The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 demonized cannabis and hemp got caught up in the Reefer Madness of the moment and was suddenly illegal, as were all of the over 200 existing pharmaceutical drugs in use containing hemp and cannabis.
A few years later, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, imports of hemp from the Philippines was stopped. The shortage of the fiber combined with the demand from the US Navy created a national security crisis. The US Government did an about face and asked farmers to be patriots by growing hemp. Many didn’t know how. The Hemp for Victory movement began, armed with a handy how-to video produced by the Department of Agriculture.
Over one million acres of hemp were grown in the Midwest. After the war ended, the government’s flirtation with the product ended abruptly. Hemp processing plants were shut down or converted for other purposes. In 1970 the Controlled Substances Act classified both hemp and cannabis as Schedule I narcotics, among the most dangerous in the land.
Now, nearly fifty years later, our country faces what some are calling the greatest drug addiction crisis in its history but it’s not cannabis, its opiates. The good news is, cannabis is poised to be unlikely heroes in a beautiful Hemp for Victory 2.0
Legalizing hemp would allow for the creation of thousands of jobs as companies were created to grow, process and sell hemp products. Clothing, beauty, food, construction, medicine and fuel oil industries could all show tremendous innovation and growth.
Cousin cannabis is not to be left behind. It has been long proven, cannabis is NOT a gateway drug. In fact, states with medical marijuana have shown to have 25% fewer fatal overdoses. If anything, cannabis could prove to be an effective gateway out opiate addiction.
Pharmaceutical companies like Axim Biotechnologies Inc, Nemus Bioscience Inc and Intec Pharma Ltd recognize the opportunity and all seek to be the first cannabis based painkiller approved by the FDA.
While this is speculation, we do know that cannabis legalization reduces resources needed by prohibition such as police, the courts, public defenders and prisons. It also means fewer citizens criminalized for using a plant. We have a right to be able to grow, access and use these plants. Hemp for Victory 2.0 . It’s time.
-Trey Reckling