Page 10 - September 2017

NOISE NEWS BY JOEY BONO
PLANT POWER:
INDUSTRIAL HEMP CULTIVATION COULD REVOLUTIONIZE ARIZONA’S ECONOMY
Imagine shimmering green fields, swaying stocks rolling like waves on a breezy spring day as you drive along Highway 179, en route to your favorite swimming hole. Further imag- ine your swimsuit, parts of your car, the fuel, and even the lunch you’ll eat later made from those same plants swaying in the breeze. That plant is hemp.
Cannabis ruderalis or hemp is teeming with historical significance, with cultural and eco- nomic implications dating back to Egyptian antiquity as ropes and sails on 15th century ships, to the smoothie enjoyed at the local health food store. Its applications are vast, with thousands of known uses; from the clothes we wear to the materials our homes and offices are constructed from, hemp is quite astounding. Uncle Sam was once a voice for hemp dur- ing World War One and Two, notably with the Hemp for Victory campaign, as tents, uniforms, and other materials were constructed with the crop. Though after victory, hemp fell out of favor, and many scholars place blame on the petrochemical and cotton industries’ move to neutralize its widespread use.
Enter President Richard M. Nixon — his pen stroke signaled the death blow for US hemp production in 1970, when he signed into law the Controlled Substances Act that put all genera of Cannabis, hemp included, under Schedule I, defined as high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use.
Currently the US imports nearly $1 billion of hemp for various products, with cosmetic and food products in the majority, originating from Canada and China. The ecological impli- cations by importing all this hemp takes a toll, through the fuel used to process and trans- port the raw material to its destination markets.
Looking to countries where industrial hemp cultivation is well established, the United King- dom, a vanguard in industrial hemp, is an active laboratory for hemp production, with 16 varieties currently regulated in the UK for cultivation. And it’s quite lucrative, with specialty farms growing for fiber, stock, and seed, and harvesting $1220 per acre for dual cropping.
The documentary, Bringing it Home: Industrial Hemp and a Greener Future, directed by Linda Booker and Blaire Johnson chimes an inspirational tone when delving into the near endless applications hemp provides. Citing UK growers, alternative building designers, and lobbyists, the film sheds light on what it considers absurdity when it comes to legislating hemp cultivation and how the US Government is hindering American enterprise by con- tinuing to keep hemp cultivation illegal.
According to Statista, an online clearinghouse for agricultural statistics, the imported value of hemp products has risen from $1.4 million in 1996 to over $688 million in 2016, due largely to the increase in foodstuff and cosmetic products utilizing hemp as a core in- gredient. Hemp seeds experienced the largest import growth due to nutritional value as an alternative protein source.
The three main constituent parts of the plant are: fiber or the outer shell, the stock or hurd, and the seed. High in omega-3 fatty acids with 1000mg per tablespoon, the nutritional value of hemp seed is astounding. Hemp oil slightly outpaces olive and sunflower oil in nutritional value, with 14 grams of fat, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
The plant contains known medical applications, with high concentrations of the Canna- binoid Cannabidiol (CBD), which can be extracted from all parts of the plant. In a recent popularity surge, the molecule is going through a courtship with neuroscience. Growing numbers of neurologists are touting the value of treating conditions like epilepsy and neu- rodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.
Major brands like Patagonia are creating strong narratives in support of industrial hemp. One such effort is a grant the company provided to Growing Warriors, a Kentucky-based farming group made of veterans that received funds for a customized processor and loom after they were awarded a cultivation license through a state-run program.
Kenneth Smith, owner of Hempy’s, an apparel company based in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, is cautiously optimistic about the likelihood of industrial hemp being passed at the federal level. Many farmers in Colorado jumped on board after the state enacted its Industrial Hemp Program in 2013, actively growing acres of hemp only to realize that different strains are grown for different applications. He’s not interested in being on the production side of hemp, yet sees the economic value to his company from hemp grown instate. “Making products close to home, buying the goods locally, builds strong communi- ties and lowers the carbon footprint,” he says.
Nutiva, a Canadian-based company, is front and center with lobbying efforts, winning a landmark case against the Drug Enforcement Agency in 2001 to keep hemp foods legal in the US. The company sponsored the film Hemp Road Trip, which focused on the renewable resource applications the plant affords. Producing numerous products with hemp seed, the company is an example of how global brands can influence government decisions.
The United States has a history of hemp cultivation and is currently the largest importer of hemp in the world. And within the last decade, 33 states have legislated the growth, production, and distribution of industrial hemp, with a concentration in the Appalachian region of what was historically tobacco country.
So what’s the holdup on the national level? The overarching goal of the US Hemp Lobby is to have the crop removed from Schedule I, which would free up individuals, farmers, and trade associations to take to the rows, planting, harvesting, and researching its uses. The latest incarnation of this effort is House Resolution Bill 3530, also known as the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017, sponsored by Rep. James Comer (R-KY). The bill excludes hemp from the definition of marijuana and classifies the .3% THC value as non-psychoac- tive, setting up a framework for licensing, testing, and regulating both individual cultivators and research institutions, including universities.
Just this year, State Senator Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu City) proposed SB 1337, which would have set up a cultivation, distribution, and licensing program through the Arizona Department of Agriculture. It was vetoed by Governor Doug Ducey in May, due to what he called a lack of funding for the program.
Alex Gentry, chairman of the board of Safer Arizona 2018, a political action committee which aims to get industrial hemp on the ballot next year, is enthusiastic that voters will see the wisdom in removing Cannabis from Schedule I, which will open up the doorway to introduce industrial hemp into Arizona. “We want to have our farmers growing hemp, the problem is: if we don’t repeal prohibition, it won’t happen.”
Mr. Gentry points out that SB 1337, which passed both the House and Senate, had ques- tionable language, in that if the hemp tested above the .3% threshold, that farmers would be banned from further farming. Speaking to the economic implications he says, “It can lift Arizona out of economic hardship. If you want to bring jobs and allow entrepreneurs to imagine new possibilities, this is magical plant for that.” The major blockage is what he de- scribes as the “cronyism” with the government and industries who don’t want competition from hemp — there are reasons why this plant was made illegal, because it competes with cotton and oil. Postulating on a post-hemp future Arizona, he describes the hemp grown in Arizona would be a whole lot better because it allows for more quality control versus imports, “People will know what they are getting.”
Arizona is poised to benefit greatly from industrial hemp, nearly every sector of the state’s economy from agriculture to tech will be directly impacted by production, processing and the products made from the hemp plant. Arizona is a prime environment due to one of the longest growing seasons in the country, with only two months of freezing in lower desert areas. The Verde Valley along with Eastern and Southern Arizona, are prototypical regions for the boom that cultivation would bring. To boot, hemp requires less irrigation than tra- ditional cotton, fitting into an arid environment unlike any other currently cultivated crop.
Keith Floyd, who owns 37 acres in Apache County and is an avid supporter of Safer Arizona 2018, has a goal to make a form of Hempcrete onsite using the hemp hurd mixed with nearby limestone. As a versatile building material, Hempcrete is a slurry that once dried, provides a sturdy, porous building block with a high insulative value that is incredibly robust, nontoxic, and can be processed more efficiently than traditional drywall. Architects and building science professionals are singing the praises of this material as an eco-friendly alternative to drywall and concrete.
The Sedona Hemp Coalition, an advocacy organization whose core mission revolves around education, is betting on the people and producing the first Hempfest at the Se- dona Collective in the Village of Oak Creek September 30. Founding member, Gigi Rock beams when speaking about the potential that hemp can bring the Arizona economy. “We are working with the National Hemp Association, they are helping to guide us because they’ve been doing this a lot longer than we have ... We have to educate our government, so it is going to be the people that come through to do this.”
Ms. Rock relays a resounding message: “Hemp should have never left the United States ... our farmers lost out and we as a people lost out on a plant that we all should be able to grow and use.”
10 • SEPTEMBER 2017 | the NOISE arts & news | www.thenoise.us ABOVE: Taxonomy of Cannabis from Kentucky State University, circa 1900. | ILLUSTRATION BY W. MÜLLER