THE Guyana Hemp Industries (GHI), through four mega concerts, is hoping to raise awareness of the employment benefits hemp can provide if it is legalised here.

“What we are doing for Guyana is that the hemp industry is creating awareness for hemp and helping the farmers to be employed,” chairman of the GHI, Verman Bedessee, said.

He further explained that a driving force behind the promotion of the hemp industry is to provide an alternative industry to the rice or sugar industries so that persons can align themselves and become employed.

Some of the uses of hemp, according to Bedessee, include bio-degradable hemp plastic bags; hemp paper; bio-composite hempcrete for building; bio-diesel fuel; hemp flour for 50 per cent more protein than regular flour and more.

Cognisant of this, he said the body is hosting a mega concert across four regions, including Georgetown and Berbice, so that persons can understand how hemp can become a thriving local industry with a host of employment opportunities.

“GHI is here to educate persons, bring in the seeds, help with the planting and also buy back the products when the farmers grow it,” he said.

Bedessee, however, related that he believes that there are some in Berbice who are opposed to the introduction of hemp, due to a number of misconceptions.
Some persons in the ancient county, according to him, have been destroying the advertisement banners that GHI erected for the concert.

“Hemp and marijuana are two different things,” he said, explaining: “Although it’s from the same species of plant (Cannabis Sativa), hemp is a plant that cannot get you high but the marijuana is the one which has larger amounts of the cannabinoids called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) substance that will get you ‘high’.” Hemp contains about 0.3 per cent or less THC.

Bedessee had said that this common misconception between marijuana and hemp continues to contribute to there being no legislation for organisations such as the GHI to make use of the product. Even so, he noted that the GHI remains hopeful that this will change, even if supporters must settle for just a farming permit.

Aside from that belief, he shared that persons may just be in opposition to the hosting of the show and are maliciously removing the promotional items.

“Most people in Guyana have about three or four artistes but we’re bringing about a dozen artistes,” he said, sharing his belief that some person could also be feeling threatened by this.

He, however, clarified that the GHI has no intention of garnering massive profits from the venture. Instead, he indicated that the concerts are being organised using his own money so that farmers can be supported and that more persons can learn about hemp.