It has been an exciting 6 months since publication of our premier issue and your response has been overwhelming. Our membership has doubled, substantially advancing us toward the goal of 1000 dues-paying members. This goal represents a financial break-even point, enabling the IHA to become self-sufficient! We suggest that all our present members send us a list of people they consider good candidates for membership, and we will contact them. Also, please show the first two issues of the journal to libraries, universities or other institutions that you think might be interested in subscribing to the JIHA, on a Sustaining Member basis. Don't forget to send us your 1995 membership renewal fee before March 31! Remember, all operating expenses and project funding come from annual membership dues and the private donations of a generous few.
We have received a lot of good publicity around the world, having been mentioned or featured in articles from Economic Botany (US), Farmers Weekly (UK), the Amsterdam daily newspaper Het Parool, the Dutch national newspaper Agrarisch Dagblad and the last 3 issues of Hemp World (US). Upcoming articles about the IHA will appear in Diversity (US) and elsewhere. We are also seeking funding from foundations, the Italian government and the European Union, for support of our project to save the worldís most extensive collection of hemp varieties, located at the Vaviliov Research Institute (VIR).
Many prospective new members ask, "What do I get for my annual membership fee, besides the journal?". Your dues go towards initiation and support of many projects, worldwide. Included are the following:
1. The aforementioned VIR project, with activities expanded in 1994 to include grow-outs in Italy and the Ukraine, as well as Russia. (See page 68 of this issue.)
2. Although not yet fully implemented, the IHA is developing archives of live hemp seed lots (1-50 kg) for every developed hemp variety available and a few native land races, too. This gives researchers and entrepreneurs quick access and enables them to avoid having to spend many months locating and procuring these seeds. As a result, start-up projections will be shorter for their pilot projects. We can also aid in locating commercial amounts of most varieties.
3. The IHA is attempting to put the worldís Cannabis literature (>20,000 citations) on a computer. First to come will be a simple title/author/journal-or-book citation. Later, they will be annotated or abstracted. Finally, their full text and illustrations will be included. The cost of this will be very high (>US$ 200,000) and there are copyright problems to be worked out, but a feasibility study has been done and the initial steps have been made. Included in this project is translation of the entire VIR bibliography from the original Russian to English. This project will forge a tool that we feel will eventually become an indispensible part of every serious Cannabis researcherís information-access repertoire.
4. We are entertaining the idea of having a convention of IHA members in the Netherlands, sometime in 1996, as our membership rolls and funding permit. We are presently involved in the upcoming BIORESOURCE HEMP events in Frankfurt, March 2-5, 1994 (see page 64).
A computer group in Luxembourg has offered to distribute the JIHA over the Internet (USENET ALT.HEMP). This is being done by other scientific publications (see Scientific American, December 1994, pages 72-77). The advantages of having more information accessable to more people are obvious, and may well result in a larger membership. However, this may alienate present dues-paying members. For the moment, as a trial, we will display the VIR cover story of the JIHA Vol. 1, #1, along with our Guide for Authors and the back cover displaying a membership application, in an effort to increase membership and donations. A compromise has been suggested that only outdated issues of the JIHA be put on "The Net". Please let us know what you think about this topic. We do care about your opinion!
Speaking of computers, an apology is due to those who may have tried to contact us at
our e-mail address. Our computer has been "down" for many weeks. For the
present, the most reliable way to contact us is by fax or via the good olí post office.
Henry Brookman
Treasurer
Robert Clarke
Projects Manager
David Pate
Secretary
David Watson
Chairman
Hayo van der Werf
Editor-in-Chief
The Journal of the International Hemp Association is a bi-annual publication of the International Hemp Association (IHA), Postbus 75007, 1070 AA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel./fax: +31 20 6188758. Please note our new e-mail address is: "iha@euronet.nl". ISSN nr 1381-091X.
© 1994, International Hemp Association. All articles accepted for publication by this journal are copyrighted by the IHA, unless the author retains their copyright. The IHA reserves the right to reprint copyrighted articles or to supply them to third parties. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, the International Hemp Association. The publisher is not responsible for statements and opinions expressed by the authors in this publication. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to the best ethical standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such a product or of the claims made of it by its seller.
The International Hemp Association is a non-profit organization established in 1992 to promote the beneficial uses of hemp products worldwide. The organization encourages and facilitates the accumulation and exchange of information on Cannabis, sponsors projects in several countries and publishes a journal for its members. The IHA is supported by memberships and by donations from foundations, corporations and individuals.
Although many IHA members may feel that in light of the great economic potential of Cannabis,
the current legal restrictions hampering Cannabis research and hemp cultivation
should be reconsidered, the IHA does not endorse a political stance on Cannabis
legislation, nor will it serve as a forum for the Cannabis legalization debate.
Membership
The IHA has three types of membership: Student (US $25/NLG 45 per year), Individual (US $50/NLG 90 per year) and Sustaining (US $100/NLG 180 or more per year). Membership participation will be balloted. Members may order additional or previous issues for US $10 (postpaid), non-members pay US $ 15 (postpaid). Members joining after June may join for the next year and purchase the issues of the current year. Payments may be made by International Postal Money Order, American Express/Thomas CookMoney Order, or via AmEx credit card.
Authors who contribute an accepted article to the journal will receive a year's
membership including subscription to the journal. Sustaining members can direct their
contribution toward any specific project they prefer. A financial audit of income and
expenditures is available to sustaining members.
Submission of manuscripts
The IHA Journal publishes original research, literature reviews and news items on hemp. Preferably, contributions should not exceed 10 double-spaced typed pages (ca. 4000 words). Longer contributions may be accepted if they can be serialized in two consecutive issues. Manuscripts can be submitted in triplicate to: IHA Journal, Editorial Office, Postbus 75007, 1070 AA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Once a paper is accepted, the preferred medium of submission is on disk (Macintosh or MS-DOS format), preferably MS Word 5.0 or later, with accompanying manuscript. A guide for authors can be found on page 65 of this issue or can be obtained from the IHA.
Editor-in-Chief
Hayo M. G. van der Werf
Editorial Advisory Board
Iván Bócsa, GATE Agricultural Research Institute, Kompolt, Hungary
Henry F. Brookman, Omni Iure BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Robert C. Clarke, Pharmtex, San Diego, California, USA
Sebastiaan Hennink, Hemp-Flax BV, Ressen, Netherlands
Michael Karus, nova-Institute, Hürth/Cologne, Germany
John M. McPartland, VAM, Middlebury, Vermont, USA
Raphael Mechoulam, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Etienne P. M. de Meijer, Utrecht, Netherlands
David W. Pate, HortaPharm BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Gertjan van Roekel, ATO-DLO, Wageningen, Netherlands
David P. Watson, HortaPharm BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Donald Wirtshafter, Ohio Hempery, Athens, Ohio, USA
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