Why is growing hemp illegal in the U.S.?
Industrial hemp has been grown in this country for centuries. It was grown by Thomas Jefferson on his farm in Virginia. It was grown by the United States government for use during WW II. The US government formed War Hemp Industries and subsidized hemp cultivation. US farmers grew about a million acres of hemp across the midwest as part of that program. The growing of hemp was essentially “criminalized” by the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, by which hemp farmers were burdened with a tax that was meant to squelch the narcotic “marihuana” production. The Director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, (the precursor to the DEA) Henry J. Anslinger, led farmers to believe their cash crop would not be threatened by the criminalization of its cousin. This, of course, was not to be the case. It is significant to note that Anslinger was the nephew of Secretary of Treasury, Andrew Mellon. Andrew Mellon was also a banker for chemical companies such as DuPont. DuPont is a company who was a
