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)

MARK BOURRIE holds a PhD in Canadian media and military history; he is a National Magazine Award–winning journalist and has been a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery since 1994. He has written hundreds of freelance pieces for most of the country’s major magazines and newspapers, which have resulted in several awards and nominations.

Bourrie lectures on propaganda and censorship at the Department of National Defence School of Public Affairs; media history and propaganda at Carleton University; and Canadian studies at the University of Ottawa, where he is also working on a Juris Doctor degree.

Bourrie’s book The Fog of War: Censorship of Canada’s Media in World War Two was the first examination of Canada’s wartime news-control system. It reached number six on the Maclean’s bestseller list. His academic paper “The Myth of the 'Gagged Clam': William Lyon Mackenzie King’s Press Relations,” published in Global Media Journal in 2010, is considered the authoritative analysis of the media strategies of Canada’s longest-serving prime minister. In 2011, Bourrie was invited to contribute to a collection of papers written by Canada’s top military historians. His essay “Harnessing Journalists to the War Machine” was published in 2012 in Canada and the Second World War.

Bourrie lives in Ottawa and is married to Marion Van de Wetering, a corporate lawyer working for the federal government. They have three children.

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