Allan – I haven’t done any recent research on hemp so I’m fuzzy on the details – DuPont may have been one of the key instigators against hemp back in the 30’s
here’s Wikipedia’s entry:
“Hemp
It is often asserted in pro-cannabis publications that DuPont actively supported the criminalization of the production of hemp in the US in 1937 through private and government intermediates, and alleged that this was done to eliminate hemp as a source of fiber—one of DuPont’s biggest markets at the time. Hemp paper threatened DuPont’s monopoly on the necessary chemicals for paper from trees, and Nylon, a synthetic fiber, was patented the same year that hemp was made illegal. The company denies these allegations.”
