New in Fiber Nation | Hemp: The Fall and Rise of a Forbidden Fiber (and a Lot of Stuff About Smoking Pot) | Fiber Nation | Tales of Textiles, Craft, and Culture

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In September of this year, I visited a hemp field, part of Colorado State University’s Agriculture Program. Brian Mitchell, a Ph.D. student who helps run their hemp program, met me there and took me into a large shipping container full of drying plants. The smell was incredibly pungent, and Brian was an incredibly helpful and enthusiastic guide to everything hemp.

Brian Mitchell shows me hemp plants drying at Colorado State University

Humans have grown hemp for over 10,000 years, using it for everything from fabric to food, from rope and building supplies to medicines. In the US, hemp has a particularly long and twisty history. In 1619 farmers had to grow it, by law. In the 1700s, one could pay taxes with it. In the 1800s, it began appearing in over-the-counter remedies. And in 1937 hemp was pretty much outlawed, or at least so regulated and taxed it was impossible to grow for any kind of profit. What happened?

The answer is long and complicated, but it involves the Mexican Revolution, a bullet-headed bureaucrat named Harry J. Anslinger, and one of the worst films ever made.

In this latest episode of Fiber Nation, discover how industrial hemp and marijuana were conflated into one Very Bad Plant. Listen to how a manufactured marijuana scare became the focus for a whole host of social anxieties, from unemployment to immigration, to women’s increasing independence. And learn how one man harnessed that social anxiety to ensure the lasting safety of . . . his job.

In the film Reefer Madness, due to the pernicious influence of marijuana, a group of young people go from sock hops to rape, murder, and running someone over with a car.

Finally, hear how hemp’s revival today, both as plant protein and the booming business of CBD oil, is resurrecting hemp-based industries, albeit in a new direction.

These bags of drying hemp samples, part of CSU’s agricultural program, might represent a bright new future for hemp farmers in the US.

Be sure to check out the latest episode of Fiber Nation, Hemp: The Fall & Rise of a Forbidden Fiber. There’s a lot of hemp history, along with stories of government-developed truth serums, paper industry conspiracies, and the meaning behind the lyrics of a Mexican folk song.

Thanks for listening,
—Allison

Resources:

Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall of Marijuana in America by Emily Dufton

Chasing the Scream: The First & Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari

Reefer Madness: Excellent article by Eric Schlosser

Brian Mitchell, interviewed in this podcast, helped create this handy infographic about hemp vs marijuana.

Fact sheet on Industrial Hemp, also from Brian

Hemp was part of American agriculture for over 200 years

1619 Virginia Assembly laws, mandating the growing of hemp

Reefer Madness! The Twisted History of America’s Weed Laws

Well before smokable week hit the US, people enjoyed “legitimate” cannabis-based remedies.

Harry Anslinger: Racist Hate-Monger

Hemp Against Hitler

The Colorado Hemp Project

Videos:

Harry J. Anslinger
Reefer Madness trailer
Hemp for Victory! USDA film
Racist Origins of Marijuana Prohibition

Projects to Play with Hemp

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Christina Cavaluzzi November 12, 2021

Super interesting podcast! There’s another angle too — native communities growing industrial hemp and being allowed to (or not). This great movie explains some of the issues : Standing Silent Nation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_Silent_Nation

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