Hemp cultivation relaunched in the United States

The State of West Virginia is distributing hemp seeds to revive the plant's cultivation. At present, the United States produces almost no hemp, which is still illegal at federal level, and has to import over $11 million worth from France every year.

This decision follows the law ratified by state governor Earl Ray Tomblin March 25, 2016. The avowed aim is to improve knowledge of this plant and optimize its industrial use as much as possible.

State authorities have set themselves a two-year deadline to provide a legal framework for the sector, which has been abandoned in the country since the late 1930s. Farmers wishing to take part in this project will have to prove their goodwill and an empty criminal record.

Dave Hawkins, manager of Mother Earth Foods in Parkersburg, is one of the lucky farmers. The state has awarded him his license, and he's looking to the future: «It's a pretty cool idea, a basic crop that could help the state's economic health.

Hawkins is due to start planting on 0.2 hectares for his first crop. «Hemp cultivation was named in 1938 by the Popular Science Magazine The billion-dollar plant». Unfortunately Harry Aslinger and his Marijuana Tax Act prohibited the cultivation of hemp in the same year, 1938. This was the first time hemp had been legally planted in West Virginia since the Second World War.

The Department of Agriculture will test each plantation to see if farmers are complying with the rate of THC authorized. Federal law considers a variety of hemp to be legal as long as its THC content remains below 0.3%.

The authorities are keen to revive this employment sector, both in agriculture and industry. They are betting on research to diversify as much as possible the hemp-derived products.

Théo Caillart