Freaktan
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Located at 215 E. Holly St., in the heart of downtown, Hemp Emporium has purveyed fine, locally made hemp products to the city of Bellingham since 1994. But after 11 years of business, owner Pattie Nelson-Bloch is putting the store up for sale.
Citing the ever-present government and big-business opposition to hemp as well as a plateau in sales since the move to the store's new location on Holly Street, Nelson-Bloch has decided to move on.
"It would be great to find a group of artists or environmentalists who want to take the vision and keep it going," she said. "It will also be nice to finally get off the retail floor."
The Hemp Emporium is the last remaining hemp store in Bellingham and is one of few remaining in Washington state, Nelson-Bloch said.
Nelson-Bloch and her husband Stacy Bloch started the Scientific Nature Hemp Emporium in 1994 in a building on Bay Street. In 1998, they moved to a larger location on Railroad Avenue and finally to the Emporium's current location on Holly Street in 2003.
She also coordinated the vending aspects of Hempfest over the past five years and planned part of Bumbershoot, the Seattle festival of music and arts, this past summer. Scientific Nature sold hemp products as a backup to their science and nature-type wares. But when
Nelson-Bloch discovered the popularity of hemp in Bellingham and the number of environmentalists living in the town, she evolved the store into the hemp purveyor citizens know it as today.
Bellingham resident Liani Sittnan roots through the Hemp Emporium's variety of hemp products.
Most recently, the emporium began stocking glass art and hemp-related novelty products such as water pipes, mostly to bring in a different type of customer.
"We've tried to remain a purely hemp store, but that just hasn't brought in the dollars," she said.
Nelson-Bloch said she believes she can educate new customers about the diverse alternative uses of the hemp plant **– the glass pieces are just to bring them into the store.
The economy and big business are continually making it difficult for hemp to become a viable commercial product, she said. Hemp oil's main competitor is flaxseed oil, which experiend a recent surge in popularity on the heels of a large-scale Drug Enforcement Administration legal re-evaluation of product, she said. Hemp oil's main competitor is flaxseed oil, which experienced a recent surge in popularity on the heels of a large-scale Drug Enforcement Administration legal re-evaluation of the hemp plant as a whole, not just the portion containing the intoxicant delta THC.
According to archives.gov, the National Archives' Web site containing military service records and other historical documents, the DEA released a set of rules in 2001 governing which parts of the hemp plant are legitimate and which parts would remain a controlled substance.
The rules stated that anyone possessing THC-containing hemp products had 120 days to either dispose of them or get them out of the country.
Legal hemp products include clothing, cosmetics, paper, rope, soap and shampoo. Illegal products include cheese, energy drinks, flour, ice cream and salad oil.
"The DEA cannot change the laws," Nelson-Bloch said. "It was all just scare tactics."
Corporate lobbyists attempted to make hemp foods and fibers illegal, and flaxseed's popularity as an antioxidant and source of omega-3 fatty acids took off during this time. Hemp was left in the dust, yet again.
In addition to hemp products, Hemp Emporium sells a wide array of African Rooibos tea products.
Western sophomore Sean Daeley enthusiastically supported Hemp Emporium, saying the Rooibos (pronounced Roy-boss) red tea the store sells can cure acne, alleviate headaches and improve mood, due to its high antioxidant content.
"I think it's a shame that citizens of Bellingham might be denied the Hemp Emporium's wide array of practical, as well as novel, wares," he said.
Daeley said he believes the government's opposition to hemp may stem from the threat it poses to the American clothing industry.
"It's a danger to the textile industry," he said. "Hemp is very strong, resilient, has a high yield of usable material per plant, and it's cheaply produced."
Aside from several flavors of tea, customers can also buy face and body lotion derived from the Rooibos tea leaves.
"It's really miracle stuff," said Greg Clark, Bellingham resident, friend and business associate of Nelson-Bloch. "We're based right here in Bellingham, but we ship all over the place."
Newshawk: Freaktan - 420Times.com
Source: The Western Front Online
Copyright: 2005 The Western Front
Contact: thewesternfronteditor@yahoo.com
Website:https://www.westernfrontonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/25/4337458a3a366
Author: Tom King
Citing the ever-present government and big-business opposition to hemp as well as a plateau in sales since the move to the store's new location on Holly Street, Nelson-Bloch has decided to move on.
"It would be great to find a group of artists or environmentalists who want to take the vision and keep it going," she said. "It will also be nice to finally get off the retail floor."
The Hemp Emporium is the last remaining hemp store in Bellingham and is one of few remaining in Washington state, Nelson-Bloch said.
Nelson-Bloch and her husband Stacy Bloch started the Scientific Nature Hemp Emporium in 1994 in a building on Bay Street. In 1998, they moved to a larger location on Railroad Avenue and finally to the Emporium's current location on Holly Street in 2003.
She also coordinated the vending aspects of Hempfest over the past five years and planned part of Bumbershoot, the Seattle festival of music and arts, this past summer. Scientific Nature sold hemp products as a backup to their science and nature-type wares. But when
Nelson-Bloch discovered the popularity of hemp in Bellingham and the number of environmentalists living in the town, she evolved the store into the hemp purveyor citizens know it as today.
Bellingham resident Liani Sittnan roots through the Hemp Emporium's variety of hemp products.
Most recently, the emporium began stocking glass art and hemp-related novelty products such as water pipes, mostly to bring in a different type of customer.
"We've tried to remain a purely hemp store, but that just hasn't brought in the dollars," she said.
Nelson-Bloch said she believes she can educate new customers about the diverse alternative uses of the hemp plant **– the glass pieces are just to bring them into the store.
The economy and big business are continually making it difficult for hemp to become a viable commercial product, she said. Hemp oil's main competitor is flaxseed oil, which experiend a recent surge in popularity on the heels of a large-scale Drug Enforcement Administration legal re-evaluation of product, she said. Hemp oil's main competitor is flaxseed oil, which experienced a recent surge in popularity on the heels of a large-scale Drug Enforcement Administration legal re-evaluation of the hemp plant as a whole, not just the portion containing the intoxicant delta THC.
According to archives.gov, the National Archives' Web site containing military service records and other historical documents, the DEA released a set of rules in 2001 governing which parts of the hemp plant are legitimate and which parts would remain a controlled substance.
The rules stated that anyone possessing THC-containing hemp products had 120 days to either dispose of them or get them out of the country.
Legal hemp products include clothing, cosmetics, paper, rope, soap and shampoo. Illegal products include cheese, energy drinks, flour, ice cream and salad oil.
"The DEA cannot change the laws," Nelson-Bloch said. "It was all just scare tactics."
Corporate lobbyists attempted to make hemp foods and fibers illegal, and flaxseed's popularity as an antioxidant and source of omega-3 fatty acids took off during this time. Hemp was left in the dust, yet again.
In addition to hemp products, Hemp Emporium sells a wide array of African Rooibos tea products.
Western sophomore Sean Daeley enthusiastically supported Hemp Emporium, saying the Rooibos (pronounced Roy-boss) red tea the store sells can cure acne, alleviate headaches and improve mood, due to its high antioxidant content.
"I think it's a shame that citizens of Bellingham might be denied the Hemp Emporium's wide array of practical, as well as novel, wares," he said.
Daeley said he believes the government's opposition to hemp may stem from the threat it poses to the American clothing industry.
"It's a danger to the textile industry," he said. "Hemp is very strong, resilient, has a high yield of usable material per plant, and it's cheaply produced."
Aside from several flavors of tea, customers can also buy face and body lotion derived from the Rooibos tea leaves.
"It's really miracle stuff," said Greg Clark, Bellingham resident, friend and business associate of Nelson-Bloch. "We're based right here in Bellingham, but we ship all over the place."
Newshawk: Freaktan - 420Times.com
Source: The Western Front Online
Copyright: 2005 The Western Front
Contact: thewesternfronteditor@yahoo.com
Website:https://www.westernfrontonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/25/4337458a3a366
Author: Tom King
