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The420Guy
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UNITED KINGDOM – To its fans, hemp is the "wonder weed". It grows on almost any ground in most countries and was one of Britain's largest crops until the late 19th century. The plant can be used to make more than 25,000 products: from food, fuel, medicine and cosmetics, to paper, plastics and even dynamite. It grows freely without the use of pesticides or herbicides, needs minimum attention from the farmer, and leaves the fields where it is grown virtually weed free for the next crop.
You might think it's just the crop to help British farmers diversify and make agriculture more sustainable, but those farmers who want to grow it must obtain a licence from the Home Office. The plant's cultivation is strictly controlled under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act because some varieties of the hemp plant are smoked as marijuana.
Hemp producers point out that industrial hemp contains so little of the psychoactive compound THC that you'd have to smoke a joint the size of telegraph pole to get high, but the Home Office is intransigent. The result is that Britain is now the only EU country still licensing hemp cultivation - and is missing out on a booming world market.
Hemcore became Britain's first and, as yet, only licensed commercial hemp manufacturer in 1993. Last year, it persuaded farmers in south-east England to plant 3,000 hectares and, with this year's planting season approaching, they hope more will join.
"We want to double the acreage under hemp," says marketing director John Hobson. "We're saying to farmers, 'Why don't you grow something that people actually want?'"
Most of the British crop will go to Germany, where hemp now accounts for 25% of all natural fibres used for insulation and mouldings in expensive cars. "The German public is much more aware about hemp," says Hobson. "But talk to the average Briton about hemp and they think you're talking about drugs."
East Sussex farmer Henry Gage is hoping to get Britain's second commercial hemp licence this year, but for producing food rather than fibre. Because of Britain's licensing system his company, MotherHemp, has to import hempseed from France to make the hemp pesto and hemp ice cream it produces for British supermarkets and health food shops.
"Hempseed is one of the most complete sources of essential fatty acids," says Gage. "Hemp oil is also unique among edible seed oils in that it contains 2-4% gamma linolenic acid, needed to regulate many of the body's metabolic functions." If Gage gets his licence, he hopes to produce a multitude of foodstuffs, from non-diary milk and cheese to salad dressing.
Gage and Hemcore would like to see an end to the licensing system. "We're a nation of policemen, not shopkeepers," says Gage. "The licensing system is just another thing the farmer has to worry about. But the re-emergence of hemp cultivation will benefit UK farmers enormously. If a farmer can make a good margin harvesting for fibre, he will make an even better margin harvesting the seeds as well."
In France and Germany, industrial hemp is now grown on a large scale. "The exact size of the European industrial hemp market is hard to determine," says Dr Michael Karus, president of the European Industrial Hemp Association. "Eighty per cent of hemp fibre production is consumed by the traditional pulp and paper industries in France. Another 20% is now consumed by the German and Austrian car industry." He estimates that the European hemp fibre market was worth about pounds 90m last year, and that demand in some industries may quadruple by 2005. The Body Shop, which has pioneered the use of French hempseed oil in cosmetic products since 1998, bought pounds 60,000-worth of hempseed in 1999.
But in Britain, despite the Curry report urging a transformation of farming, a Home Office spokeswoman says that, although the government was intending to reclassify marijuana, there were no plans to review the licensing system for hemp. "It is governed by the same legislation as marijuana, so a licence will still be required to grow it in the future," she says.
Jake Bowers, The Guardian
For more information, contact: Hemcore: 01279 504466; MotherHemp: 01323 811909.
Copyright © 2002, The Guardian. All rights reserved
Unlocking Hemp's Potential™ - Global Hemp
You might think it's just the crop to help British farmers diversify and make agriculture more sustainable, but those farmers who want to grow it must obtain a licence from the Home Office. The plant's cultivation is strictly controlled under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act because some varieties of the hemp plant are smoked as marijuana.
Hemp producers point out that industrial hemp contains so little of the psychoactive compound THC that you'd have to smoke a joint the size of telegraph pole to get high, but the Home Office is intransigent. The result is that Britain is now the only EU country still licensing hemp cultivation - and is missing out on a booming world market.
Hemcore became Britain's first and, as yet, only licensed commercial hemp manufacturer in 1993. Last year, it persuaded farmers in south-east England to plant 3,000 hectares and, with this year's planting season approaching, they hope more will join.
"We want to double the acreage under hemp," says marketing director John Hobson. "We're saying to farmers, 'Why don't you grow something that people actually want?'"
Most of the British crop will go to Germany, where hemp now accounts for 25% of all natural fibres used for insulation and mouldings in expensive cars. "The German public is much more aware about hemp," says Hobson. "But talk to the average Briton about hemp and they think you're talking about drugs."
East Sussex farmer Henry Gage is hoping to get Britain's second commercial hemp licence this year, but for producing food rather than fibre. Because of Britain's licensing system his company, MotherHemp, has to import hempseed from France to make the hemp pesto and hemp ice cream it produces for British supermarkets and health food shops.
"Hempseed is one of the most complete sources of essential fatty acids," says Gage. "Hemp oil is also unique among edible seed oils in that it contains 2-4% gamma linolenic acid, needed to regulate many of the body's metabolic functions." If Gage gets his licence, he hopes to produce a multitude of foodstuffs, from non-diary milk and cheese to salad dressing.
Gage and Hemcore would like to see an end to the licensing system. "We're a nation of policemen, not shopkeepers," says Gage. "The licensing system is just another thing the farmer has to worry about. But the re-emergence of hemp cultivation will benefit UK farmers enormously. If a farmer can make a good margin harvesting for fibre, he will make an even better margin harvesting the seeds as well."
In France and Germany, industrial hemp is now grown on a large scale. "The exact size of the European industrial hemp market is hard to determine," says Dr Michael Karus, president of the European Industrial Hemp Association. "Eighty per cent of hemp fibre production is consumed by the traditional pulp and paper industries in France. Another 20% is now consumed by the German and Austrian car industry." He estimates that the European hemp fibre market was worth about pounds 90m last year, and that demand in some industries may quadruple by 2005. The Body Shop, which has pioneered the use of French hempseed oil in cosmetic products since 1998, bought pounds 60,000-worth of hempseed in 1999.
But in Britain, despite the Curry report urging a transformation of farming, a Home Office spokeswoman says that, although the government was intending to reclassify marijuana, there were no plans to review the licensing system for hemp. "It is governed by the same legislation as marijuana, so a licence will still be required to grow it in the future," she says.
Jake Bowers, The Guardian
For more information, contact: Hemcore: 01279 504466; MotherHemp: 01323 811909.
Copyright © 2002, The Guardian. All rights reserved
Unlocking Hemp's Potential™ - Global Hemp
