Hemp Cultivation

Hemp Cultivation: Yes I Cannabis

ThomasO’ConnellBrianRubinoBuzzyShaulBethSpergelAkbarAlikhan

Hemp vs. Marijuana

•  UnitedStatesNa>onalIns>tuteofHealth,UniversityofMississippimarijuanaplanta>onsite,showingvaria>oninplantsize.Atallfiber-typeofhempplantisshownatleJ,andashortnarco>cvariety(iden>fiedas“PanamaGold”)atright.

Hemp vs. Marijuana

Differenceastohowmarijuanaandhempwouldappearinthefield.

Cannabis sativa • species from which both hemp and marijuana are derived • single plant genus that contains cannabinoids

- delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)

o psychoactive ingredient - cannabidiol (CBD)

o an antipsychoactive ingredient

Industrial hemp has trace levels of THC and high levels of CBD Marijuana, one the other hand, has high levels of THC and low levels of CBD

Uses of Hemp

•  BenefitsofHemp•  oneoftheEarth’smostlucra>ve

biomassresources–  canproducetentonsperacrein

approximatelyfourmonths•  Fuel•  Food•  Paper•  Biodegradableplas>cs•  Par>cleboard•  Animalbedding•  tex>les•  requiresminimal,ifany,biocides,

pes>cidesand/orherbicides•  approximately25,000knownuses

Dietary Advantages

Food-nutri>ousfoodsource-containsallessen>alaminoacidsandessen>alfaZyacids-33%purediges>bleprotein-Advantagesoversoybean

Avarietyofstudieshavedocumentedtheimportanceofthera>oofOmega3toOmega6consump>on.Hempseedoilistheclosesttothisop>mumra>oofanynaturallyoccurringoil.Hempseedoilhasara>oofatleastone-to-three,Omega3toOmega6.Oilswithunbalancedra>oshavebeenshowntohavedetrimentalphysiologicaleffects.

Industrial Advantages

Paper•  Oneacreofhempcanproduce

asmuchuseablefiberasfouracresoftreesortwoacresofcoZon

•  Hempcanbecul>vatedinasliZleas100days

•  Acid-free•  Chlorine-free•  Comparedtopapermadefrom

trees,hemppaperis:–  Stronger–  Longerlas>ng –  Canberecycledmore>mes

•  Wouldhelppreventdeforesta>onandlossofbiodiversity

AdvantagesovercoZon•  warmer•  stronger•  morewaterabsorbent•  moredurable•  UVresistant•  Frostresistant•  RequiresliZle,ifany,biocides,pes>cides

and/orherbicides,whereascoZonrequiresmany

Government Opinion

Hempregula>oninCanada•  Strictlicensingprocess•  Onlygovernmentapprovedlow-THChempgrownand

purchasedfromauthorizedseedvendors•  Applicantbackgroundchecks•  GPScoordinatesofhempfields•  Randominspec>onsandtes>ng

Government Opinion USGovernment’sViewTowardsIndustrialHemp

•  Notposi>ve•  TheUnitedStatesNa>onalIns>tuteonDrugAbuse(NIDA)voicesseveralbasicfearsabout

legalizinghemp:

–  (1)growingCannabisplantsmakeslawenforcementmoredifficult,becauseoftheneedtoensurethatallplantscul>vatedarelegi>mate

–  (2)u>liza>onofindustrialhempproductsmaymakemarijuanausemoreacceptable–  (3)manyofthemovementssupportersarepro-marijuanaadvocates–  4)THC(andperhapsothercons>tuents)inCannabisaresoharmfulthattheirpresencein

anyamountinanymaterial(food,medicineorevenfiberproduct)representsahealthhazardthatisbestdealtwithbyatotalprohibi>on

U.S. Opposition to Domestic Hemp Cultivation

•  Hemp’sLinktoMarijuana

–  Culturalpercep>onscauselowdesiretolegalizecul>va>on–  Hempandhempproductshaveanega>vesocialconnota>on–  Poli>calandsocialopposi>onisunfoundedduetoscien>ficevidence–  Hempshouldnotbeclassifiedasadrugorassociatedwithmarijuana–  U.S.DEAhasobjectedtodomes>chempcul>va>onduetopoten>alregula>onexpenses–  Hempcul>va>oncouldeliminateillegallygrownmarijuana

U.S. Opposition to Domestic Hemp Cultivation

•  Capitalis>cgreedcausedhemp’scurrentlegalstatus

–  Hempwasregulatedasanagriculturalproductduringearly20thcentury–  DuPont’sprofitablepes>cideandherbicidebusinessthreatenedbyhemp–  Hearst’snega>vepublicityofhempdueto>mberinvestments–  Today:Hempisathreattopowerfulestablishedlobbyingindustries

•  Rawmaterials:i.e.coZon,>mber,oil•  Manufacturing:i.e.paper,plas>cs,ethanol

–  Ini>alchangetohempcul>va>oncouldbecostly,butul>matelymoreprofitableandsustainable

Case Study – Hemp Legalization in North Dakota

•  2005-NorthDakotalegalizesgrowthofhemp,providedfarmersacquirelicenses.•  January2007,MonsonandHaugeacquiredlicensesfromthestate.•  February2007,AppliedtoFederalDEAforlicensestogrowhemp.Askfordecisionsby

April1(with>metoplantbeforetheendofthegrowingseason). •  June2007–MonsonandHaugefilelawsuitagainstDEAfordelay•  Con>nualbaZlebetweenfarmersandDEA

Benefits of Farming Hemp in North Dakota

•  Farmingisalargepartoftheeconomy•  1993,Scab,afungusalsoknownasFusarium,

DestroyswheatcropinN.D.•  HempgrowsverywillinCanada,justnorthof

N.D.•  Hempsuitstherockysoilinthearea

Opposition

•  Opponentsofthislegaliza>onclaimthatthereisreallynoeconomicbenefittolegalizingHemp.

•  Claimthatthefarmersarebeingusedbythe

marijuanaadvocates-theonlypeoplewhowouldbenefitfromthislegaliza>on.

Rationale

•  “Thisisnotanysubversivethingliketryingtolegalizemarijuanaorwhatever.Thisisjustprac>calagriculture.We’redesperateforsomethingthatcanmakeussomemoney.”

-DavidC.Monson,Farmer,highschoolprincipalandRepublicanstatelegislatorinNorthDakota

IfHempproduc-onisprofitable,thenworldproduc-onwillbethrivingand

tradevigorous

•  Neveranydebateoverlegalityofcrop•  World’slargestproducerofHempfibersandHempseed-largeforceofcheaplabor

•  AlthoughChinacontributes40.6%oftotalworldcrop,itoccupiesonly0.3%ofthe

country’sagriculturalacreage•  IncreasingforeigndemandforHempproducts,drivenbyEuropeanandNorthAmerican

consumers•  Foreignpriceishigh,butDomes>cpriceremainslow•  PoorMarketStructure=PoorResponse•  ChinesepoliciesfavorGrainproduc>on•  Hempisnotapriorityofthestatewhendeterminingmarkets.But,ChineseNa>onal

HempIndustryhaspushedformoreResearchandDevelopment,aswellasbeZertechnologies

•  Hempiscurrentlyat10%ofstate’sCoZonoutput,20%isprojectedgoal

Case Study #1: People’s Republic of China

Case Study #2: European Union

•  Licensing–  THCinplantmustbelessthan0.2%(ascomparedto15%innarco>cCannabis)–  ThereIsasetamountofonly14varie>es,experimenta>oninbreedingisdiscouraged

•  Formalapplica>onrequiredwithinten>onofareatobeusedforcul>va>on

•  Subsidies–  Sampleofcropmustbesentinfortes>ng–  Begunin1988,butamounthasdecreasedduetoreportedproblemswithillegaldrug

ac>vity–  Recentlyrenewed=90€

•  HempforEuropecampaign–  massiveResearchandDevelopmenteffort

. . . and Canada

•  ToobtainalicensefromMinistryofHealth,THC<0.3%•  Hemptradeonlypossiblewithcertainlicensedcountrieswithrestric>ons

•  NoWholePlants!

•  Chemicalprocessingtechnologytoremovepec>n

–  createsawhiter,soJer,fabric

Why isn’t the world market thriving? •  An>-Narco>cslawsnecessitateregula>onandlotsofredtapeinEuropeandCanada-

tradeseverelylimited•  InChina,acaseofins>tu>onalfailureinbuildinganinterna>onalmarket•  Notruecosteffec>vemeansofprocessingtheplantforfiberandvariousother

components–  technologylacking

•  IndustrialHempfacescompe>>onfromestablishedcommodi>eslikeCoZon(tex>les),Timber(paper),Soy(food),andPetroleum(oilsandplas>cs)

•  Nota“miracle”plant-differentvarie>esarenecessarytoyielddifferentproducts•  Na>onofgreatestconsump>on(U.S.)islargelyoutofthepicture•  HempneedsachancetomovebeyondtheNoveltyproductsoldinHealthFoodstoresand“Hand-BlownGlass”shops

Potential Certainly Exists

•  CaliforniafirmHempteches>matedInterna>onalMarketvalue

–  75million€in1995–  1.5billion€in2001…andgrowing!

•  AmericanentryintothemarketandgreateravailabilityofHempproductstoAmericanconsumerscouldturnIndustrialHempintothecashcropWashingtonenvisioned

Connection to NTRES 331 Survivalist•  Wouldsupportitsefficiency(lesslikelihoodofdeple>on)

–  Producesuptotentonsperacreinonly4months–  Quicklyrenewableresource

Prometheans•  Duetoefficientproduc>on,norealneedtostrictlyconserve-Onlyatransi>onfromone

resourcetoanother

•  Hempisthenewalterna>ve–  Astradi>onalresourcesdwindle,new(less-expensive)alterna>vethenbecomecommonly

used

Proposed Hemp Governance

Combina>onofTop-DownRegula>onandMarket–Basedincen>vesGovernment’sRole:•  SetstandardsformaximumTHCcontent•  DeveloplicensingsystemState/LocalRole:•  PerformregularTHCanalyses•  MaintaincroprecordsMarketBasedIncen>ves•  Governmentcouldprovidesubsidiesforhempcul>va>on

–  SimilartoEUstrategy•  CostsinvolvedwouldhavetooutweighcostsincurredbyGovernment(subsidies,

licensing,etc)AnintegralpartofM&K’sthirdepochtowardssustainability

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