A history of one of the world?s most misunderstood, yet most admired plants In 1935, Popular Science magazine called hemp "the new billiondollar crop." Two years later, it was banned. Hemp is the world?s strongest natural fibre, and has been cultivated for 10,000 years. It was the main cash crop of New France, which was ordered by Louis XIV to grow hemp for rope for his navy. A Man of War used 60 tons of hemp rope for its rigging, including 25-inch-thick anchor cable. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, and Benjamin Franklin owned a hemp mill. Levi Strauss jeans were made of hemp fibres in the 19th century. At the same time, hemp?s cousin, Cannabis sativa, was used as a cheap drug by many of the poorer people in the world, icluding a considerable number of African-Americans. Today, hemp is grown for food, used to make insulation in clothes and buildings, burned as fuel, made into medicine and distilled into oil for use in lotions, soap and cosmetics. In this fascinating study, veteran journalist Mark Bourrie explores the history of this controversial plant, including its ban by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, whose officials consider it a drug, rather than a utilitarian, cash crop. Chapters include information on everything from the history of hemp to the various uses of hemp to what the future might hold for this crop. (August 2003)