The film was made to encourage farmers to grow hemp for the war effort because other industrial fibers, often imported from overseas, were in short supply. The film shows a history of hemp and hemp products, how hemp is grown, and how hemp is processed into rope, cloth, cordage, and other products.

As it was made by the US Government, it is public domain and is freely available for download from the Internet Archive.

Before 1989, the film was relatively unknown, and the United States Department of Agriculture library and the Library of Congress told all interested parties that no such movie was made by the USDA or any branch of the U.S. government. Two VHS copies were recovered and donated to the Library of Congress on May 19, 1989 by Maria Farrow, Carl Packard, and Jack Herer.

The only known copy in 1976 was a 3/4″ broadcast quality copy of the film that was originally obtained by William Conde in 1976 from a reporter for the Miami Herald and the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church of Jamaica. It was given in trust that it would be made available to as many as possible. It was put into the hands of Jack Herer by William Conde during the 1984 OMI (Oregon Marijuana Initiative). The film 20 years later is now available anywhere through the internet.

The film also investigates why America went from a country which produced vast quantities of the non-narcotic industrial hemp, to the complete ban on hemp production in 1938. This story in particular is interesting, and it points out that the large oilbased industries actually had a key role in the aforementioned ban. Food for thought!

Plot: With California and the rest of the country going bankrupt, one business is booming. How Weed Won the West is the story of the growing Medical Marijuana industry, focusing on Los Angeles with over 1000 legal dispensaries doling out the buds. Following the story of Organica, a southland dispensary which was raided by state and federal agencies in August of 2009, the film shows that although much has changed with Obama in office, the drug war is nowhere near over. Kevin Booth, producer/director of American Drug War, picks up where the last film left off and continues his fight against the hypocrisy of the War on Drugs. Intended to inform and entertain, this fast paced and even sometimes funny film features Texas conspiracy guru Alex Jones, Ethan Nadelmann head of Drug Policy Alliance, and a host of amazing characters including a former LAPD narcotics officer who now thinks all drugs should be legal.

The film places much of the blame for marijuana criminalization on Harry Anslinger (the first American drug czar) who promoted false information about marijuana to the American public as a means towards abolition.

The film follows the history of federal policies and social attitudes towards marijuana, beginning at the turn of the twentieth century. The history presented is broken up into parts, approximately the length of a decade. Each decade is introduced by paraphrasing the official attitude towards marijuana at the time (e.g. “Marijuana will make you insane” or “Marijuana will make you addicted to heroin”), and closed by providing a figure for the amount of money spent during that period on the “war on marijuana.”

The film is completely composed of archival footage, much of which is from public domain U.S propaganda films and feature films such as Reefer Madness made available by the Prelinger Archives. The documentary was narrated, free-of-charge, by actor Woody Harrelson.

• Fodder, Animal feed
• Protein, Fiber
• Calories
• Milk, Cheese, Ice Cream
• Organic Burgers, Vegetarian foods
• Flour, Breads, Cakes, Cookies, Brownies
• Oils, Salad Dressings, Butters, Sauces
• Seeds (nuts), Granola, Birdseed
• Food Supplements
• Candy, Popcorn, Sweets
• More Nutritious
• Healing power, Cardiac Protection
• Did i mention ICE CREAM?

• Paper, printing paper, fine papers, newsprint, filter papers
• Cardboard, organic biodegradable packaging
• All plastics from cellophane to dynamite
• Wood: 2x4s, structural wood, fiberboard
• Insulation, fiberglass
• Cement blocks, stucco, mortar
• Composites like the body for a Mercedes or a Stealth Bomber
• Animal bedding, mulch, mushroom compost

USDA Bulletin #404 Hemp Hurds as paper Making Material said 4x more yield than trees for paper. On an annual basis, 1 acre of hemp will produce as much paper as 2 to 4 acres of trees. From tissue paper to cardboard, all types of paper products can be produced from hemp. Global demand for paper will double within 25 years. Unless tree-free sources of paper are developed, there is no way to meet future demand without causing massive deforestation and environmental damage. Hemp is the world’s most promising source of tree-free paper.

The quality of hemp paper is superior to tree-based paper. Hemp paper will last hundreds of years without degrading, can be recycled many more times than tree-based paper, and requires less toxic chemicals in the manufacturing process than does paper made from trees.

Thousands of products made from petroleum-based plastics can be produced from hemp-based composites. Mercedes Benz of Germany has recently begun manufacturing automobile bodies and dashboards made from hemp.

Australia is giving their national forests away by selling their trees for $70-$80/ton – while renewable Hemp would easily fetch $400/ton.

Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag from hemp. Rembrandt, Gainsborough and Van Gogh as well as most early canvas paintings were principally painted on hemp linen.

In 1916, the U.S. Government predicted that by the 1940s all paper would come from hemp and that no more trees need to be cut down. Government studies report that 1 acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of trees. Plans were in the works to implement such programs; Department of Agriculture.

• Best, most superior fiber
• Longest strongest fiber in nature
• 3/4″ douglas fir vs.15′ hemp fiber
• Stronger than steel
• Lighter than steel
• More breathable materials
• Clothes last longer with less wear
• Organic = safe non-toxic materials

• Textiles: silk – carpet backing
• Canvas wagons – “canvas” was derived from the Arabic word for hemp
• FLAGS, clothing (soldier uniforms), parachutes
• Old Ironsides had 60 tons of hemp for rigging, sails, lines + 25″ diameter anchor cable
• Twine, rope, nets, canvas bags, tarps, carpets, geotextiles
• Any clothing or apparel, fabrics
• Work clothes, denims, socks, shoes, diapers, purses, fine textiles
• Composites, plastics, molded parts, brakes, clutch linings, caulking
• WW2 “Hemp For Victory” while India was under japanese control
• 1942 36,000 acres, 1943 50,000 acre goal

He then went on to criticize the government for having outlawed cultivation of this crop, even though “in every other industrialized country, industrial hemp, defined to contain less than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana, may be legally grown.”

The congressman added that this policy makes it necessary to import all hemp products and materials resulting in “high prices, outsourced jobs, and lost opportunities for American manufacturing.”

In response to Paul’s statement, the sponsors of Hemp History Week, including Vote Hemp and Hemp Industries Association member companies, issued a statement saying they were pleased by his support.

Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, said Hemp History Week supporters plan more than 100 events focusing on local hemp farming history and the sampling of hemp products, hoping to generate 50,000 signed postcards to the Department of Justice asking to allow United States farmers to grow non-drug varieties of cannabis under existing state laws.