Hayo van der Werf, Editor of the Journal of Industrial Hemp, has graciously given The Hemp Report permission to reprint the Editorial from the Journal of Industrial Hemp, Vol. 9, #2.
I received my copy of the Journal two weeks ago and I was very impressed by the continuing quality of the Journal and the editorial was quite eloquent. You can get the Journal of Industrial Hemp directly from
Haworth Press, but we at The Hemp Report encourage people and companies to join this important organization directly and get the Journal as one of the many benefits.
Please click here to download the
2005 International Hemp Association Membership Application Form. (PDF file 85K)
Sincerely,
Tom Murphy
The Hemp Report
International Hemp Association
Dedicated to the advancement of Cannabis
through the dissemination of information
Editorial - Journal of Industrial Hemp, Vol. 9, #2
Welcome to the Journal of Industrial Hemp,
It is with great pride that we publish our 18th issue of the JIHA/JIH, that is nine years of journals, spanning 11 years. Our next issue will be issue number 10.1 and the changes from the beginning of the IHA in 1992 and publication of our first journal JIHA Vol 1.1 in June 1994 to today, are amazing. In 1992 the worldwide industrial hemp industry was almost on its last legs, driven to its poor state by a combination of synthetic fiber cordage and textiles as well as drug laws forbidding work with industrial
Cannabis, regardless if the variety was nearly devoid of psychoactive compounds.
Ten years later, industrial hemp is again emerging as an sustainable way to produce fiber, cordage, textiles, paper pulp, energy yielding bio-mass, hurds, construction composites, seed oil and foods, as well as the thousands of products derived from these basic materials. The IHA is proud of its contributions to the world wide effort to reintroduce industrial hemp into the modern world's economic main stream.
The IHA's membership, never more then 250, has seen a decline in recent years. Our immediate focus should be to encourage new membership from anyone interested in the issues that surround industrial hemp. Regardless if new members are scientists, medical professionals, researchers, farmers, business persons, store owners, activists, or students, the IHA needs the strength that comes from a diverse and robust membership, as well as the funding to engage in projects that will further the aims of industrial hemp worldwide. If you can, please suggest to colleagues and libraries that are interested in industrial hemp that they join the IHA. Just send the IHA the email or postal address of anyone interested and then we will send them membership info.
Without an active membership the IHA will not be effective in helping to remove the obstacles to industrial hemp research and production and we will be less able to achieve our primary goal, the "advancement of
Cannabis through the dissemination of information". We are particularly interested in finding retail outlets for the journal. Any suggestions to increase IHA membership, or to increase JIH subscriptions or sales will be appreciated, just email the suggestions or any letters to the editors to:
IHA@euronet.nl
The section for peer-reviewed papers opens with a paper by Hillig, which presents a characterisation of the variation in allozyme allele frequencies in a broad sampling of the Vavilov Institute (Russia)
Cannabis germplasm collection. These results will be of use in the selection of breeding material and in planning further germplasm collection and maintenance.
The article by Chen, Liu and Gratton summarises and reviews the research that has been carried out at the University of Manitoba, Canada, to provide a greater understanding of the physical and mechanical properties of the hemp plant, of the energy and power required for conditioning and cutting it, and of the development of hemp harvesting and processing equipment.
The contribution by Hanyun and Shinwari describes hashish production and marketing in the Afridi Tirah semi-autonomous region, one of the most remote parts of Pakistan, close to the Afghanistan border.
The section for non peer-reviewed papers starts with the third issue of the
Collections Corner, in which Don Wirtshafter pictures and describes his collection of hemp-related hang tags and labels. He further announces his objective of creating a web-site for public use, giving access to a database of hemp products and companies. Readers are strongly encouraged to propose articles in this series for future issues.
This issue's Wide Wild World of Hemp column, produced by John Dvorak, our in-house hempologist and internet editor, reflects on "The invisible hemp industry". This article goes into the history of hemp and draws parallels between today and the past.
In our series
Cannabis Clinic John McPartland and Karl Hillig present Fusarium wilt, a disease caused by two closely related Fusarium fungi that infect
Cannabis roots and then move systemically through the plant. This disease reduces fibre quality and yield.
This issue features a
Hemp Production Note by Cecil Vera and Arthur Hanks. They present the production of hemp as an oilseed crop in western Canada. They discuss, amongst others, fertilisation, weed control and harvesting.
Franjo Grotenhermen presents a brief review of the cannabinoid system. He discusses cannabinoid receptors, endocannabinoids and their affinity to the cannabinoid receptor, the tonic activity of the system and therapeutic prospects.
The next article, by Michael Karus, presents results from market surveys conducted by the "European Industrial Hemp Association" (EIHA) in 2001, 2002 and 2003 on hemp production, processing and products. In 2003, the area under hemp cultivation in the European Union (EU) reached 18,000 ha.
The last item in this issue is a short report by Giuseppe Mandolino and Paolo Ranalli, reporting on the "Hemp: perspectives for advanced utilisation" symposium, held in Bologna (Italy) on March 5 and 6, 2004.
Robert Clarke
IHA Projects Manager
Janet Erisman
IHA Treasurer
David Pate
IHA Secretary
David Watson
IHA Chairman
Hayo van der Werf
Editor
