Medical marijuana has made plenty of headlines across Illinois this year as various interests scurry to serve as production and distribution facilities.
Lost in the shuffle is an update on industrial hemp in this state.
That’s the non-sexy little brother in the cannabis family that won’t get you high or comfort the afflicted. All industrial hemp does is produce seeds and fiber that can be used in making clothing, food, beverages, paper, plastics, building supplies and fuel.
Eric Pollitt, the Peoria owner of the Global Hemp online store, reports that this summer, without any fanfare, Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill making industrial hemp legal for research purposes.
“The bill allows for research to be done at universities that offer a four-year ag degree,” said Pollitt, who’s anxious to do his own research on processing hemp fiber.
Illinois could be a leader in the industrial hemp field, he said. “I asked the man in charge of industrial hemp with the Illinois Department of Agriculture if the state was going to be proactive or reactive when it came to industrial hemp? He said, reactive,” said Pollitt, noting that zero funding was attached to the state’s bill.
But Illinois could miss a big opportunity by not jumping on the industrial hemp bandwagon, he said.
“It’s been grown for years in Canada but they just use the seeds; while in Europe, it’s grown for fiber. Hemp is heavily used for paper production in France,” said Pollitt.
The potential for a cash crop is there given the market, hemp’s many uses and its adaptability to Illinois climate, he said.
“Growing it is not the difficult part. But what industrial hemp needs is its own cotton gin,” said Pollitt, explaining that, just as the cotton industry was revolutionized by Eli Whitney’s device, hemp needs its own breakthrough innovation to aid in the harvesting of the crop.
“I would like Illinois to be a true leader in innovation and technology,” said Pollitt, suggesting a school or an ag-related firm such as John Deere could accelerate progress on the hemp front.
After all, it’s not like Illinois hasn’t embraced hemp before. The state’s farmers rose to the occasion during World War II, raising hemp to supply rope needed for the war effort when Manila hemp was cut off by the Japanese conquest of the Philippines.
Page 2 of 2 – “You had (hemp) processing plants throughout the state including one in Stark County,” said Pollitt.
After the war ended, however, so did U.S. hemp production.
It may be time to revive that industry here. Given the crop’s many commercial uses, hemp appears to be worth more than a reactive research effort.
Steve Tarter is Journal Star business editor. Tarter’s phone number is 686-3260, and his email address is starter@pjstar.com. Follow his blog, Minding Business, on pjstar.com and follow him on Twitter @SteveTarter
Tarter: Value of hemp grows in Illinois
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