Pubdate: Sun, 27 Jan 2013 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2013 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. Contact: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365 Note: from The Washington Post Note: The Daily Progress of Charlottesville contributed to this report. ADVOCATES OF HEMP PUSH FOR CHANGE Albemarle Board May Act to Set It Apart From Pot In the cannabis plant family, hemp is the good seed; marijuana, the evil weed. But while the U.S. ranks as the world's leading consumer of hemp products - total U.S. sales were estimated to top $450 million in 2011, according to an industry group-it is the only major industrialized country that bans growing it, even though 11 states have passed measures removing barriers to hemp production and research. About 90 percent of the U.S. supply comes from Canada. In Virginia, Albemarle County supervisors will consider a resolution in February to separate industrial hemp from marijuana. Montgomery County Supervisor James D. Politis told the Albemarle board earlier this month that the plant has almost 25,000 uses and could be planted extensively across the state. Since Colorado and Washington state legalized marijuana by ballot initiatives last fall, some farmers and activists have been pushing to revive a crop they say offers a solution to vexing environmental, health and economic challenges. Proponents value hemp for how it grows - quickly and in a wide geographic range, without requiring much in terms of water, pesticides and fertilizers - and for what it can produce. Its seeds and oil are fodder for health and beauty products, while the strength of its natural fiber makes it a good candidate to be used as a building composite. Combine hemp with water and lime and you get "hempcrete," which can help construct a house; process it differently and it can make up a car's interior door panel. In the Colonial era, Benjamin Franklin published an article touting hemp's virtues, and Virginia farmers were allowed to pay their taxes in hemp. A USDA botanist grew half a dozen varieties of hemp on federal property in the 1920s. The U.S. government urged farmers to grow "Hemp for Victory" during World War II to provide the raw material for ropes, sailors' uniforms and other supplies. But several factors - the high taxes the federal government imposed on growing hemp in the late 1930s and again in the early '50s, and then the Drug Enforcement Administration's interpretation of the 1970 Controlled Substances Act - made producing hemp nearly impossible. Starting in 1999, states began to pass legislation making it easier to either grow industrial hemp or conduct research on it. But these measures have had little practical effect. Since the DEA grants permits only in rare instances and demands costly, elaborate security precautions, large-scale hemp growing in the U.S. is not viable. Those working on a new federal law describe it as a simple matter of economics. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who introduced legislation in the last Congress with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to decouple hemp from marijuana as a controlled substance, plans to push for a bill again this year. The Daily Progress of Charlottesville contributed to this report. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D