Kentucky was the greatest producer of hemp in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries, when it was the source of three fourths of U.S. hemp fiber. Production started to decline after World War I due to the rise of tobacco as the cash crop in Kentucky and the foreign competition of hemp fibers and finished products. In 1970, federal policies virtually banned the production of industrial hemp during the war on drugs saying all Cannabis sativa is a Schedule I controlled substance. Federal law under the Agricultural Act of 2014 allowed research back into hemp. Kentucky began production again with 33 acres in 2014. As of the 2016 harvest season, only two U.S. states other than Kentucky had over 100 acres (40 ha) in hemp production: Colorado and Tennessee. The first 500-acre commercial crop was planted in Harrison County in 2017, and research permits were issued for over 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) that year. The 2016 documentary Harvesting Liberty concerns the 21st century Kentucky hemp industry.
In the 18th century, John Filson wrote in Kentucke and the Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone (an appendix of his 1784 work The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke ) of the quality of Kentucky's land and climate for hemp production. [1] The first hemp crop in Kentucky was raised near Danville in 1775. [2] [3] [4]
Kentucky was the greatest producer of U.S. hemp in the 19th and 20th centuries, with thousands of acres of hemp in production. [5] [lower-alpha 1] Senator Henry Clay was a "hemp pioneer" and the "strongest advocate" of Kentucky hemp. He grew it on his Kentucky estate Ashland and brought new seeds to the state from Asia. [7] [8] [9] [10] Clay's oratory on the Senate floor in 1810 in favor of requiring the Navy to use domestic hemp exclusively for ship's rigging was widely reprinted in newspapers and is credited for beginning the elaboration of the American System. [11] According to a 1902 periodical, Kentucky was responsible for three quarters of U.S. hemp fiber production. [12] Shelby County was one of the main producing counties of hemp. Supposedly Hempridge Road received its name from Senator Henry Clay. It is said that local residents presented Clay with a walking stick fashioned from a hemp stalk. Clay was so delighted that he reportedly declared any community producing such a hempstalk should be “known as Hempridge. [13] ” Production reached a peak in 1917 at 18,000 acres, mostly grown in the Bluegrass region, then waned due to market forces after World War I as other sources of fiber were introduced. [14] [15] A Federal program to reintroduce hemp for wartime needs in Kentucky and other states during World War II reached 52,000 acres in Kentucky in 1943. [16] : 1 The WWII effort is documented in the U.S. Department of Agriculture film Hemp for Victory . [17]
Production of hemp had seen a decline after World War I due to market forces including the rise of tobacco as the cash crop of choice in Kentucky and foreign sources of hemp fiber and finished products. [18] The availability of cheap synthetic fiber after World War II even further discouraged farmers from growing it. [19]
Federal policies, tightened by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, virtually banned the production of industrial hemp during the war on drugs. According to an industry group, "the 1970 Act abolished the taxation approach [of the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act ] and effectively made all cannabis cultivation illegal". [20] The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) refused to issue permits for legal hemp cultivation [lower-alpha 2] and held that, since industrial hemp is from the same species plant as prohibited cannabis (despite its being of lower THC yield), both were prohibited under the Controlled Substances Act. [19] [22] In the words of a 2015 PBS NewsHour segment on hemp, "[t]o the federal government, hemp is just as illegal as marijuana", [23] and according to Newsweek , "all cannabis sativa—whether grown to ease chronic pain, get stoned or make rope—is a schedule I controlled substance". [8]
During this criminalized period, the Cornbread Mafia began its illegal cultivation of marijuana by cross-breeding imported cannabis seeds with native hemp plants left behind after the "Hemp For Victory" period in World War II. [24]
By the late 20th century, consumer demand for hemp products was resurgent but American farmers were left as bystanders. Imported agricultural products were allowed from other countries, including Canada, but growing hemp legally was not possible in the United States. [25] [lower-alpha 3] In 1994, Kentucky was one of the first states to consider reintroducing hemp cultivation, with a commission convened by governor Brereton Jones to investigate legal pathways to do so. [26] In 2013, Kentucky passed a state law, Senate Bill 50, allowing production for agricultural research purposes. Although the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013, which would have allowed hemp production, failed, [16] : 2 agricultural hemp was allowed by federal law under the Agricultural Act of 2014 (farm bill). [8] [27] 33 acres in 2014, [28] 922 acres in 2015, [28] 2,350 in 2016, [28] 12,800 acres in 2017, [29] and 6,700 acres in 2018. [30] As of 2016 [update] harvest season, only two U.S. states other than Kentucky had over 100 acres (40 ha) in hemp production: Colorado and Tennessee. [31]
The Industrial Hemp Research Program was conducted under the auspices of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Research at the University of Kentucky's Spindletop Research Farm sought to improved agronomy and includes research on optimizing cannabinoid yield. [32] [33] The first research crops at Spindletop and Murray State University were planted in May 2014, with seed obtained from California and, after a legal battle with the DEA, imported from Italy. [34] [35] The researchers are also engineering new mechanical harvesters that can reach the 10–12-foot (3.0–3.7 m) high flowers of tall-growing hemp. [36] The first 500-acre commercial crop was planted in Harrison County in 2017, [37] and research permits were issued for over 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) that year. [38]
Under federal law, the THC present in both cannabis and hemp remains a Schedule I controlled substance. [21] Under state law, all hemp grown in compliance with the 2014 farm bill must have a delta-9 THC content not more than 0.3%. [39] Farmers participating in the program must use seeds provided by an educational institution with a DEA license and use varieties expected to be low in THC. A sample of each farmer's hemp crop is tested by the state. [28] [40]
Under the 2018 United States farm bill, commodity hemp production was federally legalized. [41]
Businesses exist in Kentucky which provide agricultural products based on hemp or supporting hemp production. Cynthiana-based Ananda Hemp has been operating in the Commonwealth since 2014. [42]
Testing of a $400,000 oil extraction facility in Winchester began in March 2016, with full production capacity of 20,000 lb (9,100 kg) per hour expected by the end of the year. [43] GenCanna and Atalo Holdings are hopeful of turning their property at Winchester into a "Hemp Research Campus". [8]
Three varieties of hemp seed from Lexington seed company Schiavi Seeds were the first to be certified by Colorado Department of Agriculture. [44] Certified in late 2016 for the 2017 Colorado crop, the varieties were originally from Italy and Serbia. [45] [46]
Documentary films concerning Kentucky hemp have included Hemp for Victory (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1942) and Harvesting Liberty (Mike Lewis, 2016), which shows farmers in rural Kentucky considering hemp farming for food, fuel and fiber. [47] [48]
The nonfiction book, The Cornbread Mafia by James Higdon has 14 references to Kentucky hemp. [49]
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: Cannabis sativa, C. indica, and C. ruderalis. Alternatively, C. ruderalis may be included within C. sativa, all three may be treated as subspecies of C. sativa, or C. sativa may be accepted as a single undivided species. The genus is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from Asia.
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of Cannabis sativa cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants on Earth. It was also one of the first plants to be spun into usable fiber 50,000 years ago. It can be refined into a variety of commercial items, including paper, rope, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, and animal feed.
Feral cannabis, or wild marijuana, is wild-growing cannabis generally descended from industrial hemp plants previously cultivated for fiber, with low or negligible amounts of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Alex White Plume is the former vice president and president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, located on South Dakota of the United States. He served as president from June 30, 2006 to November 2006 after Cecilia Fire Thunder was impeached.
THC-O-acetate is the acetate ester of THC. The term THC-O-acetate and its variations are commonly used for two types of the substance, dependent on which cannabinoid it is synthesized from. The difference between Δ8-THC and Δ9-THC is bond placement on the cyclohexene ring.
In the United States, increased restrictions and labeling of cannabis as a poison began in many states from 1906 onward, and outright prohibitions began in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s cannabis was regulated as a drug in every state, including 35 states that adopted the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act. The first national regulation was the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.
The use, sale, and possession of cannabis containing over 0.3% THC by dry weight in the United States, despite laws in many states permitting it under various circumstances, is illegal under federal law. As a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970, cannabis containing over 0.3% THC by dry weight is considered to have "no accepted medical use" and a high potential for abuse and physical or psychological dependence. Cannabis use is illegal for any reason, with the exception of FDA-approved research programs. However, individual states have enacted legislation permitting exemptions for various uses, including medical, industrial, and recreational use.
The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009, introduced during the 111th United States Congress by House Republican Ron Paul of Texas) and House Democrat Barney Frank of Massachusetts) on April 2, 2009, sought to clarify the differences between marijuana and industrial hemp as well as repeal federal laws that prohibit cultivation of industrial, but only for research facilities of higher education from conducting research. Industrial hemp is the non-psychoactive, low-THC, oil-seed and fibers varieties of, predominantly, the cannabis sativa plant. Hemp is a sustainable resource that can be used to create thousands of different products including fuel, fabrics, paper, household products, and food and has been used for hundreds of centuries by civilizations around the world. If H.R.1866 passes American farmers will be permitted to compete in global hemp markets. On March 10, 2009, both Paul and Frank wrote a letter to their Congressional colleagues urging them to support the legislation. This bill was previously introduced in 2005 under the title of Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005.
Cannabis in Italy is currently legal for medical and industrial uses, although it is strictly regulated, while it is decriminalized for recreational uses. In particular, the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use is a civil infraction. The possible sanctions for possession vary from the issuing of a diffida to first offenders, that is an injunction not to use the drug again; to the temporary suspension of certain personal documents for repeat offenders. Conversely, the unauthorized sale of cannabis-related products is illegal and punishable with imprisonment, as is the unlicensed cultivation of cannabis, although recent court cases have effectively established the legality of cultivating small amounts of cannabis for exclusively personal use. The licensed cultivation of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes requires the use of certified seeds; however, there is no need for authorization to plant certified seeds with minimal levels of psychoactive compounds.
Cannabis has been cultivated in Japan since the Jōmon period of Japanese prehistory approximately six to ten thousand years ago. As one of the earliest cultivated plants in Japan, cannabis hemp was an important source of plant fiber used to produce clothing, cordage, and items for Shinto rituals, among numerous other uses. Hemp remained ubiquitous for its fabric and as a foodstuff for much of Japanese history, before cotton emerged as the country's primary fiber crop amid industrialization during the Meiji period. Following the conclusion of the Second World War and subsequent occupation of Japan, a prohibition on cannabis possession and production was enacted with the passing of the Cannabis Control Law.
Cannabis is illegal in Russia. Possession of up to 6 grams is an administrative offense, punishable by a fine or detention of 15 days. Possession of larger amounts is a criminal offense.
Cannabis in Ontario is legal for both medical and recreational purposes. Cannabis in Canada has been legal for medicinal purposes since 2001 under conditions outlined in the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations, issued by Health Canada, while seed, grain, and fibre production are permitted under licence. The federal Cannabis Act, legalizing cannabis for recreational use, came into effect on 17 October 2018.
Hemp was a crop since Colonial times in Southern Appalachia, including North Carolina, which exported "modest amounts". It ceased to be grown legally around 1940.
The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 was a proposed law to remove hemp from Schedule I controlled substances and making it an ordinary agricultural commodity. Its provisions were incorporated in the 2018 United States farm bill that became law on December 20, 2018.
Hemp in the U.S. state of Washington has emerged as an experimental crop in the 21st century.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the plant Cannabis sativa and its relatives Cannabis indica and Cannabis ruderalis, the drug cannabis (drug) and the industrial product hemp.
The 2018 farm bill or Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 is an enacted United States farm bill that reauthorized $867 billion for many expenditures approved in the prior farm bill. The bill was passed by the Senate and House on December 11 and 12, 2018, respectively. On December 20, 2018, it was signed into law by President Donald Trump.
Hemp in the United States was a legal crop in the 18th and 19th centuries. Production was effectively banned in the mid-20th century, but it returned as a legal crop in the 21st century. By 2019, the United States had become the world's third largest producer of hemp, behind China and Canada.
Ecofibre Limited is an Australian listed biotechnology company that produces and sells hemp derived products to consumers and retailers in the United States and Australia. The company's products include cannabinoid (CBD) oil and nutraceuticals as well as hemp derived food and textiles.
Tochigishiro is a cultivar of hemp grown in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. It meets international standards of non-narcotic agricultural hemp at about 0.2% THC, reckoned "remarkably low" by Sensi Seeds. It was grown in the early 20th century at Arlington Experimental Farm near the United States capital. The modern variety was developed beginning in 1973 by Kyushu University professor of pharmacy Itsuo Nishioka from seeds "found in southern Japan", and completed c. 1982 by the Tochigi prefectural government at Tochigi Agricultural Experiment Station in Tochigi-shi. According to a National Institute of Mental Health-affiliated researcher, the strain is missing the enzyme tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase that makes most Cannabis capable of producing THC. It is the most widely grown cultivar in Japan in the 21st century, being exempt from prohibition under the Cannabis Control Law, due to its low levels of psychoactive chemicals. Approximately 90% of the hemp grown in Japan is the Tochigishiro variety.
Kentucky's first recorded hemp crop, 1775, was on Clark's Run Creek, near Danville. Grown by Archibald McNeill, who brought the first seed with him when he located here.(search marker 1279 to locate record)
When you ask Kentuckians what they need to make hemp a success, their first answer is always to take the plant off the federal list of controlled substances.
[O]nly three states currently have more than 100 acres in [hemp] — Colorado, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
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