[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 11, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1185-E1186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




STATEMENTS BY LUC FILLION AND EVAN PAUL, CANAAN HIGH SCHOOL, REGARDING 
                            INDUSTRIAL HEMP

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 11, 1997

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of my colleagues I would 
like to have printed in the Record this statement by high school 
students from Canaan High School in Vermont, who were speaking at my 
recent town meeting on issues facing young people.

       Mr. Fillion. Congressman Sanders, fellow students, we are 
     here today to voice our opinion on the legalization of 
     industrial hemp. Industrial hemp is not a drug, it is not 
     marijuana; it is a relative of the marijuana plant, but 
     contains virtually no delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, 
     the mind-altering drug found in marijuana. This means that 
     industrial hemp cannot get anyone high, even the most 
     stubborn pot smoker.
       There are innumerous benefits to be gained from the 
     cultivation of industrial hemp. If only 6% of the contiguous 
     United States were used to grow hemp, it could supply to us 
     all of the electricity, heat, and all the fuel we need for 
     our cars. Hemp could also be used to make stronger and more 
     moisture-resistant paper which would stop paper from 
     shrinking, curling or deteriorating as easily. An acre of 
     hemp can produce four times as much paper as an acre of 
     trees, saving this country's diminishing forests and the 
     rainforest.
       Vermont definitely could benefit from industrial hemp's 
     legalization. If Vermont's agricultural and dairy farmers 
     would turn to industrial hemp as their main asset, the 
     farmers could quadruple their agricultural income.
       These are just a few of the ways that industrial hemp can 
     be utilized. We would like to know why we are striving if 
     this invaluable resource can help us so tremendously with our 
     problems today?
       Mr. Paul. Hemp can be used to improve so many of the 
     products that we use today. It can be used in ropes and sails 
     for ships; stronger papers and materials ranging in quality 
     from burlap to silk; and healthier, less fatty foods, 
     especially meat substitutes and birdseed.
       Hemp can be used for fuel with a 95% efficiency conversion, 
     and unlike fossil fuels (petroleum) or nuclear power, it is a 
     renewable and replenishable resource, and it is extremely 
     easy to grow in nearly all climates, including Vermont's.
       Hemp fiber needs little more than nitrogen to grow. Even 
     here in Vermont hemp and other cannabis plants grow wild in 
     ditches and forests. In fact, Australia survived two 19th 
     century famines on the seeds and leaves of industrial hemp 
     alone.
       Mr. Fillion. Many officials believe that legalizing hemp 
     would lead to the legalization of marijuana and eventually 
     even harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin. There is no 
     basis whatever for these assumptions. Industrial hemp, as we 
     have stated, is not a drug,

[[Page E1186]]

     so how do you go from legalizing harmless plants to 
     legalizing hard-core drugs? There is no connection between 
     the two.
       It makes no sense to be afraid of a plant that has been 
     grown for thousands of years around the globe. In fact, 
     industrial hemp was grown in the United States in the 18th 
     and 19th centuries. It was made illegal in 1937 by the Food 
     and Drug Administration, but only years later during World 
     War II, it was relegalized because of economic troubles. It 
     makes more sense to be afraid of not having it.
       Industrial hemp's roots are strong and very extensive, and 
     have been shown to hinder and ultimately prevent erosion in 
     such erosion-prone places as China where hemp, but not 
     marijuana, is legal.
       We are not for the legalization of marijuana; we are for 
     the legalization of industrial hemp.
       The government already knows the great benefits of 
     legalizing industrial hemp. Our question is, what's the 
     holdup?
       Mr. Paul. Because they do not really know the facts. There 
     are a lot of differences between industrial hemp and 
     marijuana, but because of the world hemp a lot of people have 
     come to believe is a slang word for marijuana. They confuse 
     the two and believe that they are the same thing.
       Mr. Fillion. Industrial hemp is a biomass like many other 
     plants, and by using a procedure called porolysis it can be 
     diverted into something that can be used for fuel and into 
     things such as crude oil or oils close to vegetable oil and 
     petroleum.

     

                          ____________________