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Hemp-made Fourth of July flag brings Old Glory back to its Betsy Ross roots

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Greg Campbell Contributor
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The hemp-made Stars and Stripes to be flown over the U.S. Capitol on July 4 will bring the flag back to its hempen Betsy Ross roots, even though the actual roots of the hemp plant remain illegal under federal drug laws.

Michael Bowman, a Colorado farmer and hemp advocate who lobbied for a pro-hemp amendment to the recently failed farm bill, made the flag with hemp grown in Colorado, where voters legalized it in November, along with its more notorious relative, marijuana.

Colorado Democrat Rep. Jared Polis, who introduced the amendment with several other lawmakers, arranged for the flag to fly over the Capital on the Fourth, according to the Washington Post. Polis has long pushed for a reclassification of cannabis — which includes both marijuana and hemp.

Currently, cannabis is listed with heroin, ecstasy and other addictive and dangerous drugs in the Controlled Substances Act, even though hemp does not contain nearly enough psychoactive THC to produce a high.

Instead, hemp activists point to the estimated $500 million U.S. market for hemp products, which includes clothing, cordage, concrete, auto parts and other applications. Because growing hemp domestically is a federal crime, all the hemp used in U.S. manufacturing is imported from other countries, like Canada and France.

The United States is the only industrialized country that doesn’t allow hemp farming.

The plant only became outlawed in 1970, when the CSA was enacted. In addition to providing the raw material for Ross’ original flag, hemp was used to make the paper that early drafts of the Declaration of Independence were written on (the one in the National Archives is written on parchment) and to make the clothing for many of the soldiers in Washington’s Continental Army.

Even after the cannabis plant was saddled with an onerous tax in 1937 (which effectively outlawed it), the federal government encouraged farmers to grow “hemp for victory” during World War II when America’s trading channels were blockaded.

Having his flag fly over the nation’s capital, Bowman told the Washington Post, is a “powerful symbol” of its place in American history.

The movement to legalize hemp has been gaining momentum with the passage of new marijuana laws. Thirty-five states have introduced legislation to allow for hemp cultivation or study, with 19 having passed laws allowing farmers to grow it, according to Vote Hemp, a nonprofit pro-hemp organization.

The flag will eventually return to Colorado, where it will fly over the state capital, the Post reported. But first it will make a tour of states with legislation pending to legalize the felonious flora. The first stop will be in Vermont.

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Tags : hemp
Greg Campbell