerably.
[4][5]
Hemp is one of the faster growing
biomasses known,
[6] producing up to 25 tonnes of dry matter per
hectare per year.
[7] A normal average yield in large scale modern agriculture is about 2.5-3.5 t/ac (air dry stem yields of dry, retted stalks per acre at 12% moisture). Approximately one tonne of bast fiber and 2-3 tonnes of core material can be decorticated from 3-4 tonnes of good quality, dry retted straw.
[8][9]
For a crop, hemp is very
environmentally friendly (with the exception of chemical fertilizers used in industrial agriculture) as it requires few
pesticides[10] and no herbicides.
[11] Modern research data on soil fertility is limited. Currently, results indicate that high yield of hemp may require total nutrient levels (field plus fertilizer nutrients) similar to a high yielding wheat crop.
[12]
Hemp is one of the earliest domesticated plants known.
[13]
Cannabis sativa L. subsp.
sativa var.
sativa is the variety grown for industrial use, while
C. sativa subsp.
indica generally has poor fibre quality and is primarily used for production of recreational and medicinal drugs. The major difference between the two types of plants is the appearance and the amount of Δ
9-
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) secreted in a resinous mixture by
epidermal hairs called glandular
trichomes, although they can also be distinguished genetically.
[14] Oilseed and fibre varieties of
Cannabis approved for industrial hemp production produce only minute amounts of this psychoactive drug, not enough for any physical or psychological effects. Typically, hemp contains below 0.3% THC, while cultivars of
Cannabis grown for marijuana can contain anywhere from 6 to over 20%.
[15]
The world leading producer of hemp is
China with smaller production in Europe,
Chile and the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
[16] While more hemp is exported to the United States than to any other country, the
United States Government does not consistently distinguish between
marijuana and the non-psychoactive
Cannabis used for industrial and commercial purposes.
[15]
Hemp is used for a wide variety of purposes, an estimated 50,000 products can be produced from hemp in the United States. Including the manufacture of
cordage of varying
tensile strength, everlasting clothing, and nutritional products. The
bast fibres can be used in 100% hemp products, but are commonly blended with other organic fibres such as flax, cotton or silk, for apparel and furnishings, most commonly at a 55%/45% hemp/cotton blend. The inner two fibres of hemp are more woody, and are more often used in non-woven items and other industrial applications, such as
mulch, animal bedding and litter. The
oil from the fruits ("seeds") oxidizes (commonly, though inaccurately, called "drying") to become solid on exposure to air, similar to
linseed oil, and is sometimes used in the manufacture of oil-based paints, in creams as a moisturizing agent, for cooking, and in plastics. Hemp seeds have been used in bird seed mix as well.
[17] Hempseed is also used as a
fishing bait.
[18]
Hemp seeds contain all the
essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary to maintain healthy human life.
[19] The seeds can be eaten raw, ground into a meal, sprouted, made into
hemp milk (akin to
soy milk), prepared as tea, and used in baking. The fresh leaves can also be eaten in salads. Products include cereals, frozen
waffles, hemp tofu, and nut butters, to name a few. A few companies produce value added hemp seed items that include the seed oils, whole hemp grain (which is sterilized by law
[where?]), dehulled hemp seed (the whole seed without the mineral rich outer shell), hemp flour, hemp cake (a by-product of pressing the seed for oil) and hemp protein powder. Hemp is also used in some organic cereals, for non-dairy milk
[20] somewhat similar to soy and nut milks, and for non-dairy hemp "ice cream."
Within the UK, the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has treated hemp as purely a non-food crop. Seed appears on the UK market as a legal food product, and cultivation licences are available for this purpose. In North America, hemp seed food products are sold, typically in health food stores or through mail order. The
United States Department of Agriculture estimates that "the market potential for hemp seed as a food ingredient is unknown. However, it probably will remain a small market, like those for sesame and poppy seeds."
[21]
[edit] Nutrition
| | This article appears to contradict the article Essential amino acid. Please see discussion on the linked talk page. Please do not remove this message until the contradictions are resolved. (August 2010) |
Approximately 44% of the weight of hempseed is healthy edible oils, containing about 80%
essential fatty acids (EFAs); i.e.,
linoleic acid,
omega-6 (
LA, 55%),
alpha-linolenic acid,
omega-3 (
ALA, 22%), in addition to
gamma-linolenic acid,
omega-6 (
GLA, 1–4%) and
stearidonic acid,
omega-3 (
SDA, 0–2%). Protein is the other major component (33%), second only to soy (35%), but more easily digestible because it's primarily
globular proteins, 33%
albumin and 65%
edestin (a Greek word meaning edible). Its
amino acid profile is close to "complete" when compared to more common sources of proteins such as meat, milk, eggs and
soy.
[23] The proportions of linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid in one tablespoon (15 ml) per day of
hemp oil easily provides human daily requirements for EFAs. Unlike
flaxseed oil, hemp oil can be used continuously without developing a deficiency or other imbalance of EFAs.
[24] This has been demonstrated in a clinical study, where the daily ingestion of flaxseed oil decreased the endogenous production of GLA.
[24]
Hempseed is an adequate source of
dietary fiber,
calcium and
iron, and contains
antioxidants and
chlorophyll. Whole hempseeds are also a good source of
phosphorus,
magnesium,
zinc,
copper and
manganese.
Hempseed is usually very safe for those unable to tolerate nuts, gluten, lactose, and sugar. In fact, there are no known allergies to hemp foods.
[citation needed] Hempseed contains no
gluten and therefore would not trigger symptoms of
celiac disease.
[citation needed]
[edit] Storage
Hemp oil can spontaneously oxidize and turn rancid within a short period of time if not stored properly; it is best stored in a dark glass bottle, in a refrigerator or freezer (its freezing point is –20 °C).
Preservatives (
antioxidants) are not necessary for high quality oils that are stored properly.
[edit] Dietary supplement
Hemp oil has been shown to relieve the symptoms of
eczema (
atopic dermatitis).
[25]
Hemp Seed contains a large dietary supplement of
omega-3, higher even than walnuts which contain 6.3% of n-3.
[edit] Medicine
Hemp oil has anti-inflammatory properties.
[26]
Hemp stem showing fibres.
The fibre is one of the most valuable parts of the hemp plant. It is commonly called
bast, which refers to the fibres that grow on the outside of the woody interior of the plant's stalk, and under the outer most part (the bark). Bast fibres give the plants strength. Hemp fibres can be between approximately 0.91 m (3 ft) and 4.6 m (15 ft) long, running the length of the plant. Depending on the processing used to remove the fibre from the stem, the hemp may naturally be creamy white, brown, gray, black or green.
[citation needed]
The use of hemp for fibre production has declined sharply over the last two centuries, but before the
industrial revolution, hemp was a popular fibre because it is strong and grows quickly; it produces roughly 10% more fibre than
cotton or
flax when grown on the same land.
[citation needed] Hemp has been used to make paper. It was often used to make sail
canvas, and the word
canvas derives from
cannabis.
[27][28] Abaca, or "
Manila hemp", a relative of the banana plant, replaced its use for rope.
Burlap, made from
jute, took over the sacking market. The paper industry began using
wood pulp. The carpet industry switched over to
wool,
sisal, and
jute, then
nylon. Netting and webbing applications were taken over by
cotton and synthetics.
[edit] Building material
Concrete-like blocks made with hemp and lime have been used as an insulating material for construction. Such blocks are not strong enough to be used for structural elements; they must be supported by a brick, wood, or steel frame.
[29]
The Renewable House was the UK's first home made from hemp-based materials.
[30] Construction was completed in 2009. The first US home made of hemp-based materials was completed in August 2010 in Asheville, North Carolina.
[31]
[edit] Hemp Plastic and Composite materials
Main article:
hemp plasticA mixture of
fibreglass, hemp fibre,
kenaf, and
flax has been used since 2002 to make composite panels for automobiles.
[4][32] The choice of which
bast fibre to use is primarily based on cost and availability.
The first identified coarse
paper, made from hemp, dates to the early
Western Han Dynasty, two hundred years before the nominal invention of
papermaking by
Cai Lun, who improved and standardized paper production using a range of inexpensive materials, including hemp ends, approximately 2000 years ago.
[33]
From 1880 to 1933 the hemp grown in the United States had declined from 15,000 to 1,200 acres (4.9 km
2), and the price of line hemp had dropped from $12.50 per pound in 1914 to $9.00 per pound in 1933.
[34][35]
In 1916, U.S. Department of Agriculture chief scientists Lyster H. Dewe and Jason L. Merrill created paper made from hemp pulp, which they concluded was "favorable in comparison with those used with pulp wood."
[36][37]
In 1935 hemp started to make a significant rebound from a very low level.
[35] In the 1930s
Hearst began a campaign against hemp, and published stories in his newspapers associating hemp with marijuana
[38] and attacking marijuana usage.
[39]
Hemp has never been used for commercial high-volume paper production due to its relatively high processing cost.
[40] Currently there is a small niche market for hemp pulp, for example as cigarette paper.
[41] Hemp fiber is mixed with fiber from other sources than hemp. In 1994 was there no significant production of 100% true hemp paper.
[42] World hemp pulp production was believed to be around 120,000 tons per year in 1991 which was about 0.05% of the world's annual pulp production volume.
[2] The total world production of hemp fiber had in 2003 declined to about 60 000 to 80 000 ton.
[41] This can be compared to a typical pulp mill for wood fibre, which is never smaller than 250,000 tons per annum.
[42] The cost of hemp pulp is approximately six times that of wood pulp,
[2] mostly because of the small size and outdated equipment of the few hemp processing plants in the Western world, and because hemp is harvested once a year (during August) and needs to be stored to feed the mill the whole year through. This storage requires a lot of (mostly manual) handling of the bulky stalk bundles. Another issue is that the entire hemp plant cannot be economically prepared for paper production. While the wood products industry uses nearly 100% of the fiber from harvested trees, only about 25% of the dried hemp stem — the bark, called bast — contains the long, strong fibers desirable for paper production.
[43] All this accounts for a high raw material cost. Hemp pulp is bleached with
hydrogen peroxide, a process today also commonly used for wood pulp.
[edit] Jewelry
Hemp jewelry is the product of knotting hemp twine through the practice of macramé. Hemp jewelry includes bracelets, necklaces, anklets, rings, watches and other adornments. Some jewelry features beads made from
glass,
stone,
wood and
bones. The hemp twine varies in thickness and comes in a many of colors. There are many different stitches used to create hemp jewelry, however, the half knot and full knot stitches are most common.
[edit] Fabric
A sack made from hemp fibre
A modest hemp fabric industry exists, and hemp fibers can be used in clothing.
[44] Pure hemp has a texture similar to linen.
[45]
[edit] Cordage
Hemp rope was used in the
age of sailing ships, though the rope had to be protected by
tarring, since hemp rope has a propensity for breaking from
rot, as the capillary effect of the rope-woven fibres tended to hold liquid at the interior, while seeming dry from the outside.
[46] Tarring was a labor-intensive process, and earned sailors the nickname "
Jack Tar". Hemp rope was phased out when Manila, which does not require tarring, became widely available. Manila is sometimes referred to as
Manila hemp, but is not related to hemp; it is
abacá, a species of
banana.
[edit] Animal bedding
Hemp shives are the core of the stem. In the EU, they are used for animal bedding (horses, for instance), or for horticultural mulch.
[47] Industrial hemp is much more profitable if both fibres and shives (or even seeds) can be used.
[edit] Water and soil purification
Hemp can be used as a "mop crop" to clear impurities out of wastewater, such as sewage effluent, excessive phosphorus from chicken litter, or other unwanted substances or chemicals. Eco-technologist Dr. Keith Bolton from Southern Cross University in
Lismore, New South Wales, Australia, is a leading researcher in this area. Hemp is being used to clean contaminants at
Chernobyl nuclear disaster site.
[48]
[edit] Weed control
Hemp, because of its height, dense foliage and its high planting density as a crop, is a very effective and long used method of killing tough weeds in farming by minimizing the pool of weed seeds of the soil.
[49] Using hemp this way can help farmers avoid the use of herbicides, to help gain
organic certification and to gain the benefits of
crop rotation per se. Due to its rapid, dense growth characteristics, in some jurisdictions hemp is considered a prohibited noxious weed, much like
Scotch Broom.
Biofuels, such as
biodiesel and
alcohol fuel, can be made from the oils in hemp seeds and stalks, and the fermentation of the plant as a whole, respectively. Biodiesel produced from hemp is sometimes known as
hempoline.
[50] Hemp biodiesel is clean burning and non-toxic.
Filtered hemp oil can be used directly to power
diesel engines. In 1892,
Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine, which he intended to fuel "by a variety of fuels, especially vegetable and seed oils, which earlier were used for
oil lamps, i.e. the
Argand lamp."
[51][52][53]
[edit] Cultivation
Climate zones well suited for the cultivation of hemp
Millennia of
selective breeding have resulted in
varieties that look quite different. Also, breeding since circa 1930 has focused quite specifically on producing strains which would perform very poorly as sources of drug material. Hemp grown for fibre is planted closely, resulting in tall, slender plants with long fibres. Ideally, according to Britain's
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the herb should be harvested before it flowers. This early cropping is done because fibre quality declines if flowering is allowed and, incidentally, this cropping also pre-empts the herb's maturity as a potential source of drug material. However, in these strains of industrial hemp the
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content would have been very low, regardless.
The name
Cannabis is the
genus and was the name favored by the 19th century medical practitioners who helped to introduce the herb's drug potential to modern
English-speaking consciousness.
Cannabis for non-drug purposes (especially ropes and
textiles) was then already well known as hemp.
The name "
marijuana" is
Spanish in origin and associated almost exclusively with the herb's drug potential.
[edit] Historical cultivation
Hemp has been grown for millennia in Asia and the Middle East for its fibre. Commercial production of hemp in the West took off in the eighteenth century, but was grown in the sixteenth century in eastern England.
[54] Because of colonial and naval expansion of the era, economies needed large quantities of hemp for rope and
oakum. Other important producing countries were
China,
North Korea,
Hungary, the former
Yugoslavia,
Romania,
Poland,
France and
Italy.
In Western Europe, nobody banned the cultivation of hemp in the 1930s but the commercial cultivation ceased almost anyhow in the decades after the 1930s. Hemp was simply ousted by artificial fibres.
[55]
From the 1950s to the 1980s, the
Soviet Union was the world's largest producer (3,000 km² in 1970). The main production areas were in
Ukraine,
[56] the
Kursk and
Orel regions of
Russia, and near the
Polish border. Since its inception in 1931, the Hemp Breeding Department at the Institute of
Bast Crops in
Hlukhiv (Glukhov), Ukraine, has been one of the world's largest centres for developing new hemp varieties, focusing on improving fibre quality, per-hectare yields, and low
THC content.
[57][58]
Typical Japanese
Shinto shrine with paper streamers and rope made of unprocessed hemp fibre.
In
Japan, hemp was historically used as paper and a fibre crop. There is archaeological evidence cannabis was used for clothing and the seeds were eaten in Japan back to the
Jōmon period (10,000 to 300 BCE). Many
Kimono designs portray hemp, or
asa (
Japanese:
麻), as a beautiful plant. In 1948, marijuana was restricted as a narcotic drug. The ban on marijuana imposed by the United States authorities was alien to Japanese culture, as the drug had never been widely used in Japan before. Though these laws against marijuana are some of the world's strictest, allowing five years imprisonment for possession of the drug, they exempt hemp growers, whose crop is used to make robes for Buddhist monks and loincloths for sumo wrestlers. Because marijuana use in Japan has doubled in the past decade, these "loopholes" have recently been called into question.
[59]
[edit] Yield in modern agriculture
Air dry stem yields in Ontario have from 1998 and onward ranged from 2.6-14.0 tonnes of dry, retted stalks per hectare (1-5.5 t/ac) at 12% moisture. Yields in Kent County, have averaged 8.75 t/ha (3.5 t/ac). Northern Ontario crops averaged 6.1 t/ha (2.5 t/ac) in 1998. Only a part of that is bast fiber. Approximately one tonne of bast fiber and 2-3 tonnes of core material can be decorticated from 3-4 tonnes of good quality, dry retted straw.
[8] For an annual yield of this level is it in Ontario recommended to add Nitrogen (N):70–110 kg/ha, Phosphate (P2O5): up to 80 kg/ha and Potash (K2O): 40–90 kg/ha.
[8] The average yield of dry hemp stalks in Europe was 6 ton/ha (2.4 ton/ac) in 2001 and 2002.
[9]
FAO argue that an optimum yield of hemp fibre is more than 2 tonnes per ha, while average yields are around 650 kg/ha.
[16]
There are a lot of very uncertain, easily misleading and sometimes clearly incorrect numbers about the yield from hemp in ton/hectare or pounds/acre etc. on the Internet where it is not specified if the numbers is relevant for the total biomass or the total yield of biomass or the total yield of dried stalk or the total yield of fiber from the bark (and is the numbers for wet or dry material? Hemp can contain a lot of water)
[60] In modern industrial agriculture is about 42% of the plants' biomass returned to the soil in the form of leaves, roots and tops.
[8]
[edit] Harvesting
Industrial hempseed harvesting machine in France.
Thick stands of fibre hemp compete well with weeds.
Smallholder plots are usually harvested by hand. The plants are cut at 2 to 3 cm above the soil and left on the ground to dry. Mechanical harvesting is now common, using specially adapted cutter-binders or simpler cutters.
The cut hemp is laid in swathes to dry for up to four days. This was traditionally followed by
retting, either water retting (the bundled hemp floats in water) or dew retting (the hemp remains on the ground and is affected by the moisture in dew, and by molds and
bacterial action). Modern processes use steam and machinery to separate the fibre, a process known as
thermo-mechanical pulping.
[edit] Varieties
There are broadly three groups of
Cannabis varieties being cultivated today:
- Varieties primarily cultivated for their fibre, characterized by long stems and little branching, extreme red, yellow, blue or purple coloration, or thickness of stem and solid core, such as hemp Cannabis oglalas, and more generally called industrial hemp.
- Varieties grown for hemp seed oil which is high in protein and essential fatty acids and has no psychoactive properties.
- Varieties grown for medicinal, spiritual development or recreational purposes.
A nominal, if not legal distinction is often made between hemp, with concentrations of the psychoactive chemical THC far too low to be useful as a drug, and
Cannabis used for medical, recreational, or spiritual purposes.
[edit] Diseases
Hemp plants can be vulnerable to various
pathogens, including
bacteria,
fungi,
nematodes,
viruses and other miscellaneous pathogens. Such diseases often lead to reduced fibre quality, stunted growth, and death of the plant. These diseases rarely affect the yield of a hemp field, so hemp production is not traditionally dependent on the use of pesticides.
[edit] History
Má, the Mandarin word for hemp. In China, the use of hemp has been shown to go back at least 10,000 years.
Hemp use dates back to the
Stone Age, with hemp fibre imprints found in pottery shards in
China and
Taiwan[61] over 7,000 years old. They were also later used to make clothes, shoes, ropes, and an early form of
paper.
[61] Contrary to the traditional view that
Cai Lun invented paper in around 105 AD, specimens of hemp paper were found in the
Great Wall of China dating back 200 years earlier.
[citation needed]
The classical Greek historian
Herodotus (ca. 480 BC) reported that the inhabitants of
Scythia would often inhale the vapours of hemp-seed smoke, both as ritual and for their own pleasurable recreation.
[62]
In
late medieval Germany and
Italy, hemp was employed in cooked dishes, as filling in
pies and
tortes, or boiled in a
soup.
[63]
Hemp in later Europe was mainly cultivated for its fibres, and was used for ropes on many ships, including those of
Christopher Columbus. The use of hemp as a cloth was centred largely in the countryside, with higher quality
textiles being available in the towns.
The Spaniards brought hemp to the Western Hemisphere and cultivated it in
Chile starting about 1545.
[64] However, in May 1607, "hempe" was among the crops Gabriel Archer observed being cultivated by the natives at the main
Powhatan village, where
Richmond, Virginia is now situated;
[65] and in 1613,
Samuell Argall reported wild hemp "better than that in England" growing along the shores of the upper Potomac. As early as 1619, the first Virginia
House of Burgesses passed an Act requiring all planters in Virginia to sow "both English and Indian" hemp on their plantations.
[66] The
Puritans are first known to have cultivated hemp in
New England in 1645.
[64]
United States "Marihuana" production permit. In the United States, hemp cultivation is
legally prohibited, but during
World War II farmers were encouraged to grow hemp for cordage, to replace
Manila hemp previously obtained from
Japanese-controlled areas. The U.S. government produced a film explaining the uses of hemp, called
Hemp for Victory.
In 1937, the
Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed in the United States. It levied a tax on anyone who dealt commercially in cannabis, hemp, or marijuana. It was repealed by an overriding law in 1970.
Hemp was used extensively by the United States during World War II. Uniforms, canvas, and rope were among the main textiles created from the hemp plant at this time.
[67] Much of the hemp used was cultivated in
Kentucky and the
Midwest.
Historically, hemp production had made up a significant portion of
antebellum Kentucky's economy. Before the
American Civil War, many slaves worked on
plantations producing hemp.
[68]
During World War II, the U.S. produced a short 1942 film,
Hemp for Victory, promoting hemp as a necessary crop to win the war.
By the early twentieth century, the advent of the
steam engine and the
diesel engine ended the reign of the
sailing ship. The production of iron and steel for cable and ships' hulls further eliminated natural fibres in marine use. Hemp had long since fallen out of favour in the sailing industry in preference to Manila hemp.
[edit] Countries that produce hemp
The world lead leading producer of hemp is
China with smaller production in
Europe,
Chile the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Over 30 countries produce industrial hemp, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Great Britain, France, Russia and Spain.
[69]
Uruguay has also approved a project of hemp production as of the second half of 2010.
France is Europe's biggest producer, with 8,000 hectares cultivated. 70-80 % of the hemp fibre produced in Europe in 2003 were used for specialty pulp for cigarette papers and technical applications, about 15% is used in the automotive sector, 5 to 6% were used for insulation mats. Approximately 95% of hurds were used as animal bedding, almost 5% were used in the building sector.
[9]
Canada (9,725 ha in 2004),
[70] the
United Kingdom, and
Germany all resumed commercial production in the 1990s. British production is mostly used as bedding for
horses; other uses are under development. The largest outlet for German fibre is composite automotive panels. Companies in Canada, UK, United States, and Germany, among many others, process hemp seed into a growing range of
food products and
cosmetics; many traditional growing countries still continue to produce
textile-grade fibre.
Hemp is not legal to grow in the U.S. under Federal law because of its relation to marijuana, and any imported hemp products must meet a
zero tolerance level. It is considered a controlled substance under the
Controlled Substances Act (P.L. 91-513; 21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). Some states have defied Federal law and made the cultivation of industrial hemp legal. These states — North Dakota, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, West Virginia, and Vermont — have not yet begun to grow hemp because of resistance from the federal
Drug Enforcement Administration.
[71]
Commercial production (including cultivation) of industrial hemp has been permitted in Canada since 1998, under licenses and authorization issued by Health Canada. In 2009, hemp was harvested on 5450
hectares of Canadian land.
[72]
[edit] Industrial growth under licence
Industrial hemp production in
France Licences for hemp cultivation are issued in the
European Union,
Canada, in all states of
Australia, and nine states in the
United States.
[73]
In the
United Kingdom, these licences are issued by the
Home Office under the
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. When grown for non-drug purposes, hemp is referred to as
industrial hemp, and a common product is
fibre for use in a wide variety of products, as well as the seed for nutritional aspects as well as for the oil.
Feral hemp or
ditch weed is usually a naturalized fibre or oilseed strain of
Cannabis that has escaped from cultivation and is self-seeding.
Victoria,
Queensland and, most recently,
New South Wales issue licences to grow hemp for industrial use. Victoria was an early adopter in 1998, and has reissued the regulation in 2008.
[74] Queensland has allowed industrial production under licence since 2002
[75] where the issuance is controlled under the Drugs Misuse Act 1986.
[76] Most recently, New South Wales now issues licences
[77] under a law that came into effect as of 6 November 2008, the Hemp Industry Regulations Act 2008 (No 58).
[78]
Vermont and North Dakota have passed laws enabling hemp licensure. Both states are waiting for permission to grow hemp from the DEA. Currently
[when?], North Dakota representatives are pursuing legal measures to force DEA approval.
[79] Oregon has licensed industrial hemp as of August 2009
[update].
[80]
[edit] See also
