"... and it becomes fun"

In the Public Chamber, the first forum in Russia was held in Russia. Representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture promised to support the industry. Entrepreneurs producing goods from hemp discussed relations with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the prospects for obtaining state support and business development.

At the official level

“Yes, we also laugh at the second day with this,” answered the securities of the Public Chamber, while looking for my last name on the list of invited, to the remark that the forum of hebs is a slightly unusual action for its establishment.

The forum itself was held on the fourth floor of the chamber, in a large conference hall against the backdrop of images of Minin and Pozharsky. On the walls - elaborate paintings with historical stories about Ancient Rus'. Nearby is the office of the Commissioner for the Rights of the Child under the President of Russia Anna Kuznetsova and the tables lined with sandwiches, pies, cookies and coffee machines.

The legalization of marijuana in Russia (so far) is not planned. The agro -industrial association of hemp (APAK) is an organization of entrepreneurs working with technical varieties of hemp. From such hemp you can make medicines, fabric, food.
As Radio Liberty told APAK Director Julia Divnich , in 2011, changes were made to the legislation that allow the cultivation and processing of non -narcotic hemp varieties. From this moment, companies that orient their business have to appear.

The technical hemp is under state control: for example, if you grow it, you need to buy new seeds every three years. Because pollination of hemp cannot be controlled, and in a longer period it can acquire "undesirable" properties.

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If before World War II in the USSR, hemp processing was a noticeable segment of agriculture, after the war this tradition was destroyed. According to Divnic, now only seven thousand hectares are sown in Russia, and this is an insignificant amount. 18 member companies in Apak, and the association itself appeared only last year.

On an industrial scale

The forum was attended by about fifty people - entrepreneurs, scientists, researchers and representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture. They considered world experience: it was announced that even North Korea was among the countries with a powerful hemp industry, and the World Anti -Doping Agency allowed the athletes to use hemp additives.

In the Netherlands, narcotic and technical types of hemp are sold in different stores, their positioning is in no way connected. In China, they can be shot for marijuana, but China is a world leader in growing technical hemp. In many ways, the industry is controlled by the Chinese military: from hemp they make an army uniform. The Chinese have 600 patents on fabric and hemp medicines.

Sergei Belopukhov , vice-rector for the scientific work of the Timiryazev Academy, said that the leading agricultural university in Russia worked with hemp all his 152-year history. Now hemp is grown in the fields of the academy in Penza.

The head of the Laboratory of Chemistry and Technology of Modified Fibrous Materials "of the Institute of Chemistry of RAS solutions, Andrei Moryganov, accompanied his story about the hemp processing technologies for the needs of the textile industry with a large number of slides with a huge number of examples.
On the forum - with intonations similar to the rhetoric of federal television channels - it was stated that studies that position hemps as a harmful plant were conducted in the USA and have long been scientifically refuted. However, other American studies were mentioned, confirming that sedatives, as well as drugs against nausea, vomiting and stopping weight loss with AIDS patients, can be made from hemp.

"Our hemp is much tastier than Canadian!" - Without a shadow of doubt, Nizhny Novgorod entrepreneur Andrei Kuzin said. His company “Konopel” produces hemp oil, sells peeled hemp seeds (they can be eaten like sunflower seeds) and hemp sports nutrition. For advertising products, the image of the strongman “Ivan Konoplina” is used. Entrepreneurs said that the hemp museum is ready for the opening: the legal issues of his work are being resolved. The preparation of educational courses for students was discussed that hemp is not so much a drug as a traditional agricultural product for Russia. As well as the release of a video course for YouTube - for those who want to start their business in Russia and work with hemp.

“I have a farm in the Saratov region. The situation is not very good now, only losses. So I think to try hemp,” a middle -aged man told Radio Radio. He suggests that this lesson will be profitable, and the main difficulties are not to confuse anything with the legislation on the back of hemp.

Two students of MGTU named after Bauman was told Radio Liberty that they were studying for ecologists, they came to the forum of hemp breeds because they are preparing a project for the startup contest, as well as, in the future, they want to find investors for themselves. According to them, from one hectare of technical hemp, you can make as much as out of four hectares of twenty -year -old. Konopra is growing again every summer, so it is environmentally and profitable.

The only dreadlock bearer on the forum ( hairstyle characteristic of lovers of music of reggae and customs - fans of a religious cult, which involves the use of marijuana. - Radio Liberty ) was a thin young man. He told Radio Liberty that he has a small business: he sells in Russia sedatives from hemp for people suffering from cerebral palsy and autism. He purchases these funds abroad, they are certified as food. He had no problems with the police yet, but all this is not entirely legal now. “I would like to legalize. Then I can sell them at the price of activated coal, not gold ingots,” he said.

Power and the police

Among the speakers at the forum was the famous expert of the Penza Research Institute of Agriculture Olga Zelenina , who for a long time as a defendant in the resonant criminal case of the trade of pastry poppies as a narcotic drug. Many human rights activists stated that charges in this case were fabricated. In her speech in the Public Chamber, Zelenin spoke about the difficulties of certification of technical hemp.

Entrepreneurs selling food and hemp clothes in Russia were discussed on the sidelines that the main problem for them is the packaging design. If the hemp on it is depicted too obviously, the goods are often confiscated for "drug propaganda." The audience discussed a recent case in the Krasnodar Territory, when law enforcement officers destroyed 300 hectares of technical hemp, sown by one of the companies.

“Other such stories are similar to Krasnodar. It is not spelled out in any standards that you need to notify that you have planted a field of technical hemp ... And in this case, representatives of the highest authorities learned about the hemp fields. They ask:“ What is it? ” The governor is not in spirit, and no one thinks that they hear the word “Konoplya”, and the Governor became funny.

Another controversial issue: in Russia there are no clear rules for processing technical hemp, which is potentially dangerous for entrepreneurs. At the forum, the intention was announced to hold a meeting of representatives of hemp and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia to resolve relations.

“We have always been with hemp and remain,” Denis Paprakov, deputy head of the crop production department, said confidently. He urged entrepreneurs to clearly formulate their needs and report on them to the associations of hempulders in order to form a specialized system of state support. The deputy director of the Department of Development of the Internal Trade of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Irina Ivanova , deputy director of the internal trade department, spoke.

Several foreign guests were announced on the forum, but they did not reach-because of the complexity with visas and because they were invited too late-the organizers said.