An enthusiastic crowd gathered in the La Junta Municipal Council Room on Thursday evening to see the film "Bringing It Home" and to hear Ryan Loflin tell about his experiment with raising industrial hemp in the Springfield area.

An enthusiastic crowd gathered in the La Junta Municipal Council Room on Thursday evening to see the film "Bringing It Home" and to hear Ryan Loflin tell about his experiment with raising industrial hemp in the Springfield area. "Bringing It Home" told the story of a family with an autistic child seeking a healthy atmosphere for her. They found it in North Carolina where experimental hemp building materials were used to construct healthful homes, free of the chemicals which aggravated their child's condition. The film covered building projects in the United Kingdom (England), where hempcrete is used instead of concrete, resulting in dwellings that combine a weather-impervious outer surface with natural insulating qualities that reduce heating and cooling needs. They brought up the well-known quotation: "If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it or put it on your body." Plastic panels made from hemp instead of petroleum are also being used in the automotive industry in the UK. Ryan Loflin was introduced by his mother, Sheila LeRoy, who has been working diligently to educate La Junta about industrial hemp. Loflin told about the practical aspects of raising hemp. It was very difficult to get viable seeds, since seeds imported to the U.S. have to be sterilized by irradiation. He was able to get some seeds from Canada and some from Europe. The Canadian seeds did not do well here, but the European seeds were better. He is keeping all the seeds from his crop and will be using the stems and leaves to make hemp paper. Industrial hemp is different from its psychoactive cousin, marijuana. They are from the same family, Cannabaceae. Cannabis sativa is used chiefly for hemp and Cannabis indica is used to produce marijuana. Both are tall plants with an upright stem and divided serrated leaves. There was a hemp plant on display at the front of the room Thursday night, along with a display of hemp products. The plant itself, although similar to a marijuana plant, has a distinctly different appearance. Products displayed included soap, lotion, shampoo, fiber used to make paper and hempcrete, seeds used to make a biodegradable oil that may be burned in diesel engines (similar to the sunflower and canola seed experimented with at the CSU extension in Rocky Ford). However, it takes 50 pounds of seed to get a gallon of oil, said Loflin. The audience was curious about how much water hemp takes to grow. Hemp was grown extensively in this area during the 1940s, when it was needed to supply durable ropes for the military. The nylon ropes supplied by DuPont were not strong enough for duty in the South Pacific. Hemp does not take as much water as corn or alfalfa. Loflin was also asked about marketing the hemp. Unprocessed hemp may not be marketed out of the state because it is presently illegal nationally. Hemp used in the U.S. is currently imported from other countries. The federal government has elected not to interfere with industrial hemp production in the states where it has been declared legal: Washington, Colorado, California and Kentucky, as of the moment. However, Loflin urged the audience to contact their U.S. senators, Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, to be co-sponsors on a bill currently waiting to be introduced in the Senate.