Did Hemp Lose Its Popularity?

2010.04.27

One of the reasons that hemp seems to have been pushed to the back of beneficial plants is because of the confusion around cannabis. Many times hemp is thrown into the same ring, as marijuana become they all come from the same plant. If weed, hash, pot or any thing else you want to call it all comes from the same plant and its bad for you then hemp must be too right?

First of all the marijuana is the resin, the epidermal glands of the marijuana plant give that out. Hemp is the fibers of the cannabis plant. So right, there you can see the difference. The breeding grounds for each of these serve two separate purposes. Those whose interest lies in industrial hemp grow it so as to get it to put forth more of the fiber and seeds for industrial use. Those that grow the various varieties of weed do so to increase its strength of THC.

Those who have limited knowledge of marijuana figure the cannabis sativa plant is some type of new plant. Actually, it’s been cultivated for over 12,000 years so I would say that takes it out of the new category. It’s been found in various parts of the world such as Asia and Europe as well as both South and North America just to name a few. Historically it was known to be a source of food and fiber. In fact, it’s known to be one of the oldest textile fiber known to mankind. As a fiber, it has some amazing qualities. It does not decay easily and is strong and durable. It doesn’t attract mildew as easily as cotton does and it’s absorbent.

These were the very qualities that made it a great material for things such as sailcloth and twine for example. Actually if the truth be known, the name “canvas” was extracted from the word cannabis.

At one point during its height of popularity, the material was used to make uniforms and military supplies.

Its popularity began to die out when new materials came on the market such as synthetic fibers. In addition, there was less of a demand for sailcloth and the various riggings that were utilizing hemp as well. Combine this with the hype of marijuana, weed, grass and hash were all part of hemp obviously did much to destroy its credibility.

Hemp was still cultivated up until the 1950’s but the Marijuana tax act that had been implemented in 1937 had much to do with the demise of the growing and popularity of hemp.

Even in today’s modern day of age many people mistakenly blame hemp as being part of the drug scene in relations to pot or hash. It is certainly understandable that individuals would be concerned about a substance that could and does affect the mind. What is not so understandable is the narrow mindedness that sets in from lack of knowledge of all the details concerning the cannabis plant.