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DEAR MEMBERS

Yes, the IHA is still active! However, after publishing for six years, this issue will be the final one published in-house due to predicted financial and staff shortages. In addition, it arrives several months later than the official publication date and so contains information to August 2000. Haworth Press (who will also publish the new Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics) has agreed to take over publication of our journal, which will now be called the Journal of Industrial Hemp (JIH) and will be modeled after the Journal of the International Hemp Association (JIHA). Publication will commence in early 2002, continuing as the official journal of the IHA with Volume 7, Number 1. Most of the former JIHA format of scientific and popular articles will be maintained: book/conference/Internet reviews, reader?s letters, and announcements pertaining to the hemp industry. Dr. Hayo van der Werf will continue as our Editor-in-chief and the Editorial Advisory Board will remain much the same, assuring our readers that the JIH will live up to the same high standards of the JIHA. The layout and printing quality of the new journal should improve through this cooperation. Unfortunately, a free year?s subscription to article contributors is no longer offered and JIH back-issues will not be posted on the Web. We hope that the more professional format and publication schedule will be sufficient to attract high-quality articles.

A renewal of your IHA membership is encouraged for 2000 and 2001. During this re-organization period, there will be a lapse in publication. To promote membership until the new JIH appears, we are offering members their choice of any three of the 11 JIHA back-issues (all except Vol. 1 No. 1) at the new reduced membership rates mentioned below. Your continued support is needed, now more than ever. All members of the IHA for 2002 will receive two JIH journals each year for a reduced individual yearly membership fee of $45.00. Business and institutional members can join for $75.00. Haworth Press requests that members join before the first issue is printed each year, and refrain from joining during the year, so that mailing will be more efficiently handled. Purchasing the journal directly from Haworth at the same price will be possible, but IHA members will also receive our membership directory and will be entitled to such IHA benefits as discounts on books, the use of our library, and our advice. In addition, IHA members are welcome to contact us for an appointment to visit the IHA industrial hemp collection and library at our offices in Amsterdam. Extra funds raised by the IHA will be used for future projects such as the establishment of an independent fiber identification laboratory and textile certification program (see pg. 108).

All who are interested in the science of industrial hemp and medical Cannabis should certainly attend the Bioresource Hemp symposium to be held September 13-16, 2000 in Wolfsburg, Germany (see page 104). See you there!

Finally, we wish to thank all of our faithful members and business contributors who have continued their long-term support to the IHA. Without their help, none of what we have achieved to date could have been possible.