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Hemp: The Truth About the Earths Greatest Plant In a perfect world there would be a product that could serve as a fuel source, a food source, a paper source, a textile source, and this product would be easy to produce in any of its forms. Believe it or not such a product does exist; it is the plant known as hemp. No tree or plant species on earth has the commercial, economic, and environmental potential of hemp. Over 30, 000 known products can be manufactured from hemp.
Hemp was a common crop grown in the U. S. until 1937 when it was unjustly banned. A common misconception about hemp is that it was banned because it was a widely abused, harmful drug.
Hemp was banned because it was a competitive threat to the wood industry. Corporations that profited from the demise of hemp spread rumors that marijuana was a major drug problem, which it was not at the time. They also propagated a campaign that it was a drug that induced uncontrollable violence, another complete falsehood. Hemp is the plant scientifically known as cannabis sativa.
It is referred to as hemp when it is grown for its fibers, stem, and seeds. Its leaves and flowers produce the drugs marijuana and hashish. However, sterile breeds of the plant are still illegal to grow in the U. S.
Literally millions of wild hemp plants grow throughout the entire Midwest today. Wild hemp, like hemp used for industry purposes, is useless as an intoxicant. Yet U. S. drug law states that one acre of this can result in the owner being sentenced to death. The death penalty exists for growing one acre of perfectly harmless, non-intoxicating weeds!
Hemp can produce any product that paper can produce. The difference is that one acre of hemp can produce four times as much paper as one acre of trees (a study done by the U. S. Department of Agriculture). Also, a crop of trees takes twenty to fifty years to be ready for harvest where hemp is ready to harvest four times as much in just a year.
In addition, hemp produces twice as much fiber per acre as cotton. Twenty five percent of all pesticides in the world are used on cotton, averaging to four pounds of chemicals per acre of cotton in the U. S. every year. Since hemp is a natural repellent to weeds and insects, it needs almost no insecticides or herbicides. If it were substituted for cotton it could greatly reduce the pesticide usage.
Again, hemp can produce anything cotton can and whats more it can produce it better. Levi Strauss tested a pair of hemp denim jeans and the results showed hemp jeans to be 65 % more durable than the average store bought pair. Hemp produces more biomass than any other plant that can be grown in the U. S. This biomass can be converted to fuel in the form of clean-burning alcohol, or non-sulfur man-made coal.
It is estimated that if hemp were widely grown in the U. S. , it could supply 100 % of the nations energy needs. Hemp seeds are also a source of many products. The seeds contain high protein oil that can be used for human and animal consumption. Hemp oil is not intoxicating. Extracting hemp oil is cheaper than processing soy beans and it can be processed and flavored in any way that soy beans can.
Hemp oil can also be used to make butter, cheese, and tofu. In addition to food products, hemp oil can be used to make paint, varnish, ink, and plastic substitutes. One of the many high points of hemp is that its easily grown. Unlike almost all hemp substitutes, hemp can be grown in all fifty states.
During the Second World War, the government temporarily re-legalized hemp so farmers could grow it for the war effort. Hemp helped win World War II! It is high time for this country to take a second look at this product. After reading these facts I challenge anyone to come up with a reason to maintain the hemp prohibition.
Two of our founding fathers, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, were hemp advocates. They said hemp was a necessity to the success of our nation. Now we have an even greater cause than that; the success of the planet. We cannot continue to butcher our forests and pollute our soil and water with chemicals to meet the demands of our every day lives. In turn we will never be able convince enough people to change the way they live to do any good. Fortunately, we have the perfect solution right under our noses: hemp.
However, this solution will not do us any good until people realize its potential, and this will only happen if the word is spread. I can only hope that enough people are educated before its too late. Make the most of the hemp seed, sow it everywhere. ? George Washington
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