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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Can hemp help create a green economy?
Posted by Linda Taylor on Tue, May 19, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Is hemp our future economic stimulus? A recent article on Alternet.org written by Dara Colwell suggests so. Industrial hemp has 25,000 known applications. From paper (our Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written on hemp paper ), to clothing (your hemp pants will last forever ), to food products (according to this article, the Wall Street Journal stated that hemp is the fastest growing new food category in North America). Add in construction and automotive materials and you have a very sustainable green economy start-up.
But as most of you know, growing hemp in the United States is still illegal. The Drug Enforcement Administration has grouped this low-THC plant with its relative, marijuana. We are the only industrialized country on earth to prohibit hemp production. Canada even legalized growing hemp in 1997.
An exception to cultivating industrial hemp came during World War II, when the armed forces experienced a fiber shortage and the government encouraged all farmers to grow hemp. But after the war and with the introduction of nylon, hemp production disappeared. The history of hemp is fueled with propaganda and corporate greed. If a farmer in North Dakota chose to grow this incredible crop today, they would be guilty of trafficking and would face a fine of up to 4 million dollars and a prison sentence of 5 – 40 years.
Hemp has enormous benefits as a crop. It is environmentally friendly, requiring no pesticides or herbicides, it is the perfect rotation or rest crop because it detoxifies and regenerates the soil and it grows quickly.
More and more health advocates are realizing that as a food hemp is rich in essential omega-3 fatty acids. The hemp plant’s cellulose level is about three times that of wood and is the ideal raw material for plant-based plastics. Henry Ford himself manufactured a car from hemp-based plastic in 1941 and ran it on clean-burning hemp-based ethanol fuel.
28 states have introduced hemp legislation. Isn’t it time that we seriously look at something that could solve many of today’s problems?
Comments (6)
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The good stuff can cure cancer and many other ailments. http://wideeyecinema.com/?p=1036 Great article. Kinda makes ya wonder about the real goals of our corporate controlled government...
This is good news, however hemp is not in a bubble and the entire "War on Drugs" is officially over. Unfortunately, the bad news is: non-violent "offenders" still go to prison because of a cultural (and extremely racist) bias towards other drugs, and industrial hemp cultivation still has not been addressed by our "change"-loving president. Why would he not embrace the plant that can launch a truly green (and prosperous) economy? What about the brave men and women of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (www.leap.cc)? Finally, why have the feds and major media outlets ignored the findings and advice of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy--which, among many other things, calls for the immediate decriminalization of marijuana... Or did I just answer my own question?
People United for Medical Marijuana (pufmm.org) is working to get medical marijuana legalized in Florida. We will be meeting at Lowrey Park at 1000am on Sunday. Join us if you can. We are working on the petition drive for the Patient Choice Medical Marijuana Ballot Inititative and hope to see you there. If you cant attend go to our website and get involved.
Obama will only be allowed to do what wall Street tells him he can do. All amerikan presidents since JFK have been puppets. Have you noticed the difference between what he has promised verbally and his actions?
Nice article Linda. Was thinking, we decided to make hemp illegal and allow for synthetic material to flourish without the natural hemp fiber in the way chemical companies like Dupont have made a killing while polluting all of us and our environment. Imagine the world we would live in today if hemp were allowed its proper place in manufacturing and our society in general. How can a plant be illegal? Someone saying that the earth or god created an error.
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