Hemp Information

On September 28, 2004, the HIA claimed victory after DEA declined to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States the ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals protecting the sale of hemp-containing foods. Industrial hemp remains legal for import and sale in the U.S., but U.S. farmers still are not permitted to grow it.

President Jimmy Carter told Congress in 1977, that: "Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Yet, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America's rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator. It urges states to curtail corrections spending by placing fewer low-risk offenders behind bars.

By stubbornly defining all marijuana smoking as a criminal act; we are wasting police and prosecutorial resources, clogging courts, filling costly and scarce jail and prison space, and needlessly wrecking the lives and careers of genuinely good people. Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers an estimated $10 billion annually and results in the arrest of more than 734,000 individuals per year.

Marijuana is far less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. According to the prestigious European medical journal, "The smoking of cannabis, even long-term, is not harmful to health. ... It would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a threat ... than alcohol or tobacco."

I believe the American public needs to no the facts about hemp. After reading lots of information on the subject I have to wonder why is hemp illegal to grow in the United States. After reading every thing I believe it became illegal for the wrong reasons with greed and profit behind the motives. With all the drugs out there that is killing our kids it makes a lot more sense than fighting a war on a drug that does not kill.

Maybe one day, people will see what we are losing with the illegalization of hemp.

Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America (behind only alcohol and tobacco), and has been used by nearly 80 million Americans. According to government surveys, some 20 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year, and more than 11 million do so regularly despite harsh laws against its use.
More facts about prison overpopulation.

Hemp is not marijuana. Literally millions of wild hemp plants currently grow throughout the United States. Hemp has no drug properties because of its very low THC content. Hemp fiber is stronger and softer than cotton, lasts twice as long as cotton, and will not mildew: 1 acre of hemp will produce as much fiber as 2 to 3 acres of cotton. It is ready for harvesting only 120 days after it is planted.

Hemp is frost tolerant, requires moderate amounts of water, and requires no pesticides. Hemp is the world's most promising source of tree-free paper: 1 acre of hemp will produce as much paper as 2-4 acres of trees. Mercedes Benz of Germany has recently begun manufacturing automobile bodies and dashboards made from hemp.

During World War II, the U.S. government temporarily re-legalized hemp cultivation so American farmers could grow it for the war. Hemp and Marijuana was grown legally in the US. Shortly before marijuana was banned by The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, new technologies was developed that made hemp competitor with the newly-founded synthetic fiber and plastics industries. Hemp's potential for producing paper also posed a threat to the timber industry. Evidence suggests that commercial interests having much to lose from hemp competition helped propagate reefer madness hysteria, and used their influence to lobby for Marijuana Prohibition. It is not known for certain if special interests conspired to destroy the hemp industry via Marijuana Prohibition, but enough evidence exists to raise the possibility.

Hemp refers to varieties of the cannabis plant which are cultivated for non-drug use, and for industrial and other goods such as rope, clothes, fuel, etc. In historical terms, the most famous users of cannabis were the ancient Hindus.

Hemp is the common name for plants of the genus Cannabis, although the term is often used to refer only to Cannabis strains cultivated for industrial (non-drug) use. Hemp is cultivated virtually everywhere in the world except for the United States, and its cultivation in western countries is growing steadily. For example, Canadian Hempseed exports surged 300% last year, according to Vote Hemp. China, and other eastern countries, never prohibited its cultivation and use it extensively.

Industrial hemp has thousands of uses, from paper to textiles to biodegradable plastics to health food to fuel. It is one of the fastest growing biomasses on the planet, and one of the earliest domesticated plants known. It also runs parallel with the "Green Future" objectives that are becoming increasingly popular. Hemp requires little to no pesticides, replenishes soil with nutrients and nitrogen, controls erosion of the topsoil, and converts CO2 to Oxygen very well, considering how fast it grows. Furthermore, Hemp could be used to replace many potentially harmful products, such as tree paper (the process of which uses bleaches and other toxic chemicals, apart from contributing to deforestation), cosmetics (which often contain synthetic oils that can clog pores and provide little nutritional content for the skin), plastics (which are petroleum based and cannot decompose), and more.

Characteristics of hemp fibre are its superior strength and durability, resistance to ultraviolet light and mold, comfort and good absorbency (8%). Hemp rope is notorious for breaking due to rot as the capillary effect of the rope-woven fibres tended to hold liquid at the interior, while seemingly dry from the outside. Hemp rope used in the age of sailing-ships was protected by tarring, a labor-intensive process and also the reason for the Jack Tar nickname for sailors. Hemp rope was phased out when Manila, which does not require tarring, became available.

Licenses for hemp cultivation are issued in the European Union and Canada. In the United Kingdom, these licenses are issued by the Home Office under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. When grown for non-drug purposes hemp is often called industrial hemp, and a common product is fiber for use in a wide variety of products. Feral hemp or ditch weed is usually a naturalized fiber or oilseed strain of Cannabis that have escaped from cultivation and are self-seeding.

Hemp cultivation in the United States is suppressed by laws supported by drug enforcement agencies, for fear that high THC plants will be grown amidst the low THC plants used for hemp production. Efforts are underway to change these laws, allowing American farmers to compete in the growing markets for this crop. As of 2006, China produces roughly 40% of the world's hemp fiber and has been producing much of the world's Cannabis crop throughout much of history.

Hemp seeds are highly nutritious, and contain beneficial omega fatty acids, amino acids, and minerals. They can be eaten raw, ground into a meal, sprouted, made into milk (ala soya), prepared as tea, and used in baking. The fresh leaves can also be eaten in salads. Products range from: cereals, to frozen waffles, hemp tofu, to nut butters. A few companies produce value added hemp seed items that include the seed oils, whole hemp grain (which is sterilized as per international law), hulled hemp seed (the whole seed without the mineral rich outer shell), hemp flour, hemp cake (a by-product of pressing the seed for oil) and hemp protein powder. Hemp is also used in some organic cereals. Hemp seed also being used to make a non-dairy "milk" somewhat similar to soy and nut milks, as well as non-dairy hemp "ice (no it doesn't make ice cream)." The drug has even been hinted at making Hemp based fruit. Given that seeds account for 50% of the weight of a female plant grown for seed, these products can be made cheaper than with soy, almonds, or flax.

Hemp seed also contains 20% complete and highly-digestible Its high quality amino acid composition is closer to "complete" sources of proteins than all other oil seeds except soy.

The ALA contained in plant seed oils by itself is sufficient for nutrition, as the human body is capable of converting it into other fatty acids. But this conversion process is inefficient, and the broader spectrum of omega-3 fatty acids obtained from oily fish is easier for the body to immediately use.

In 1916, US Department of Agriculture chief scientists Lyster H. Dewe, and Jason L. Merrill created paper made from hemp pulp, which they concluded was "favorable in comparison with those used with pulp wood." Jack Herer, in the book "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" summarized the findings of Bulletin No. 404:

The decision of the United States Congress to pass the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act was based in part on testimony derived from articles in newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst, who had significant financial interests in the timber industry, which manufactured his newsprint. The background material also included that from 1880 to 1933 the hemp grown in the United States had declined from 15,000 to 1,200 acres, and that the price of line hemp had dropped from $12.50 per pound in 1914 to $9.00 per pound in 1933.

As a result of the act, the production and use of hemp discontinued.

A modest hemp industry exists. Recent developments in processing have made it possible to soften up coarse fibers to a wearable level.

There is a niche market for hemp paper, but the cost of hemp pulp is approximately six times that of wood pulp, mostly due to the small size and outdated equipment of the few hemp processing plants in the Western world. Hemp pulp is bleached with hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide can also be used for wood pulp. Kenaf is another fast-growing plant which can be used as a replacement for wood pulp. Kenaf paper has been produced in commercial quantities.

Bio-fuels such as bio-diesel and alcohol fuel can be made from the oils in hemp seeds and stalks, and the fermentation of the plant as a whole, respectively, but the energy from hemp is low compared with the volume of the harvested hemp. It does, however, produce more energy per acre per year than corn, sugar, flax, or any other crop currently grown for ethanol or bio-diesel.

Henry Ford grew marijuana on his estate after 1937, possibly to prove the cheapness of methanol production at Iron Mountain. He made plastic cars with wheat straw, hemp and sisal. (Popular Mechanics, Dec. 1941, "Pinch Hitters for Defense.") In 1892, Rudolph Diesel invented the diesel engine, which he intended to fuel "by a variety of fuels, especially vegetable and seed oils."

There are broadly three groups of Cannabis varieties being cultivated today:

*Varieties primarily cultivated for their fiber, characterized by long stems and little branching, extreme red, yellow, blue of purple coloration, or thickness of stem and solid core called hemp cannabis oglalas & more generally called industrial hemp.

* Varieties grown for seed from which hemp oil is extracted

* Varieties grown for medicinal, spiritual development or recreational purposes.

The prohibition of domestic hemp growth is about what everything is about in this country. It's about money. The drug war is big business huge business. If hemp cultivation were legalized, there would be an awful lot of DEA agents out of a job.

Consider this: of the one-and-a-half billion cannabis plants found and destroyed by U.S. drug agents between 1993 and 1997, only fourteen million were marijuana. That's 0.9 percent. That means that 99.1 percent were low-THC hemp. Legalizing hemp would translate to laying off 99.1 percent of all agents of the War on Marijuana, 99.1 percent fewer guns, helicopters, automobiles, flack jackets, etc. That's a lot of money in government contracts.

Hemp is a plant that can naturally provide many products presently available only from corporate giants like DuPont, International Paper, Texaco, BASF and the like. They could lose billions if hemp was grown in the United States for fiber, paper, fuel, and plastics. They have millions of dollars to back anti-hemp propaganda. They sponsor programs like D.A.R.E. and The Partnership for a Drug-Free America that equate hemp's cousin marijuana with deadly drugs like heroin and methamphetamine to prevent Americans from learning the truth. The cannabis leaf has even become the poster child for the drug war.

Corporate-backed programs such as D.A.R.E. and The Partnership for a Drug-Free America are teaching our children that this incredible Earth-friendly plant is as dangerous as heroin and methamphetamine. These corporations slander cannabis while promoting themselves as lovers and supporters of the environment. They run TV commercials that would have us believe that they are environmental activists with deceptive claims and scenes of pristine streams and forests. But what they really do is clear-cut pristine rainforests, poison our air with ozone-depleting greenhouse gases, and produce tons of toxic chemicals that end up in our drinking water.

So how do we change it all?
What can we do to show the multinational mega-corporations that we care about our environment even if they don't?

Remember, it's all about money. If we continue to buy the same old products from the same old companies that have gotten us into this mess, we can expect more of the same destruction. But, we can affect positive change by buying products produced from sustainable sources by environmentally responsible companies.

Of all the sustainable sources for consumer products, hemp is uniquely suited to provide the widest variety of life's necessities and comforts. In this way, hemp is nature's gift to humanity.

Hemp Oil Canada was founded in February 1998, just one month prior to Health Canada re-legalizing the cultivation of Industrial Hemp in Canada, after some 60 years of prohibition. This year Hemp Oil Canada has contracted with more than 55 farm producers on the Canadian Prairies to cultivate some 5,500 acres of both organic and conventional hemp seed production.

Many people aren't educated about hemp due to the illegal nature of its cultivation and its (strictly legal) association with marijuana. Bruce Montague, an employee of Amherst's own Surner Heating Company, said in an interview last winter in response to the suggestion of using hemp energy, "I don't think there'd be any benefit."

According to Herer's research, "Farming only six percent of the continental U.S. acreage with biomass [from hemp] crops would provide all of American's gas and oil energy needs, ending dependence upon fossil fuels." He added, "Each acre of hemp would yield 1,000 gallons of methanol. Fuels from hemp, along with the recycling of paper, etc., would be enough to run America virtually without oil."

Herer explained the versatility of hemp by saying, "It can be grown in virtually any climate or soil condition on Earth, even marginal ones."

How can hemp be used as a medicine?

Hemp has thousands of possible uses in medicine. Just one of the 400+ chemicals in hemp, THC, could replace up to 30% of the pharmaceutical on the market today.

Marijuana, actually cannabis extract, was available as a medicine legally in this country until 1937, and was sold as a nerve tonic.

Marijuana appears in almost every known book of medicine written by ancient scholars and wise men. It is usually ranked among the top medicines, or `panaceas.' It was used as a pain reliever and in childbirth .

The most well known use of marijuana today is to control nausea and vomiting -- one of the most important things when treating cancer or AIDS with chemo-therapy or AZT. Other well known uses are for glaucoma (an eye disease that depletes you vision), multiple sclerosis, and a wide range of other diseases which involve involuntary muscle spasms.

What's wrong with all the prescription drugs we have?

They cost money and are hard to make. In some cases, they do not work as well, either. Some prescription drugs which marijuana can replace have very bad side effects. Cannabis medicines are cheap, safe, and easy to make.

All mention of the word `hemp' was pretty much removed from our high- school curriculums, museums, history books, etc. A Smithstonian curator was quoted as saying ``Children don't need to know about hemp, it confuses them.'')

Numerous industries sent representatives to protest the usefulness of hemp. One of the loudest protesters, though, was the American Medical Association, which could not believe that the Congress would try to ban a useful medicine like cannabis, and was angered that they had not been told that the `two' plants, marijuana and cannabis, were one in the same when they were asked for endorsement.

Active State Medical Marijuana Programs : Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Main, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington

www.norml.org has more information on the effects of cannabis (good, bad and indifferent.)

Since 1973, 12 state legislatures -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon -- have enacted versions of marijuana decriminalization. In each of these states, marijuana users no longer face jail time (nor in most cases, arrest or criminal records) for the possession or use of small amounts of marijuana. According to national polls, voters overwhelmingly support these policies. In Oregon, voters recently reaffirmed their state's decriminalization law by a 2-1 margin in a statewide referendum.