Page 8 The Retirees' Newsletter

The Faculty and Librarian Retirees' Association, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada

Vol.VII , No.3, June, 1997

THE HEMP CONTROVERSY AND YOU

by Michael Zin

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PERMIT ME TO SET OUT SOME FACTS about an important even though controversial issue, the possible creation of a hemp industry in Canada. The hemp situation as it stands is this: FARMERS WANT TO GROW IT! MANUFACTURERS WANT TO USE IT! ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT IT! But what is wrong with it?... Hemp has an obnoxious relative which it has not been able to shake, and law enforcement are thus afraid of it! It is notable that, prior to 1938, farmers in Canada were allowed to grow hemp unhindered.

ON JUNE 19, 1996, DURING THE THIRD READING OF BILL C-8 (The Controlled Drugs and other Substances Act), the honourable Lorna Milne, Senator, made the following points. Hemp is a non-narcotic, non-polluting cash crop that would be a significant boon to farmers all over Canada, particularly in regions where it could serve as a badly needed replacement crop for tobacco in sandy soils. It is a crop which would replace the hemp that Canada must presently import for its needs. It is a multi-purpose crop with many potential spin-offs in terms of jobs. Again, what I am referring to here is a non-narcotic product.

Additionally, the Senator stated "For Canada to develop hemp as an agricultural crop, the mature hemp stalk and the valuable fibre acquired from it must be free of over-regulation. It is ridiculous that we define things like hemp paper and clothing as controlled substances under our drug legislation especially when the law is being selectively ignored -- Canada Customs allows the import of these products from other countries while our own farmers are not even allowed to compete."

Although Senator Milne's amendment to the Act was adopted, to exempt "mature stalk of the cannabis plant and products made from its fibre", commercial cultivation of hemp, even under licence, appears to be stalled. At this writing I was informed by Senator Eugene Whelan that little progress has been made to develop the necessary regulations.

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WHY AM I INTERESTED IN HEMP? As with Senator Milne whose forefathers cultivated hemp so did mine. Additionally, my family owned a custom processing plant to process hemp seed into oil which was the main stay in the kitchens of Ukraine. Moreover, I shudder at the carnage we inflict on our forests. One-half of the trees cut are used for paper. Why cut the trees that take some 25 years to grow, when there could be an ample supply of pulp from an annually grown hemp? In centuries past, hemp was the backbone of the paper industry.

We are of an age that remembers hemp binder twine and ropes. (Hemp, as I stated, was legally grown in Canada until 1938). Now we can think of hemp as a product for which there is an international market, not only as a raw material, but as paper, clothing, shoes, and a host of other industrial and consumer products. Permitting our farmers to grow hemp, by removing it from The Controlled Drugs and Other Substances Act, could help to unleash the Canadian knowhow to benefit all Canadians economically and environmentally. PLEASE THINK ABOUT IT! TODAY IT IS NOT ENOUGH FOR US AS CANADIANS TO TALK "JOBS, JOBS, JOBS".. HERE IS A PRACTICAL AND TOTALLY ACCEPTABLE WAY TO HELP MAKE THAT OBJECTIVE A REALITY!

P.S.I just heard from Don Dean, a native Canadian and researcher in Senator Whelan's office that the interest is to license suppliers of hemp seed and not the growers. Consequently, the Six Nations Economic Development Commission has ordered 20 tons of hemp seed from Ukraine and intends to order 1,000 tons for next year. This seed has THC content of less than 1%. M.Z.

EDITOR'S NOTE: NEWSPAPERS HAVE RECENTLY REPORTED THAT CANADIAN FARMERS WILL BE ABLE TO COMMERCIALLY CULTIVATE HEMP AS FREELY AS ANY OTHER CROP AS OF JANUARY, 1998.

Michael Zin is Professor Emeritus and was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration. He co-authored, with Pyle and White, Fundamental Accounting Principles, which text has led the Canadian market for 20 years running.

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