Production of industrial hemp, though currently illegal throughout much of the country, is ingrained into the very fabric of the United States. George Washington was a noted proponent for hemp production, and farmers were even permitted to pay their federal taxes with the vital crop for more than 200 years. By 1850, there were more than 8,300 hemp farms across the nation. However, additional taxes imposed by the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 made hemp production too expensive to compete with international operations. If that didn’t damage the country’s industrial hemp market enough, a bit of mistaken identity with its high-inducing cousin was enough to land industrial hemp on the country’s blacklist following the Controlled Substances Act.
Although imported hemp has been legal since 1998, the federal government has been reluctant to remove the regulatory ban on the production of the useful crop. As a result, states are beginning to take matters into their own hands. In 2014, farmers in Colorado harvested the first legal, domestically-produced industrial hemp crop in more than half a century, and other states have since taken notice of the success of the Colorado industry. Hemp, Inc., through the operation of its 70,000 square-foot decortication and milling plant, is prepared to capitalize on this movement when legalization is achieved in North Carolina.
Since 2014, a total of 13 states – including South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky – have passed laws allowing industrial hemp farming for research and/or commercial purposes. In July, the state of North Carolina took a major step toward hemp legalization when it enacted a new law allowing for the prescription of hemp oils to patients with intractable epilepsy without the need for a pilot study. Hemp, Inc.’s management team highlighted the considerable promise provided by this decision.
“Many advocators and supporters feel this is a huge step for any level of medicinal use of the cannabis plant,” Craig Perlowin, secretary and director of Hemp, Inc., stated in a news release. “How long do you think it will take for North Carolina to allow it to be grown in its own backyard? After these amendments, I suspect not long at all.”
In the meantime, Hemp, Inc. is putting its decortication plant – which is among the largest in the world – to work by processing kenaf, an annual, non-wood fiber plant that’s indigenous to central Africa. For prospective shareholders, the company demonstrates tremendous potential upside, particularly as the movement to legalize industrial hemp production in North Carolina gains steam.
For more information, visit www.hempinc.com
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