Dubrovin Mikhail

Dubrovin Mikhail

2022: Hemp is not equal to marijuana. How the traditions of the production of goods from hemp fiber are being revived in Russia

An unfairly forgotten culture of hemp products is being revived in Russia. According to the Government of the Russian Federation, industrial crops of technical varieties of this plant in 2020 reached 10.8 thousand hectares - 12.4 times more than in 2010. In pre-revolutionary Russia and the USSR, hemp growing was a powerful industry - the export of hemp, fiber produced from hemp, brought income comparable to the current ones - from oil and gas. Then the word "hemp" began to take on a negative color due to the start of a campaign against cannabinol-containing varieties of the plant, but now the industry is gradually reborn. This is facilitated by enthusiastic entrepreneurs, such as, for example, Mikhail Dubrovin, the founder of Russia's only chain of stores selling goods from technical hemp Hemp for Life. He is actively engaged in education, restoring the plant's reputation as an eco-friendly raw material for the production of clothing, products and cosmetics, through performances on television and radio, participation in business competitions, as well as a book where he spoke about the history of the plant and its prospects in production. Read more here.