Pubdate: Sat, 01 Aug 2009
Source: Daily Observer, The (CN ON)
Page: 3
Copyright: 2009 Osprey Media Group Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/udQyY8Mp
Website: http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2615
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?330 (Hemp - Outside U.S.)

HEMP ON THE COMEBACK

LAURENTIAN VALLEY - After decades of being  misinterpreted, 
industrial hemp is staging a comeback  in Renfrew County.

Municipal leaders and county officials saw firsthand  some of the 
byproducts and benefits that can be yielded  from a hemp plant during 
a demonstration at a township  farm near Micksburg this week.

Farmer and entrepreneur Reuben Stone saw the  opportunity after being 
approached by the Ontario Hemp  Alliance to become a major grower of 
commercial hemp  grain.

He is currently growing 100 acres making him the  largest single 
grower in Ontario.

"It's got a lot of potential here," said Mr. Stone,  owner/operator 
of Stone Farms and Valley Bio Ltd. "The  development of it should be 
worth something."

Hemp production has replaced corn and soybean crops at  his farm.

Having researched hemp, which has a history going back  to the 
construction of the Great Wall of China, Mr.  Stone contended Renfrew 
County has great potential to  produce the crop as Canada is becoming 
a leading world  producer.

Hemp was a significant crop for eastern Ontario and  western Quebec 
back in the 1800s and early 1900s when  it was used as material for 
sails, ropes, clothing,  sacks and as an oil grain for human consumption.

Douglas in Admaston/ Bromley Township was the home for  a major hemp 
rope manufacturing operation for decades.

Today, hemp production is predominantly in western  Canada, 
accounting for 15,000 acres this season and  tens of millions in sales.

The industry has experienced 30 per cent annual growth  since hemp's 
production was decriminalized in Canada in  the late 1990s.

Today, it joins 30 other countries that produce  industrial hemp 
including Australia, Russia, France,  China and Great Britain.

"It's still a niche crop," said Mr. Stone, noting it  hasn't made the 
breakthrough into mainstream yet.

As the world's premier renewable source, hemp has been  the source of 
food and fibre, which has been used to  make clothing, paper and rope.

The oil derived from the grain has been used for  cosmetics, paints, 
varnishes and medicinal  preparations.

Like the marijuana plant, industrial hemp belongs to  the Cannabis 
species. However, unlike marijuana, it  only contains small 
quantities of the psychoactive drug  delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Commercial cultivation of hemp was authorized in Canada  in 1998 when 
the Industrial Hemp Regulations came into  effect.

It covered cultivation, processing, transportation,  sale, provision, 
import and export of industrial hemp.

Certainly there will be no competition for at least the  next 20 
years coming from the U. S. which has still not  decriminalized hemp 
production.

While eight states have taken that step to secure the  economic 
benefits, Mr. Stone said the problem is the  Federal Drug Agency must 
still approve any lifting of  restrictions.

"There's still a majority in that country that won't  let it grow," he said.

"It's the government comparison to marijuana that is  holding them back."

Ironically, the U. S. used hemp extensively during the  Second World 
War in its textile industries after war  was declared on Japan, their 
main hemp importer.  Uniforms, ropes and canvases were all derived 
from the  plant.

"They brought it back in a big way," he explained.  "They probably 
grew 100,000 acres during World War  Two."

However, many looking over the products that come from  the plants 
believe there is greater potential for hemp  as a crop in the county than corn.

"It's a big market and it's growing," said Alastair  Baird, Renfrew 
County's business development officer  for natural resources, 
pointing out that its  contribution to the health food industry is substantial.

However, many of those products are currently purchased  out of the area.

"It will be neat if we can buy it here in Renfrew County."

The hemp crops will be ready for harvesting the first  week of September.

Mr. Stone expects a yield of 30 to 40 tonnes of grain  which will be 
shipped over the winter to Great Britain.

He will save some of the crop to produce oil, which  makes up 45 per 
cent of a hemp seed. Hemp oil is among  the lowest in saturated fats 
at eight per cent of total  oil volume. In comparison, canola 
contains six per  cent.
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