I HAVE been promoting the growth of hemp for some time and one of the issues that I have bumped up against is that when I say hemp, some people hear cannabis.

Unfortunately, most of these people seem to be in the UK Government. There are over 75 varieties of the hemp plant recognised by the European Union.

They must contain less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is one of over 113 cannabinoids in hemp and is capable of producing a psychotropic affect, known as a high, when it is smoked or ingested.

In the UK the limit is lower and it’s this fear of being seen to condone recreational cannabis use that has restricted the development of the hemp plant. Therefore, it is plain to see that if we could classify hemp and cannabis separately the Home Office could issue licenses to grow hemp without any fear of increasing the availability of a psychoactive drug.

Whether they should be concerning themselves over this is a different matter but currently they do. Hemp can be grown all over the UK but grows better on the east coast as it’s drier. But it can easily be grown on the west coast under poly tunnels.

To further enhance its environmental qualities, by utilising the raw material as close to where it is grown as is possible means that rather than having a centralised growing industry and distributing it around the UK, we should be growing it and utilising it in hundreds of smaller localised communities.

That way each community gets at least two businesses. In summary, hemp is good for the soil it grows in, as a rotation crop it increases the yield of other crops, during its four-month growing cycle it consumes 22 tons per hectare of atmospheric carbon, it is easy to grow and doesn’t need pesticides, insecticides or fertiliser.

Hemp can be made into cloth, fuel, a substitute for plastic, paper, building materials, shoes and a myriad of other products.

The Home Office need to open their minds to the possibilities this plant presents and move swiftly to change their outdated licensing process to enable farmers to grow it in large quantities.

The factories and the jobs and the benefits will follow.