ommercial and
ndustrial Hemp
bymposium and
rade Show
ebruary 18-19

 

 

   
 
 
   
   
  
 
    
  
  
 
   
 
   
   
    
 
  
   
  
   
 
   
 
 
  
   
  
 
  
   
   
   

by Arthur Hanks

he wasn’t here to talk about
bill C-8. Nor was she here to
& talk about the ethics of
arijuana. In Vancouver to attend
e Commercial and Industrial
lemp Symposium and Trade
lhow, Jean Peart of Health Canada
as to present the latest govern-
ent word on hemp to the public.
“Health Canada’s involvement
as nothing to so with narcotic
ibstances,” she asserted to the
bomful of hemp lovers. “Health
anada will develop hemp regula-
ons,” she promised, emphasizing

ternative.”
Peart’s speech was one of the
ghlights of the two day sympo-

om such hemp-producing
buntries as Poland, Germany and
e UK.
Adjacent to the symposium was
bustling trade show: tables from
erman, Polish and Chinese .
pncerns jostled for space with
bcal hemp retailers and manufac-
from across North America.
alf trade fair, half rainbow
arket, the convention centre
osted a mix of dreads and suits,
ers with agribusinessmen,
ippies meeting with marketers.
were impassioned with the
nuse of the weed.
“Canada is so much farther
ead than the US on hemp,” said
woman from the Mendocino
emp Company. “You have this
posium, Canada allowing test
owing, and the government is a
t more open! It’s getting scary in
e States. What can you say about
country that spends more money
prisons than on education?”
“The DEA aren’t at all inter-
pted,” said Eugene’s Bruce
ullican of Sow Much Hemp.
They are really dragging their
et.”
Mullican spent about $300 (US)

at “regulation is the only feasible

um, which also featured speakers

at the border on fees and duties to
get his goods, mostly colourful
hemp yarn, across the border.
“Almost everything I have,” he
said. Like him, most of the exhibi-
tors were hoping to make new
contacts within the industry and
get better deals on distributing and
importing hemp.

“Our biggest customers are from
Europe and the States,” said
Jonathan Zhang of Effort Industries
of Scarborough, Ontario, represent-
ing mainland China’s Hemp*

Shan oe “but Canada’s looking
good. There is more response than I
thought there would be today. “
When asked about the high retail
prices of hemp goods, Zhang
agreed that importing fees account
for some of that cost. “Usually it’s a
9% tariff (US) for the raw fibre, and
between 23-25% for all clothing.”
Although hemp has a wealth of
applications, from paper to food to
textiles to manufacturing fibre, the
trade show was textile-dominated.
Colourful fabrics and cool, casual

    

cuts filled the trade room. Thurs-
day afternoon even saw a catwalk
fashion show. Wholesome models
wearing wholesome clothes
displayed the Kool-Aid fashion
sense of hemp for 1997. There was
a lot of range. (Some of it looked
like leftover costumes worn by
Cornelius in those Planet of the
Apes movies.)

The biggest disappointment was
the forestry sector’s no show. A few
internet bookmarks pushing
forestry webpage addresses made

BD IpT ae

  

Academic appeal: 3
Representation - 5
Smugglers - 7

their way around, but otherwise it
was up to Victoria’s Ecosource
paper and Vancouver’s Green Man
Paper Mill to show the way for
pulp and paper.

One of the most welcome
exhibits belonged to The Green V
Organic Juice Bar Cafe. They
offered a delicious buffet of
hempen snacks, chocolates and a
hemp oil based vegetable dip that
could possibly take over the known
universe. (That’s how good it was.)
“We've been so busy here at our

juice bar,” said B-rad of Kitsilano

Hemp Company. “I haven’t been
able to get to the symposium and
hear the speakers.”

Ian Hunter, of Vancouver
Island’s Sacred Herb, was on hand
at the trade show, promoting the
Hemp Council, a coalition of
“tokers” and “ropers” active in
their communities. “Hemp com-
bines business and protest,” he
said. “The hemp industry brings
both mind and spirit together and
does away with the consumer
culture that is killing the earth.” He
spoke of the budding plans of
various communities to plant hemp
on Vancouver Island this summer,
regardless of the status of federal
regulations. Much as mayor Brian
Taylor of Grand Forks has done in
the Kootenays.

Though the symposium was not
a smoke-in, and concerned itself
with industrial hemp, some
attendees were uncomfortable with
the distinction being made between
hemp and marijuana regarding
THC levels. Many saw the cutoff
line of 0.3% THC content as
arbitrary and unrealistic. “You can
smoke a field of hemp and you
won't get high. Why do we need to
make these distinctions and have
these costly regulations?” asked
one crusty white-haired fella.

As for Health Canada’s Peart,
she had a very narrow message:
regulatory framework only. The

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