Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
industry. This group patented nylon (in 1937),
Dacron (in 1950, based on a copyright of
1941) and various other plastic products such
as Teflon (invented in 1938).
These new and revolutionary products
needed to find their way on to the market fast
and their competitors therefore had to be
eliminated. Hemp was in widespread use as
a component fibre in many fabrics, including
the famous denim (etymologically from
de
Nîmes
) used to make jeans, as well as in rope
and string.
On 12 August 1930, the federal Narcotics
Bureau was created to fight against illicit
the head of this organization. It was suggested
that his wife was related to Andrew Mellon,
Secretary of State to the US Treasury. Mellon
was the banker and proprietor of Gulf Oil. As
a banker, Mellon financed Dupont de Nemours,
which, between 1935 and 1937, lobbied hard
for the prohibition of cannabis. This resulted in
the Marijuana Tax Act, passed on 2 August
1937, which imposed heavy taxes on hemp
cultivation, making it uneconomical.
From this moment, hemp was effectively
banished from the USA. It made a small come-
back during World War II, when the US Army
needed hemp to produce tent canvas and rope.
This was the occasion of a government-
sponsored film, entitled 'Hemp for Victory', to
promote the production of hemp.
The war over and, following the advances
made by American chemists and industry in
the production of nylon, the 1937 legislation
was reactivated.
From 1945 onwards, hemp has effectively
been banned in the USA. Finding itself a global
power after its victories of World War II, the
USA imposed their view of hemp on the
nascent United Nations. The resulting de facto
'worldwide' ban (restricted to temperate grow-
ing regions, as hemp does not grow in tropical
regions) was resisted by China, India, the
USSR, Eastern Europe, Italy and France.
It is difficult to conclude that we have fin-
ished writing the history of hemp. It has been a
part of human history for over 8000 years.
Hemp has clothed us, provided us with ropes
and, in paper, a means of communication.
While some may have lost hope of
hemp ever regaining its splendour of old,
there is reason for hope. Hemp derivatives
are well suited to a large number of uses, as
described in detail elsewhere in this topic.
This gives us hope that hemp cultivation will
take off again.
Today, we can observe encouraging devel-
opments in the hemp industry in Germany,
Australia and Canada. We can also draw
encouragement from the numerous projects
under way in the Baltic states, Poland, the
Czech Republic and Ukraine.
This plant's ability to protect the environ-
ment, most notably its role as a carbon sink
and as a heavy metal trap and sewage digester,
clearly opens new possibilities.
There is, therefore, cause for hope.
As historians, we know all too well that
history paves the way to the future. It is our
wish that this plant, with its many uses,
rediscovers a future worthy of its past and that
it is allowed to play its role in the protection of
the environment.
Key Dates in the Chronology of Hemp
BC
(before Christ)
8000: hemp is growing in the wild state in
Central Asia.
2727: hemp is referenced for the first time in
a Chinese pharmacopoeia.
1400: cultural and religious use of cannabis
along the river Indus in Kashmir and Pakistan.
500: Buddha is said to have survived on a diet
of hemp seed.
450: Herodotus describes the Scythians mak-
ing clothes made of fine hemp fibre.
300: the Carthaginians and the Romans fight
to gain control of the Mediterranean spice and
hemp road.
105: commercial remains found in China on a
paper made from hemp and blackberry fibres.
2.8 Conclusion
After these misadventures, hemp production
went into decline.
