Capitol Building Flying American Flag Made of Hemp on 4th of July
The American Flag that’s flying over the Capitol Building today, the 4th of July, Independence Day, is made of hemp, a non-psychoactive variant of marijuana.
The cannabis plant can’t be legally grown in the U.S. but can be imported. So was this flag made in the U.S.A. or is it Mexican or Jamaican? Rules of the Capitol Building say that flags must be made in America that are flown over the building.
The hemp plant is used to make rope, clothing and other things. Industrial hemp is a Schedule I substance along with ecstasy and heroin according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The state of Colorado recently legalized the cultivation of the plant so the hemp flag was grown there.
This isn’t the first time that a hemp flag has been flown at the Capitol Building, it also happened 80 years ago.
According to ABC News, “Many of our founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson and George Washington grew hemp. Many of the very first American flags were made from hemp cloths. So there’s a real tie in to our countries history and the important rule industrial hemp played in agriculture in our country. The first American flag made by Betsy Ross was made from industrial hemp.”
Colorado hemp advocate Michael Bowman is the man responsible for getting the flag, made from Colorado-raised hemp and screen-printed with the stars and stripes, up there.