http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis
List of countries growing hemp:
http://www.hemp.com/hemp-university/growing-hemp/countries-growing-hemp/
"Industrial hemp and marijuana are different varieties of the same species, Cannabis sativa L. Marijuana typically contains 3 to 15 percent of the psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on a dry-weight basis, while industrial hemp contains less than 1 percent. However, the two varieties are indistinguishable by appearance. In the United States, Cannabis sativa is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, regardless of its narcotic content, under the Controlled Substances Act as amended. Since 1990, varieties containing less than 0.3 percent THC have been legalized in Great Britain, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Canada and Australia legalized hemp production in 1998. In other countries, such as China, Russia, and Hungary, hemp production was never outlawed."
Source: United States Department of Agriculture, "Industrial Hemp in the United States: Status and Market Potential" (Washington, DC: January 2000), p. iii.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ages001E/ages001E.pdf"Approximately 30 countries in Europe, Asia, and North America currently permit farmers to grow hemp, although most banned production for certain periods of time in the past. The United States is the only developed nation in which industrial hemp is not an established crop. Great Britain lifted its ban in 1993 and Germany followed suit in 1996. In order to help reestablish a hemp industry, the European Union administered a subsidy program in the 1990s for hemp fiber production. In 1998, Canada authorized production for commercial purposes, following a three-year experimental period and a 50-year prohibition. As a condition of receiving a license to grow industrial hemp, Canadian farmers are required to register the GPS coordinates of their fields, use certified low-THC hemp seed, allow government testing of their crop for THC levels, and meet or beat a 10ppm standard for maximum allowable THC residue in hemp grain products. Agriculture Canada (the Canadian department of agriculture) estimates that more than 100 farmers nationwide are growing hemp, with the majority in central and western Canada."
Source: Rawson, Jean M., Congressional Research Service, "Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity" (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, January 5, 2005), p. CRS-3.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/RL32725.pdf
According to David West, PhD, "The THC levels in industrial hemp are so low that no one could ever get high from smoking it. Moreover, hemp contains a relatively high percentage of another cannabinoid, CBD, that actually blocks the marijuana high. Hemp, it turns out, is not only not marijuana; it could be called 'antimarijuana.'"
Source: West, David P, Hemp and Marijuana: Myths and Realities (Madison, WI: North American Industrial Hemp Council, 1998), p. 3.
http://www.votehemp.com/PDF/myths_facts.pdf"Another chemical shared by both industrial hemp and marijuana is Cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is unique because it is not intoxicating and it also moderates the euphoric effect of THC. Marijuana, which has disproportionately higher levels of THC than industrial hemp, also contains lower levels of CBD. The higher THC and lower CBD concentration gives marijuana its psychoactive effect.51 Conversely, industrial hemp’s low THC levels and comparatively high CBD levels produce none of the intoxicating effects of marijuana."
Source: Duppong, Thomas A., "Industrial Hemp: How the Classification of Industrial Hemp as Marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act Has Caused the Dream of Growing Industrial Hemp in North Dakota to Go up in Smoke," North Dakota Law Review (Grand Forks, ND: University of North Dakota School of Law, 2009) Vol. 85, No. 2, p. 408.
http://web.law.und.edu/LawReview/issues/web_assets/pdf/85-2/85NDLR403.pdf
In February 2004, the 9th Circu
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