Hemp is one of the most controversial plants of the 20th century. Hemp has taken an important role in the survival and development of many cultures. Its uses date back to 8,000 B.C. and has a wide range of uses from fabric to fuel.

Hemp is actually the male counterpart of a plant called Cannabis Sativa. Marijuana is the female of the plant. Hemp, when fully mature, can grow to fifteen feet tall; marijuana on the other hand grows only three to four feet tall. There is no part of the hemp plant that contains THC, the main chemical in Marijuana that produces psychoactive side effects, except for trace amounts in the leaves. Marijuana, the female, produces flowers or 'buds' that contain more concentrated amounts of THC.

Throughout history many civilizations used hemp as a part of everyday life. Hemp in China has been used since 4,000 B.C. and was used for all clothing while silk was for the wealthy. In India, hemp is a key part of the Hindu religion. Eating and smoking bhang, the leaves of the plant, brings one closer to Shiva. Bhang and Shiva were inseparable. The earliest use of hemp, 8,000 B.C., originates from fabric found in India. The use of hemp for canvas and rope was key element of the Age of Exploration. Hemp canvas was the first choice of fabric for sails since it does not rot when wet with seawater. The sails of Christopher Columbus's boats were hemp, as well as the sails on the Mayflower.

The use of hemp in Colonial America helped the settlers to gain their freedom. The first and second drafts of the Declaration of Independence were written on Dutch hemp paper. They were dependant on hemp for all clothing and fabric needs. The rise in slavery and relative easiness of picking cotton, the hemp industries fall in the 1800's. Still after the Emancipation Act, the cotton gin was far easier than the backbreaking labor required in breaking up hemp stalks. Not until the invention of the Decorticator in the 1870's, than made breaking, scathing, cleaning, and dressing hemp much easier.

During the 1920's and 30's, William Hearst, who owned vast timber holdings, and Lammont DuPont, the president of the DuPont Company, lobbied against hemp because they feared they would lose millions if the hemp industries took off. By 1937, Hearst and DuPont along with Harry Anslinger had passed the Marijuana Tax Act which made the use of Marijuana illegal. Harry Anslinger was the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and he defined hemp and Marijuana at the same time.