Hemp Facts

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* Hemp Fuel: Hemp produces 10 tons of biomass in four months, 4 times the production of corn, which makes it the only legitimate cost competitive energy crop for charcoal, ethanol, etc.

* Global Warming: Hemp helps reduce global warming and the greenhouse effect if it is grown as an energy crop. Hemp charcoal is sulfur and acid rain-free, unlike fossil coal.

* Hemp as a Rotation Crop: Since Hemp farming stabilizes and enriches the soil, and provides farmers with week free fields, without the cost of herbicides, and without competing for the vast farmland, it has value even if no part of the plant is being harvested and used. Any industrial or monetary benefit beyond this value is a bonus.

* Hemp Roots: Anchor and Aerate soil. Reduce soil loss because of erosion and mudslides by reducing the velocity of runoff. Detoxify soil by pulling metals and toxins (including radioactive elements) from ground.

* Growing Industrial Hemp - Hemp is an Ideal Farm Crop for America, hemp:

1. Requires only 10-13 inches of water.

2. Grows well in non-arctic climates on any moderate soil.

3. Grows 8-12 feet within 3 to 4 months.

4. Soil: pH of 6 or greater

5. Nutrients: Needs 80-100lb./A of Nitrogen, 35-50 of phosphate and 52-70 of patassium.


6. Plant 200-300 plants per square meter to shade out weeds.

7. Germinates within a week with warm temperatures and good moisture.

8. Harvest should begin as soon as last pollen is shed.

* Hemp Paper: Using hemp could reduce deforestation by half. Hemp is 85% cellulose, which means no choloride or dioxins are needed to seperate the cellulose. Trees have only 30%, and require much chemical input to process into paper.

* Textiles: Major companies such as Ralph Lauren, Patagonia, Armani, Men's Warehouse, Adidas and Calvin Klein are participating in the growing $80 million hemp clothing industry.

* Plastics: BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Volkswagon and virtually all European car makers have begun using hemp based composites for panel and lingings etc.

* Earth Impact: Hemp requires no herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or insecticides to grow well and only requires moderate amounts of water.

* Hemp Uses: Hemp is a renewable resource for protein, oil, biomass, fuel, cellulose, pulp or fiber. Hemp can replace anything made from petroleum, wood, fiberglass, trees, soy or corn.

* Building Materials: Hemp hurd foundations are 7 times stronger, 3 times more elastic, and half as heavy as concrete ones. Hemp fiberboard is twice as strong as wood fiberboard.

* Body Care: Hemp oil's superior EFA content helps rebuild skin cell membranes, and softens them.

* Hemp Sales in the United States of America: The U.S.A. has imported almost $500 million worth of hemp in 2002, up from $50 million in 1995, and $5 million in 1990. Hemp has a $500 billion estimated worldwide market.

* Body Care Products: The Body Shop sold an estimated $40 million worth of hemp based products last year, and Revlon has a new line of hemp-based cosmetics available at Wal-Mart nationwide.

* Hemp Oil: Hemp needs to be processed within 50 miles of harvest to be cost effective, which would create manufacturing jobs in rural areas.

 

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Why is a plant that was proclaimed by Popular Mechanics magazine to have the potential to be manufactured into more than 25,000 different environmentally friendly products being systematically withheld from U.S. farmers? It is because the plant is hemp -- otherwise known as marijuana -- and for the last sixty years, it has remained the United States government's public enemy #1.

What Is Hemp?

Often described as marijuana's misunderstood cousin, industrial hemp is from the same plant species (Cannabis sativa) that produces marijuana. Unlike marijuana, however, industrial hemp has only minute amounts of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient that gives marijuana its euphoric and medicinal properties. An indispensable raw material throughout our nation's history (In 1640, the Governor of Connecticut declared that, "Every citizen must grow the plant."), industrial hemp is acknowledged as one of nature's strongest and most versatile agricultural crops. Various parts of the plant can be utilized in the making of textiles, paper, paints, clothing, plastics, cosmetics, foodstuffs, insulation, and animal feed. In France, where approximately 10,000 tons of industrial hemp are harvested annually, companies even use coated hemp hurds to restore and build houses. Besides its spectrum of commercial uses, hemp offers other advantages as well. It produces a much higher yield per acre than do common substitutes such as cotton and requires virtually no pesticides. In addition, hemp has an average growing cycle of only 100 days and leaves the soil virtually weed-free for the next planting. Currently, hemp is grown legally throughout much of Europe and Asia and is being cultivated successfully in test plots in both Australia and Canada.

Despite America's bureaucratic moratorium on industrial hemp cultivation, overwhelming evidence in favor of hemp production continues to emerge from this growing, international industry. Domestic sales of imported hemp products raked in an estimated $25 million dollars in sales in 1994 alone and the American Farm Bureau Federation recently called hemp "one of the most promising crops in half a century." Fashion giants Adidas, Ralph Loren, and Calvin Klein recently added hempen goods to their clothing lines and Klein also has predicted that hemp would become "the fiber of choice" for the home furnishing industry. The number of outlet stores selling hemp products has exploded in recent years and the amount of American manufacturers producing a variety of hemp-based goods ranging from socks to skin care is now estimated to stand at over 1,000. In addition, many nutritionists and health professionals are now singing the praises of the hemp seed, noting that it is second only to soy in protein and contains the highest concentration of essential amino and fatty acids found in any food. Most importantly, none of the countries that currently cultivate hemp for industrial purposes have reported experiencing rates of rising marijuana use because of their position regarding hemp.

History of Hemp

Researchers trace hemp's history as an industrial crop back some 10,000 years when the fiber was first utilized by the Chinese to make ropes and eventually paper. Hemp's wide array of industrial uses first rose to prominence in America during the colonial era when many of the founding fathers espoused its versatility. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were strong advocates for a hemp-based economy and both cultivated the crop for its fiber content. Most of the sails and ropes on colonial ships were made from hemp as were many of the colonists' bibles and maps. The early settlers also used hemp seeds as a source for lamp oil and some colonies made hemp cultivation compulsory, calling it's production necessary for the "wealth and protection of the country."

Hemp continued to be cultivated in America until 1937 when Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act outlawing marijuana. Although not a bill specifically aimed at industrial hemp production, legal limitations posed by the legislation quickly put an end to the once prominent industry.

Hemp production briefly re-emerged in 1942 when the federal government encouraged hundreds of American farmers to cultivate hemp for the war effort. Armed with a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) film entitled "Hemp for Victory," thousands of farmers grew hundreds of thousands of acres of hemp for wartime needs. Unfortunately, when World War II ended, so did the government's allowance of hemp cultivation. By 1957, prohibitionists had reasserted a total ban on hemp production. That federal ban remains in effect today.

Hemp Today

Although the federal government refuses to waver on hemp prohibition, the popularity and knowledge surrounding the numerous advantages hemp production holds for American industry and the environment is rising dramatically. Not surprisingly, even some politicians are beginning to catch on. In 1996, politicians in four states introduced legislation allowing for domestic hemp cultivation and by legislative session's end, both Hawaii and Vermont had passed measures promoting industrial hemp research.

It's sometimes hard to believe, but just a few years ago there existed no such thing as a hemp industry in America. Today, hemp importers, retailers, and manufacturers, and products are springing up everywhere. Similarly, in 1995 only one state politician introduced legislation pertaining to hemp cultivation; it was defeated soundly. Just one year later, politicians in four different states proposed such legislation and garnered significant support.

Where Does The DEA Stand On This Issue?

Despite hemp's growing emergence as a worldwide economic industry, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) remains firmly opposed to any notion of revising the federal law to allow for its domestic cultivation. Currently, only the DEA has the power to license farmers to legally grow hemp. Not surprisingly, the DEA has continued to deny every permit for large-scale hemp farming within America's borders for the last forty years. Recently, the DEA reaffirmed their opposition to hemp in a 1995 USDA "White Paper" regarding the economic viability of alternative crops. In it, the DEA stated that the agency is "opposed to any consideration of hemp as a legitimate fiber or pulp product." The paper further stated that current policy mandates any USDA researcher who wishes to explore the issue of hemp cultivation and research must first be briefed by White house anti-drug officials. In addition, DEA officials have stonewalled several state efforts to enact hemp cultivation and research bills by threatening to arrest any farmers contracted to grow the crop.

What Can You Do Right Now to Support Hemp?

Join NORML: The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is the oldest and largest national organization dedicated solely to marijuana law reform. Since 1970, NORML has educated the public and national media, litigated, and lobbied for hemp reform. Composed of a staff of dedicated individuals in Washington, D.C., a legal committee that includes hundreds of skilled attorneys nationwide who specialize in marijuana law, and a Board of Directors that features a variety of distinguished scientists, researchers, physicians, lawyers, and reform activists, NORML serves as a national voice for the millions of Americans who believe it is both counter-productive and unjust to deny individuals the right to cultivate hemp as an industrial resource.

Educate: Learn about the benefits of hemp and educate those around you, including your community and political leaders. Purchase and read such informative guides as Chris Conrad's book Hemp: Lifeline to the Future and HEMPTECH's Industrial Hemp. Donate copies to your local library and/or send copies to your elected officials along with a letter informing them of the many practical uses for hemp. During this year's hearings regarding industrial hemp legislation in Vermont, hemp proponents in the House of Representatives both cited and distributed copies of Industrial Hemp to members of the state legislature. Many legislators were positively influenced by the booklet.

Buy hemp products: Support the growing hemp market by purchasing hemp goods and frequenting retail outlets that distribute hemp products. As hemp becomes more common in the marketplace, it will become harder to stigmatize. In the past six years, American sales of hemp products have grown from less than a $1 million to an estimated $50 million. Let your political leaders and manufacturers know that the hemp market is a legitimate and growing industry and not just a passing fad. Encourage local retail outlets to carry hemp-based products. The most effective way for a community to learn and appreciate the value of hemp is to become familiarized with its various products and practical uses in daily life. The retail community and the consumer can make this a reality.

Teach farmers about the value of hemp: Even though the sale of American hemp products are on the rise, federal prohibition of industrial hemp cultivation continues to effectively shut out the American farmer from this booming market. Educate the farmers in your area of the value of hemp as a vital agricultural resource and make them aware of the need to end hemp prohibition. In the wake of declining tobacco sales, many farmers are actively searching for an economically viable, low maintenance alternative crop. Explain to them that hemp is the answer.

Encourage farm organizations to endorse hemp cultivation: The American farm industry is one of America's most influential lobbies on both the national and state level. For example, two chief backers of Colorado's hemp proposal were the Colorado Farm Bureau and the Colorado State Grange.

Encourage local farm organizations in your state to become involved in the movement to end hemp prohibition and actively lobby for reform. In addition, contact the American Farm Bureau (call 202-457-3600 or write to: 600 Maryland Ave., SW, #800, Washington, DC 20024) and tell them that you support their 1996 resolution endorsing domestic hemp production. Request that they become more active and vocal in their support for industrial hemp on the federal level.

Target the media: People in general and the media specifically are receptive to hearing about new job and business opportunities that will also benefit the environment. Encourage your local media to feature articles on industrial hemp by writing letters to the editor, Op-eds, and/or sending correspondents weekly NORML press releases (Call for more details). Recent articles in such publications as Wired, Vegetarian Times, New Age Journal, E! The Environmental Magazine, and the Washington Post have provided needed publicity to the blossoming hemp movement and have heightened national awareness of hemp's industrial value. Encourage additional media outlets to cover the latest hemp-related stories such as the recent planting that took place on American Indian soil and learn the truth about hemp.

Write your representatives: Write a letter to your local representatives and members of Congress informing them that, as a voter, the issue of industrial hemp is important to you. Elaborate on the many uses of industrial hemp and explain why you support repealing its prohibition. Be sure to stress hemp's ecological and economic benefits, including the creation of jobs. (It is very difficult for a politician to argue against an issue that is good for both the environment and the economy.) Request that they introduce legislation that would amend the federal and/or state law to allow research to take place on the viability of domestic hemp cultivation.

 

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More Hemp Facts

WHAT'S ALL THIS FUSS ABOUT HEMP?

1a) What is hemp?

For our purposes, hemp is the plant called `cannabis sativa' which means `useful (sativa) hemp (cannabis)'. Hemp is a strain of cannabis which contains little if any THC- the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Hemp is NOT marijuana. Hemp can NOT get you high!

`Hemp' is a durable plant that has been used since pre-history for many purposes. Fiber is the most well known product, and the word `hemp' can mean the rope or twine which is made from the hemp plant, as well as just the stalk of the plant which produced it.

Cannabis is the most durable of the hemp plants, and it produces the toughest cloth, called `canvass.' (Canvass was widely used as sails in the early shipping industry, as it was the only cloth which would not rot on contact with sea spray.) The cannabis plant also produces three other very important products which the other hemp plants do not (in usable form, that is): seed, pulp, and medicine.

The pulp is used as fuel, and to make paper. The seed is suitable for both human and animal foods. The oil from the seed can be used in as a base for paints and varnishes. The medicine is a tincture or admixture of the sticky resin in the blossoms and leaves of the hemp plant, and is used for a variety of purposes.

1b) What is cannabis?

Cannabis is the general family of marijuana and hemp. Generally, Cannabis Sativa refers to hemp while Cannabis Indica refers to marijuana. While both are in the same family, the two plants have very different properties.
1c) Where did the word `marijuana' come from?

The word `marijuana' is a Mexican slang term which became popular in the late 1930's in America, during a series of media and government programs which we now refer to as the `Reefer Madness Movement.' It refers specifically to the medicine part of cannabis, THC, which Mexican soldiers used to smoke.

Today in the U.S., hemp (meaning the roots, stalk, and stems of the cannabis plant) is legal to possess. No one can arrest you for wearing a hemp shirt, or using hemp paper.

Marijuana is not legal to possess, and there are stiff fines and possible jail terms for having any marijuana in your possession. The seeds are legal to possess and eat, but only if they are sterilized (will not grow to maturity.)

The United States does not produce any industrial hemp products, and must import them or, more often, substitute others. (There is a way to grow hemp legally, but it involves filing an application with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the DEA very rarely ever gives its permission.) This does not seem to have stopped people from producing and using marijuana, though. In many of the United States, marijuana is the number one cash crop, mostly because it fetches a very high price on the black market.

2a) How can hemp be used as a food?

Hemp seed is a highly nutritious source of protein and essential fatty oils. Many populations have grown hemp for its seed -- most of them eat it as `gruel' which is a lot like oatmeal. The leaves can be used as roughage, but not without slight psycho-active side-effects. Hemp seeds do not contain any THC and they do not get you `high.'

Hemp seed protein closely resembles protein as it is found in the human blood. It is fantastically easy to digest, and many patients who have trouble digesting food are given hemp seed by their doctors. Hemp seed was once called `edestine' and was used by scientists as the model for vegetable protein.

Hemp seed oil provides the human body with essential fatty acids. Hemp seed is the only seed which contains these oils with almost no saturated fat. As a supplement to the diet, these oils can reduce the risk of heart disease. It is because of these oils that birds will live much longer if they eat hemp seed.

With hemp seed, a vegan or vegetarian can survive and eat virtually no saturated fats. One handful of hemp seed per day will supply adequate protein and essential oils for an adult.

2b) What are the benefits of hemp compared to other food crops?

Hemp requires little fertilizer, and grows well almost everywhere. It also resists pests, so it uses little pesticides. Hemp puts down deep roots, which is good for the soil, and when the leaves drop off the hemp plant, minerals and nitrogen are returned to the soil. Hemp has been grown on the same soil for twenty years in a row without any noticeable depletion of the soil.

Using less fertilizer and agricultural chemicals is good for two reasons. First, it costs less and requires less effort.

Second, many agricultural chemicals are dangerous and contaminate the environment -- the less we have to use, the better.

2c) How about soy?

Is hemp competitive as a world source of protein?

Hemp does not produce quite as much protein as soy, but hemp seed protein is of a higher quality than soy. Agricultural considerations may make hemp the food crop of the future. In addition to the fact that hemp is an easy crop to grow, it also resists UV-B light, which is a kind of sunlight blocked by the ozone layer. Soy beans do not take UV-B light very well. If the ozone layer were to deplete by 16%, which by some estimates is very possible, soy production would fall by 25-30%.

We may have to grow hemp or starve -- and it won't be the first time that this has happened. Hemp has been used to `bail out' many populations in time of famine.

Unfortunately, because of various political factors, starving people in today's underdeveloped countries are not taking advantage of this crop. In some places, this is because government officials would call it `marijuana' and pull up the crop. In other countries, it is because the farmers are busy growing coca and poppies to produce cocaine and heroin for the local Drug Lord. This is truly a sad state of affairs. Hopefully someday the Peace Corps will be able to teach modern hemp seed farming techniques and end the world's protein shortage.

3a) How can hemp be used for cloth?

The stalk of the hemp plant has two parts, called the bast and the hurd. The fiber (bast) of the hemp plant can be woven into almost any kind of cloth. It is very durable.

In fact, the first Levi's blue jeans were made out of hemp for just this reason. Compared to all the other natural fibers available, hemp is more suitable for a large number of applications.

Here is how hemp is harvested for fiber: A field of closely spaced hemp is allowed to grow until the leaves fall off. The hemp is then cut down and it lies in the field for some time washed by the rain. It is turned over once to expose both sides of the stalk evenly. During this time, the hurd softens up and many minerals are returned to the soil. This is called `retting,' and after this step is complete, the stalks are brought to a machine which separates the bast and the hurd. We are lucky to have machines today -- men used to do this last part by hand with hours of back-breaking labor.

3b) Why is it better than cotton?

The cloth that hemp makes may be a little less soft than cotton, (though there are also special kinds of hemp, or ways to grow or treat hemp, that can produce a soft cloth) but it is much stronger and longer lasting. (It does not stretch out.) Environmentally, hemp is a better crop to grow than cotton, especially the way cotton is grown nowadays. In the United States, the cotton crop uses half of the total pesticides. (Yes, you heard right, one half of the pesticides used in the entire U.S. are used on cotton.)

Cotton is a soil damaging crop and needs a lot of fertilizer.

4a) How can hemp be used to make paper?

Both the fiber (bast) and pulp (hurd) of the hemp plant can be used to make paper. Fiber paper was the first kind of paper, and the first batch was made out of hemp in ancient China. Fiber paper is thin, tough, brittle, and a bit rough. Pulp paper is not as strong as fiber paper, but it is easier to make, softer, thicker, and preferable for most everyday purposes. The paper we use most today is a `chemical pulp' paper made from trees. Hemp pulp paper can be made without chemicals from the hemp hurd. Most hemp paper made today uses the entire hemp stalk, bast and hurd. High-strength fiber paper can be made from the hemp baste, also without chemicals.

The problem with today's paper is that so many chemicals are used to make it. High strength acids are needed to make quality (smooth, strong, and white) paper out of trees. These acids produce chemicals which are very dangerous to the environment. Paper companies do their best to clean these chemicals up (we hope.) Hemp offers us an opportunity to make affordable and environmentally safe paper for all of our needs, since it does not need much chemical treatment.

It is up to consumers, though, to make the right choice -- these dangerous chemicals can also be used on hemp to make a slightly more attractive product. Instead of buying the whiter, brighter role of toilet paper, we will need to think about what we are doing to the planet.

Because of the chemicals in today's paper, it will turn yellow and fall apart as acids eat away at the pulp. This takes several decades, but because of this publishers, libraries and archives have to order specially processed acid free paper, which is much more expensive, in order to keep records. Paper made naturally from hemp is acid free and will last for centuries.

4b) Why can't we just keep using trees?

The chemicals used to make wood chemical pulp paper today could cause us a lot of trouble tomorrow. Environmentalists have long been concerned about the effects of dioxin and other compounds on wildlife and even people. Beyond the chemical pollution, there are agricultural reasons why we should use cannabis hemp instead. When trees are harvested, minerals are taken with them. Hemp is much less damaging to the land where it is grown because it leaves these minerals behind.

A simpler answer to the above question is: Because we are running out! It was once said that a squirrel could climb from New England to the banks of the Mississippi River without touching the ground once. The European settler's appetite for firewood and farmland put an end to this. When the first wood paper became a huge industry, the United States Department of Agriculture began to worry about the `tree supply.' That is why they went in search of plant pulp to replace wood. Today some `conservatives' argue that there are more forests now than there ever were. This is neither true, realistic nor conservative: these statistics do not reflect the real world. Once trees have been removed from a plot of land, it takes many decades before biological diversity and natural cycles return to the forest, and commercial tree farms simply do not count as forest -- they are farm land. As just mentioned, many plant fibers were investigated by the USDA -- some, like kenaf, were even better suited than cannabis hemp for making some qualities of paper, but hemp had one huge advantage: robust vitality. Hemp generates immense amounts of plant matter in a three month growing season. When it came down to producing the deluge of paper used by Americans, only hemp could compete with trees. In fact, according to the 1916 calculations of the USDA, one acre of hemp would replace an entire four acres of forest. And, at the same time, this acre would be producing textiles and rope.

Today, only 4% of America's old-growth forest remains standing -- and there is talk about building roads into that for logging purposes! Will our policy makers realize in time how easy it would be to save them?

5a) How can hemp be used as a fuel?

The pulp (hurd) of the hemp plant can be burned as is or processed into charcoal, methanol, methane, or gasoline. The process for doing this is called destructive distillation, or `pyrolysis.' Fuels made out of plants like this are called `biomass' fuels. This charcoal may be burned in today's coal-powered electric generators.

Methanol makes a good automobile fuel, in fact it is used in professional automobile races. It may someday replace gasoline.

Hemp may also be used to produce ethanol (grain alcohol.) The United States government has developed a way to make this automobile fuel additive from cellulosic biomass. Hemp is an excellent source of high quality cellulosic biomass.

One other way to use hemp as fuel is to use the oil from the hemp seed -- some diesel engines can run on pure pressed hemp seed oil. However, the oil is more useful for other purposes, even if we could produce and press enough hemp seed to power many millions of cars.

5b) Why is it better than petroleum?

Biomass fuels are clean and virtually free from metals and sulfur, so they do not cause nearly as much air pollution as fossil fuels. Even more importantly, burning biomass fuels does not increase the total amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. When petroleum products are burned, carbon that has been stored underground for millions of years is added to the air; this may contribute to global warming through the `Greenhouse Effect', (a popular theory which says that certain gases will act like a wool blanket over the entire Earth, preventing heat from escaping into space.) In order to make biomass fuels, this carbon dioxide has to be taken out of the air to begin with -- when they are burned it is just being put back where it started.

Another advantage over fossil fuels is that biomass fuels can be made right here in the United States, instead of buying them from other countries. Instead of paying oil drillers, super-tanker captains, and soldiers to get our fuel to us, we could pay local farmers and delivery drivers instead. Of course, it is possible to chop down trees and use them as biomass. This would not be as beneficial to the environment as using hemp, especially since trees that are cut down for burning are `whole tree harvested.' This means the entire tree is ripped up and burned, not just the wood.

Since most of the minerals which trees use are in the leaves, this practice could ruin the soil where the trees are grown. In several places in the United States, power companies are starting to do this -- burning the trees in order to produce electricity, because that is cheaper than using coal. They should be using hemp, like researchers in Australia started doing a few years ago. (Besides, hemp provides a higher quality and quantity of biomass than trees do.)

7) What other uses for hemp are there?

One of the newest uses of hemp is in construction materials. Hemp can be used in the manufacture of `press board' or `composite board.' This involves gluing fibrous hemp stalks together under pressure to produce a board which is many times more elastic and durable than hardwood. Because hemp produces a long, tough fiber it is the perfect source for press-board. Another interesting application of hemp in industry is making plastic. Many plastics can be made from the high-cellulose hemp hurd. Hemp seed oil has a multitude of uses in products such as varnishes and lubricants.

Using hemp to build is by no means a new idea. French archeologists have discovered bridges built with a process that mineralizes hemp stalks into a long-lasting cement.

The process involves no synthetic chemicals and produces a material which works as a filler in building construction. Called Isochanvre, it is gaining popularity in France. Isochanvre can be used as drywall, insulates against heat and noise, and is very long lasting. `Bio-plastics' are not a new idea, either -- way back in the 1930's Henry Ford had already made a whole car body out of them -- but the processes for making them do need more research and development. Bio-plastics can be made without much pollution. Unfortunately, companies are not likely to explore bio-plastics if they have to either import the raw materials or break the law. (Not to mention compete with the already established petrochemical products.)

WELL WHY AREN'T WE USING HEMP, THEN?

1) How and why was hemp made illegal?

Tough question! In order to explain why hemp, the most useful plant known to mankind, became illegal, we have to understand the reasons why marijuana, the drug, became illegal. In fact, it helps to go way back to the beginning of the century and talk about two other drugs, opium (the grandfather of heroin) and cocaine.

Opium, a very addictive drug (but relatively harmless by today's standards) was once widely used by the Chinese. The reasons for this are a whole other story, but suffice to say that when Chinese started to immigrate to the United States, they brought opium with them. Chinese workers used opium to induce a trance-like state which helped make boring, repetitive tasks more interesting. It also numbs the mind to pain and exhaustion. By using opium, the Chinese were able to pull very long hours in the sweat shops of the Industrial Revolution. During this period of time, there was no such thing as fair wages, and the only way a worker could make a living was to produce as much as humanly possible.

Since they were such good workers, the Chinese held a lot of jobs in the highly competitive industrial work-place. Even before the Great Depression, when millions of jobs disappeared overnight, the White Americans began to resent this, and Chinese became hated among the White working class. Even more than today, White Americans had a very big political advantage over the Chinese -- they spoke English and had a few relatives in the government, so it was easy for them to come up with a plan to force Chinese immigrants to leave the country (or at least keep them from inviting all their relatives to come and live in America.) This plan depended on stirring up racist feelings, and one of the easiest things to focus these feelings on was the foreign and mysterious practice of using opium.

We can see this pattern again with cocaine, except with cocaine it was Black Americans who were the target. Cocaine probably was not especially useful in the work-place, but the strategy against Chinese immigrants (picking on their drug of choice) had been so successful that it was used again. In the case of Blacks, though, the racist feelings ran deeper, and the main thrust of the propaganda campaign was to control the Black community and keep Blacks from becoming successful. Articles appeared in newspapers which blamed cocaine for violent crime by Blacks. Black Americans were painted as savage, uncontrollable beasts when under the influence of cocaine -- it was said to make a single Black man as strong as four or five police officers.




Copyright (c) 1994 by Brian S. Julin

 

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[Boss]

These are MUST reads for anyone that want's to have an intelligent conversation about the benefits of hemp

Thank you!

 

[tintala]

GAWD, I swear everyday I preach to someone about hemp. ONLY because everyone everyday brings up some issue , any issue, that i think can be rectified by using and GROWING HEMP! It really saddens me to live in a POLICING country that won't RE_open it's eyes to helping FARMERS and AMERCIANs, and the global community make a better living and help heal the neglected earth. With everthing that DUPONT has done to the earth, they should be ARRESTED and TORTURED for ever deciding to spread lies and propaganda about cannabis. I have even written to them telling them this. HEMP is like the WHITE ANGEL and DUPONT is equal to SATAN.. bad analogy?

 

[Altanon]

I think the thing that angers me the most with the US Government is that they made Hemp illegal just when it might have saved tens of thousands of small, family farms across the Country. And, once that era of America was gone, I don't see anything that will bring it back. In a way, you might say, they killed The Waltons.

 

[Julie Gardener]

Such an incredibly useful and eco-friendly product. I guess this is where it starts for me...I'm on board to spread the word about the use of hemp in our daily lives!!

Thanks Rob for an excellent, enlightening read!!

 

[blarnburns1]

read "The Emperor Wears Wears No Clothes" By: Jack Herer... that is all!

 

[Redhawk44]

Preaching to the converted man.

 

[barb4rism]

brilliant ideaz the world should switch to.

i support this, thanks

 

[JewellWheeler]

These are really worth reading.