The contest winners of the 2019 contest we did here at Got Weed Online needless to say were quite happy. The grand prize winner won an entire years worth of weed. A whole 6 ounces worth. We even had give-aways to the runner ups of the contest too! And there weren’t a lot of entrants, …
Hemp/industrial hemp and marijuana are two distinct varieties of the same plant species. Hemp is a fiber crop. Marijuana is a drug crop. However, these definitions have become confused in the last 60 years. Recently, a movement has begun to distinguish the terms again. It is important to understand the history of usage of these terms in order to eliminate the confusion.
1600-1930s Hemps Long History in North America
The word hemp has been in the English language for over 800 years. The word marijuana is only 100 years old.
From the first settling of North America until the 1930s, hemp was the most common term for Cannabis sativa fiber crops. Marijuana was never used to describe hemp fiber crops, which were grown for canvas, rope, fuel oil, and paper. Hemp fiber crops were historically low THC and completely non-psychoactive.
1930s-1940s Marijuana tax Act confuses Hemp and Marijuana
In the 1930s, the psychoactive (high-THC) variety of cannabis sativa, imported from Mexico, became common in the southern U.S. It was called marijuana, a word popularized through the Reefer Madness campaign, to distinguish it from the hemp fiber crops (which no one ever smoked).
In 1937, the passage of the Marijuana tax Act hopelessly confused the terms hemp and marijuana. For the first time, Congress defined these distinct varieties of Cannabis sativa as being the same. What had been commonly known as hemp was now marijuana.
1950s Hemp Crops Become Extinct
In 1957, the last hemp fiber crop was harvested in the U.S. Because low-THC Cannabis sativa fiber crops were now extinct, the word hemp dropped out of use and was forgotten.
1960s Marijuana Legalization Movement Begins
In the 1960s, the psychoactive variety of cannabis sativa (marijuana) became popular among the counter-culture. The movement to legalize marijuana in the 1960s and 1970s did not use the term hemp to describe marijuana.
1985 Hemp/ Marijuana Movement Begins
In 1985, the word hemp re-surfaced in the book The Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herer. This book uncovered information that had been lost for almost 40 years about hemps historical uses as a fiber crop. The book also touted hemp as a solution to modern environmental problems.
Because The Emperor was targeted at a marijuana movement and since it was not widely known that low-THC varieties of hemp existed in Europe and Asia, it was believed that marijuana must be legalized to allow industrial uses of hemp. And because it was the environmentalists and the counter-culture that began promoting hemp as an alternative fiber crop, they were not taken seriously.
1993-1994 England and Canada Grow Hemp
In 1993, England officially recognized the difference between hemp and marijuana, to make its farmers competitive in the EEC. In 1994, Canada, seeing competition from Europe, allowed hemp production.
Today: Making Progress…
25 of 53 state hemp-related bills introduced since 1995 have passed and overall, 14 states have successfully passed hemp-related legislation. In 2002, hemp bills have been introduced in seven states: Arizona, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia. The CA, HI and WV bills have passed, the NM and VT bills have died in committee, and the AZ and WI bills have been held until 2003.
