When the British government changedthe law regarding the cultivation of industrial Cannabis Hemp in February 1993, making it legal to cultivate for thefirst time in seventy years, they helped set in motion one of the few truly environmentally-friendly industries inthe UK. Though Cannabis Hemp had been grown all over the British Isles and had been the country's main source oftextile and paper - as well as rope, sails and a host of other things, a worldwide ban on Cannabis cultivation cameinto effect in 1935, and had led to a virtual disappearance of Hemp product from the marketplace. Now, due to thedemand for sustainable eco-friendly fuels and resources, the venerable Hemp plant is making something of a comeback.Hemp businesses are springing up all over the country in an effort to restore this incredible plant to its formerstatus as the world's number one crop; and last year, 1995, saw several thousand acres of Cannabis Hemp cultivated inthe UK. Hemp was indeed so vital to the nation's wealth that wars were fought with France in the Middle Ages tokeep the Hemp lines open from Russia - then the prime source of quality Hemp. And it is fair to say that the BritishEmpire was virtually founded on Hemp. Britain being principally a sea-faring nation, the Navy was its pride and joy.Not only were all the sails and ropes made from Hemp, but the ships were sealed with Hemp and varnished with Hempoil. Add to that the fact that the sailors' clothes were made from Hemp (still the world's toughest known naturaltextile), and you can begin to realise Hemp's importance in that period. Another extensive use of Hemp throughouthistory has been paper. The American Declaration of Independence was signed on Hemp paper and the original bibleswere all printed on Hemp - as were many books at the time. And the oil from the Hemp seed was much valued not onlyfor its nutritional properties, but also for its use in lamps and as a drying agent in paint and varnish. All thiswas to change in the 1930s, when apart from the ban on cultivation, the introduction of man-made materials, alongwith the discovery of new techniques for making paper from wood pulp, led to the early demise of industrial Hemp. Andcenturies of traditional craft also all but disappeared. The present day uses of Hemp are many and varied, thoughat the moment, the main use of this crop is to provide textile. A massive variety of Hemp textile is beginning tofind its way onto the market once again. The prime producer of Hemp textile is China, which has had an uninterruptedHemp trade for some six thousand years; and quality Hemp is also to be found in Hungary and Romania. Last year, forthe first time in over a hundred years, some British Hemp textile was produced - although the quality could notcompare with its Chinese counterpart. For, although Cannabis Hemp is a very easy crop to grow (a farmers' dream cropin fact), it is not easy to process it into textile, and it will be a few years before the skills required to producequality textile resurface in this country. Meanwhile, much of the British Hemp crop is being used to produce finequality paper - the length and strength of the fibres making it an ideal substance to strengthen recycled paper whichgets weaker each time it is reprocessed. At present there are several mills in the UK producing Hemp paper. Another use for British Hemp is for animal bedding. At the moment the Queen's horses at Windsor are bedding down onCannabis every night! But by far the most exciting use of Hemp lies in its potential to provide an eco-friendly fuelfor the motor car and for power stations. However, more research must be done in these areas before the potential ofHemp is fully recognised. But for all its myriad of uses, the most endearing aspect of this plant is that it is anenvironmentally-friendly crop which will grow almost anywhere in the world, growing up to fifteen feet in only ahundred days and requiring no pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Compare this with cotton. Last year, thirtynine million tonnes of pesticides were used in cotton cultivation alone, and it is these pesticides that are findingtheir way back into the food chain and causing no end of disease. With the pressure to find resources that are lessdamaging to the environment, it may well be that Cannabis Hemp proves to be a lifeline to the future of ourplanet. Although still very much in its infancy, the fledgling British Hemp Industry is going from strength tostrength, and more and more shops around the country are beginning to stock Hemp product. There is even a shop inBristol devoted entirely to Hemp (British Hemp Stores, opened in November 1994), and, just recently, a museum hasopened in London exhibiting Hemp products and providing information regarding growing, processing, etc. Essex boasts afederation of farmers called Hemcore who are the largest body of Hemp producers in the country; and the EvergreenTextile mill in Yorkshire has been producing Hemp and recycled textiles for several years now. Hand-made paper isbeing produced in Wookey Hole in Somerset (you can actually watch them make it!), and several Hemp fashion labelsare also springing up, the most impressive being the Alessandro Dasosa range of original Hemp street-wear,incorporating the latest street fashions of today, but using only Hemp textile. Other Hemp companies in the UKinclude the House of Hemp based in London, and Hemp Union from Hull - as well as a host of labels such as SE clothingfrom Norwich (making girls' clothing with a definite clubbing influence) and Skins from Sheffield. Bands like theLevellers have jumped on the Hemp bandwagon, and more and more people are picking up on this textile which is notonly very tough but also extremely comfortable and versatile. And as more and more people work with the substance, sothe prices continue to tumble. You can pick up a pair of quality Hemp jeans for around forty to fifty pounds - andthey'll last you a lifetime! Other products made from Hemp include a range of cosmetics and toiletries made from Hempoil, as well as a range of attractive knitwear using Hemp wool. America boasts the largest concentration of Hempproducers and manufacturers, and a selection of the best of the USA labels is available through British Hemp Stores.Meanwhile, Germany and Holland are not far behind, with several new well-funded companies and clothes labels appearingon a regular basis. But it is not all one-way traffic. A combination of apathy and ignorance has not helped thetrade get established, and the predicted boom of Hemp clothing has yet to happen. Part of the reason has been therelatively high prices of the products - though this is changing as the demand increases. And British shoppers are anotoriously fussy lot - they won't buy anything unless it is one hundred percent to their liking; and this has provedto be a big problem for the Hemp-clothing companies, most of whom are small and underfunded and unable to produce therange of colours and styles necessary to compete with the High Street. Added to this, the government has not exactlybeen generous in its support for the trade - probably due to the close association with drugs. Though it should bepointed out that Hashish or Marijuana are products of the female flowering heads of the plant, while the industrialapplications derive from the stems of the plant alone. Besides this, industrial Hemp contains no THC(Tetrahydrocannabinol - the psychoactive ingredient present in the drug form). So you couldn't get stoned on it ifyou tried. What this all means - basically - is that the future of the British Hemp industry lies in the hands ofyou - the People. So if we are to have a chance to reinstate this wonderful life-giving plant into the mainstream ofour society and truly hand our ailing planet a lifeline with which to extricate itself from the terrible mess we havecreated, then it is up to us to support the Hemp trade and demand Hemp product. So there you go... Buy Hemp andcreate a lifeline to the future!
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