Vote Hemp is a small non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and free market for low-THC industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to grow the crop. We educate people on the issues surrounding hemp, register voters, and build coalitions to fulfill our mission.

Vote Hemp is working to shift federal regulation of industrial hemp back to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and out of the hands of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Donations to support this effort can be made online. You can also find sample letters and easy ways to contact elected officials; see the Vote Hemp Action Center.

Please sign up for our Vote Hemp Action Alert email list so you can keep up on the hemp issue. The most common question we are asked is:

"What Can I Do To Help?"

Here are two simple ways to help industrial hemp blossom in the marketplace: Buy hemp and vote hemp!

Buy hemp!
Hemp foods, which are rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and hemp body care products are carried by large chains such as Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and Trader Joe's and by thousands of smaller independent natural food chains, stores and co-ops, and even by some mainstream grocery stores.

You can search for local retailers at HempStores.com. Please buy hemp food products from TestPledge Companies.

Outdoor retailers, ecological specialty stores and some department stores carry hemp clothing and accessories. You can see the wide range of hemp products available, and their makers, listed in the Hemp Industries Association's (HIA) Members/Product Directory.

Vote hemp!
Be informed and please talk to your state and national representatives about this important agricultural and economic development issue. Educate them about the benefits of hemp and ask them to support allowing American farmers to grow industrial hemp. See how your favorite presidential candidate came out on the hemp issue in the 2004 election in our Voter Guide.

Talk to your friends and family about the benefits of hemp for a sustainable economy and healthy environment. For more information about hemp, please see below or browse our Web site.

Numerous states have passed legislation supporting industrial hemp. What's the status of your state? Click here to find out.

What else can I do?

Helping to get hemp grown in the United States and hemp products to succeed in the marketplace is E-A-S-Y.

Educate
Advocate
Support
Youth

Educate

• To learn more about hemp, please read The Vote Hemp Treatise: "A Renewal of Common Sense: The Case for Hemp in 21st Century America", written by Erik Rothenberg, President of Atlas Corporation and a Director of Vote Hemp, with the assistance of various industry experts. This treatise lays out a clear vision for industry and agriculture and hemp's critical place in a healthy and prosperous new world.

  If you are pressed for time, we particularly recommend reading the sections The Market for Industrial Hemp (pp. 10-16) and Hemp vs. Marijuana - Rhetoric vs. Reality (pp. 17-22). The former section outlines in depth the tremendous potential hemp fiber and seed have in diverse markets, which is important to understand in the face of government propaganda to the contrary.

  The latter section clarifies that non-drug industrial hemp is not marijuana although both are varieties of the same species (Cannabis sativa), and refutes categorically the specious arguments traditionally used by law enforcement to justify the prohibition of industrial hemp. Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Spain, along with almost thirty other countries, cultivate and process industrial hemp without affecting the enforcement of those countries' marijuana laws.

  The section concludes by showing a rational government precedent in controlling the "opium poppy" from which narcotics like heroin are derived, while allowing non-drug poppy varieties of the same species (Papaver somniferum) to be cultivated freely in backyard gardens and the seeds of the "breadseed poppy" variety to be consumed commonly on poppy seed bagels, muffins and cakes.

  To download a copy of The Vote Hemp Treatise please click here (PDF file 63k).

• Read more about hemp here.

• Here is one of the best pages about hemp on the Web: "Hemp: A New Crop with New Uses for North America" by Ernest Small and David Marcus. Also available as a PDF document (PDF file 14.1m).

• If you want to learn even more about hemp, please take a look at these Web sites: IndustrialHemp.net, The Hemp Report and the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance.

Advocate

• Educate others. Once you have read some of the educational materials above and "Hemp is Hip" our basic article about hemp, also available as a PDF document (PDF file 1.4m), you can talk to other people about hemp intelligently. There will almost always be some giggle factor to it, a lot of people will say "Isn't that what you smoke?" or "Isn't that only good for canvas?" — but you will know better and be able to explain the difference and hemp's great promise.

• Do you own a hemp store or are you a retailer that sells hemp products? Vote Hemp can provide you with our tri-fold brochures that educate people about hemp and make an attractive display on your checkout counter. We can also provide you with a donation jar to collect contributions from your customers. Some retailers even match those collections each month. Please email us with your request and we will set you up.

• Table for Vote Hemp. Many events allow people to set up card tables, hand out information, collect email addresses, and accept donations for non-profits. We can help you have a successful event. Please email us and we will set you up with some of the things you will need.

• Lobby your state and national representatives about this important agricultural and economic development issue. Educate them about the benefits of industrial hemp and ask them to support allowing American farmers to grow it. You can write to your national representatives today at the Vote Hemp Action Center. If you need help finding contact information for your state representatives, please click here or email us and we will help you.

• Write letters in support of hemp to the editor of your local paper. You can use the tools in the Vote Hemp Action Center Media Guide to help you locate your media outlets.

Support

• Please donate to Vote Hemp and ask other people to donate as well.

• Include Vote Hemp in your estate or will; click here to learn more.

• If you are a hemp company, please consider joining the Hemp Industries Association.

• Ask your local natural foods or grocery store to carry hemp foods. Buy them and encourage your family and friends to also.

• Special order products that you like to use by the case and give them as gifts.

• Carry and use hemp lip balm. This will remind you every day about hemp and its many uses.

Youth

• Ask your parents to register to vote and remind them to vote on election day. If you are old enough, register and vote yourself!

• Learn how to make hemp necklaces and teach others at a class at your school, public library or youth club.

• Write a paper on hemp for a class you are taking. There is a lot of research material available to quote as your sources here on our Web site.

• Organize a hemp club at your school or college. Vote Hemp can provide you with the educational materials you need.

• Do a hemp project for your 4-H club or any other group. Hemp fed beef or chickens? A story board for your State Fair? Your imagination will amaze you!

The most important thing you can do is tell other people about your support for growing hemp in the United States and for buying and using hemp products. Please remember, if we all work together on this important agricultural and economic development issue, it will be E-A-S-Y. So, go ahead and poke around the Vote Hemp Web site. Our Site Map and Search Tool should be of help to you.

If you want more ideas, can help us in any way or have questions, please contact us.