| BIORESOURCE |  |
| HEMP | |
| 1995 |
| BIORESOURCE | |
| HEMP | |
| 1995 |
Canada's representative at the Bioresource Hemp symposium was Gordon
Reichert, an employee of the Market Analysis Division of Agriculture &
Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). He explained that his department had become
involved with cannabis through the publication of the December 16, 1994,
edition of their Bi-Weekly Bulletin. This issue of the bulletin discussed
the potential for industrial hemp in Canada, but he admitted that the AAFC
did not expect the "unprecedented and highly positive interest" that they
subsequently received from farmers and industry.
Gordon's trip to Frankfurt was funded in part by Canadian cannabis retail
and research organizations. The
Manitoba
Hemp Alliance (This link is now for the Canadian Industrial Hemp
Council, as the MHA site is no longer available. Dec 96)
initiated and organized the cooperative venture, and received funding from
Hemp BC, the Friendly Stranger, Shakedown Street, NORML Canada, Hemp Head,
and others.
Licences
Gordon discussed the fact that cannabis can be legally grown in Canada only
under licence from the Minister of Health, and only for research
purposes. This clause means that expenses cannot be recouped by selling
parts of the plant as fibre, seeds or oil, and that the RCMP monitors the
plants at the expense of the farmer.
He suggested that his audience "keep in mind that the Canadian Narcotic
Control Act was initially prepared over thirty years ago when industrial
hemp was considered a drug." He also mentioned that
Bill C-7
(which has now been withdrawn until next year) does not alter the
provisions for cannabis cultivation.
Gordon explained that the Canadian Federal Department of Agriculture
currently spends between
$250
to
$300
million on agricultural research every year. Aside from consultation, none
of this was spent on researching cannabis. However, three provinces have
established research and development funds for successful applicants, and
more are expected to follow.
Industrial Hemp in Canada
Anyone applying for a licence to cultivate cannabis in Canada must provide
detailed information regarding their research plan. This includes the
potential location and number of plants to be grown, scientific methodology
and purpose, names of all companies and individuals involved with the
process, and most importantly, "any other information which the applicant
feels will facilitate the issuance of a license."
Gordon explained that in 1994 one licence to cultivate cannabis was granted
to a private Canadian company, Hempline Incorporated. This was the first
legal hemp crop harvested in North America in nearly forty
years. Hempline's initial research helped to catapult Canadian agriculture
into the realm of industrial hemp.
At the time of the symposium no cannabis cultivation licences had yet been
granted, although applications from all provinces had been received by the
International Control and Licensing Division at the Bureau of Drug
Surveillance. In an update to his report, dated May 23, Gordon wrote that
the Canadian Ministry of Health had so far issued seven research licences
to four individuals in two provinces for the 1995 growing season.
Gordon said that he expected there to be intensive lobbying from industry
next year for legislative changes to permit the development of agricultural
cannabis. It is anticipated that there will be applications totalling
thousands of hectares on a national scale. He explained that the next six
to eighteen months are going to be of "paramount importance" in attempting
to re-establish the Canadian hemp industry, and that this will only come
about with cooperation from all levels of government, the business
community, researchers and academics, and the general public.
In the final paragraph of Gordon's report he writes that "Canada has both
the human and natural resources required to be a key player in the
expanding global hemp industry." It is only a matter of lifting the ban on
cannabis and allowing Canadian farmers to get to work.
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