Consequently Herst campaigned against hemp in his newspapers & Dupont bribed congressmen & bureaucrats into making it illegal. Really the only reason marijuarna was made illegal was the corruption of the US govt. Anslinger was Dupont's nephew & was the head of the prohibition tesk force & was out of a job when alcohol was re-legalised, so he lobbied the polies to make coke & opiates so he'd still have a job in a new narcotics bureau (he suggested it was a way of appeasing the temperance league). Well he added hemp to the list to. Then when Anslinger died someone opened all these old letters from his uncle Dupont & it turned out he was paid millions in Dupont shares to get hemp added to the banned narcotics list.
Oddly enough, I concur with this analysis. This one isn't very well known, although verified by a couple of credible sources, from what I've read. Yes, Hearst and DuPont played a major role "lobbying" (yes, bribing in those days) congress. Good job on this one DABANSHEE 🙂
Congress rescinded the hemp ban temporarily during WWII because it was needed for rope and other items. Kentucky led the US in hemp production during that time. After the war was over, the hemp ban was placed back in effect. To this day, one can occasionally find hemp growing wild in a few places.
Hemp is actually an excellent source of fiber. At this time, unfortunately, the infrastructure isn't in place to process it economically. Not yet.... But, the soon-to-be former tobacco farmers are beginning to stand behind a lobby for it.