In 1998, after years of advocacy work, Canada opened their farm fields to growing industrial hemp.
In 2001 the DEA made an attempt to keep industrial hemp products illegal in the United States. A three-year
long law suit ended February 6, 2004 with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issuing a permanent ruling that
blocked the DEA from this prohibition. Since 1998, industrial hemp has become a highly profitable cash crop
for Canada. The United States imports hemp from Canada and other countries at a premium price. Today,
the U.S. is the only industrialized country that does not grow industrial hemp.
During 2014 many U.S. states have taken to passing legislation to begin growing industrial hemp in response
to Section 7606 of the (Federal) 2014 Farm Bill that was signed in by President Obama, which allows for limited growing of industrial hemp based on research. In January 2015, Michigan joined in this limited prohibition by passing 2 hemp bills into law that now allows universities and agriculture departments to grow the
crop for research purposes.
Please take note: Industrial hemp is not the same as medical marijuana and although many states allow for
the cultivation of medical cannabis, this does not automatically allow for the growing of industrial hemp.
It should also be noted that the Federal Government recognizes this differenc R