Now it is being argued in the major papers. Soros Buys State. Film At Eleven. Even More Than Legalizing It Would. The United States may be a world leader in some fields, but when it comes to recognizing the value of industrial hemp, the country is way behind, according to a Wisconsin agricultural economist.
Industrial hemp is grown in Canada, Germany, England all over the place.
Sholts is director of agriculture at the University of Wisconsin and chairman of the North American Industrial Hemp Council. Industrial hemp, which was grown in the United States until 1937, was outlawed by federal law at the behest of law enforcement officers who claimed they couldn't tell the difference between industrial hemp and marijuana. However, they say the methods of cultivating marijuana and industrial hemp are so different anyone can tell the difference. In addition, he pointed out that farmers raising hemp would be planting acres clearly open to view, but marijuana growers would be planting in small, hidden plots. Sholts said Tennessee and Kentucky farmers could benefit from crops of industrial hemp since producers of certified seed were located in both states prior to 1937.