Hemp for Victory 1942
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) encouraged hemp production for the war effort in 1942!
The attack on Pearl Harbor!
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, drawing the United States into the Second World War. The strong Japanese military presence in the Pacific, combined with the tight German blockade of the Atlantic sea lanes, isolated North America. As a result, it became increasingly difficult to meet the army’s material needs, especially when it came to fiber products. At the time, they were imported in large quantities from the Philippines, but the country came under Japanese occupation very early on in the war.
Hemp for the war effort!
For this reason, in 1942, the U.S. government relaxed regulations on industrial hemp, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture went so far as to produce a short film entitled Hemp for Victory. Lasting a dozen minutes, this short film extols the virtues of hemp and encourages farmers to grow it as part of the war effort. Hemp was needed for a multitude of purposes, from destroyer ropes to soldiers’ boot laces! A total of 36,000 acres were cultivated as early as 1942. The aim was to increase this to over 50,000 acres by the following year.
No recognition!
Sadly, as soon as the war ended in 1945, and despite the services rendered, the government once again tightened regulations on industrial hemp. This, combined with a dramatic fall in demand, has killed off the industry yet again. The last listed producer in the USA was in the state of Wisconsin, and ceased operations in 1957. Permit applications, cumbersome bureaucracy and the false belief that hemp was psychotropic soon discouraged even the toughest farmers.
