The production of industrial hemp is currently legal in more than 25 countries including Canada, France, Germany, and China and more than twelve states have passed or are in the process of passing legislation to legalize industrial hemp. We simply have to deal rationally rather than hysterically with a crop whose promise is great and time has come.
Industrial hemp is a versatile crop that has a number of uses and requires very little maintenance.
Virtually all parts of the plant can be used to produce a number of products like paper, textiles, food, building materials, and a variety of other industrial and technical products including fuel. In addition to its uses, industrial hemp also boasts an agricultural benefit because it is a significant rotation crop with an ability to reduce pests and weed growth and to boost the yields of the primary crop. California's climate would allow for three harvestable crops a year. Hemp is an untapped source of revenue for the state and it is absolutely ridiculous that the sole reason for its illegality is because of absurd claims made at the height of this nation's 'yellow journalism' era. The production of Industrial Hemp was outlawed in 1937 after a campaign of misinformation promulgated by the Hearst newspaper's chain.