HEMP: THE TROUBLE WITH THE WORLD’S MOST USEFUL PLANT?

 

THIS IS AN ARTICLE MAINLY ABOUT INDUSTRIAL HEMP, WHICH CONTAINS NO, OR SO LITTLE NARCOTIC YOU COULD NEVER GET HIGH ON IT.

IT PRODUCES SUPERIOR MEDICINE, BIOFUEL, FOOD & DRINK, CLOTHING, PAPER, PACKAGING, PLASTICS AND CIGARRETTES. IT IS THE NUMBER ONE BIOMASS PRODUCER ON LAND EASILY GROWN IN ANY SOIL WITH LITTLE WATER AND VIRTUALLY NO CHEMICALS. IT IS SUSTAINABLE, NATURAL AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY. It has over 25,000 uses! Most products which can be made from hemp are second to none, and would be competitively priced if more widely produced; we all should use it more. Short list of uses: Bast fibre can be used for twine, rope, nets, canvas, tarps, carpets, geotextiles, agro-fibre composites, brake and clutch linings, caulking. Consumer textiles: apparel, diapers, fabrics, handbags, denim, shoes, fine fibres. Hurds for paper products: printing paper, fine/speciality paper, filter paper, newsprint, cardboard and packaging. Hurds for building products: fibreboard, insulation, fibreglass substitute, cement, stucco and mortar. Hurds can also be used for animal bedding, and as mulch or in compost products. Leaves and flowers: recreational high, medicines, medicinal/healthy food products. Seed oils for food: healthy and protein rich food products, animal feed, bird seed, fish bait. Oils for cosmetics: soap, shampoo, bath gels, cosmetics, lotions and balms. Oils for industrial: paint, varnish, printing ink, fuel (biodiesel), solvent, lubricant, putty, coatings, plastics, rubber. Whole plant: boiler fuel, pyrolysis feedstock. Benefits to farmer: weed suppressor, virtually no need for any chemicals, grows on virtually any soil even where other crops won’t grow, 2 or 3 crops a year (except at high latitudes), pollen isolation, deep roots improve soil aeration. 

 

THE CANNABIS FAMILY There are 3 species of cannabis or hemp, two are used commercially. Industrial hemp Cannabis sativa, marijuana Cannabis indica and the third lesser known member of the family Cannabis ruderalis. Cannabis contains 421 chemicals 85 are cannabinoids (CBDs) which is their relationship. A few other plants contain low amounts of CBDs, such as Echinacea, but nothing like the amounts cannabis contains. Very similar CBDs are found in all vertebrates in tiny amounts, humans have five kinds of CBDs in our immune system, more of which later. Cannabis also naturally contains Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is the chemical which gives the high, in varying amounts according to species and variety. Industrial hemp and its products, which are legal in most countries and they have low or no levels of THC drug (you can never get high off it) but high levels of CBDs. It has large leaves with long thin leaflets and grows very tall. Marijuana, generally contains high levels of THC (though some varieties contain none) and is a shorter plant with smaller leaves with wider shorter leaflets. There are hundreds of varieties of both. The Cannabis family of plants is unique for another reason, the leaves are sexual dimorphic, female plants have a many fingered hand shaped leaf but male plants have only 1 fingered leaf. 

INTRODUCTION: THE BEST MARIJUANA DOCUMENTARY YOU WILL EVER WATCH

DNA SEED BANK FOR MARIJUANA & CANNABIS SEEDS 

THE BAN Why is cannabis banned, is it because of the effects of THC in marijuana getting people high (and also due to confusion by implication also industrial hemp)? Well no, you can get high on all sorts of legal stuff, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine. Also medicinal hemp does not get you high as it has a balance of another drug produced by the plant which cancels that effect, recreational hemp is grown to reduce this second chemical. Is it because it is dangerous or has side effects? Official figures worldwide show no-one has ever died from marijuana (with THC) or medicinal hemp (with CBD and can contain THC), they are the safest drug known to man, safer than coffee. Animals fed on massive doses of pure hemp extract with high THC did not die or show side effects (apart from being very high and dyeing from lack of oxygen, which was admitted many years later!) the same cannot be said of coffee. It has absolutely no side effects, except beneficial ones to your health. Even when smoked there is a LOWER risk of lung cancer than if you didn't, whereas tobacco smoking increases lung cancer risk 800%. Is it because it is addictive? Well no, it is not in the least addictive and even if it was, so are some legal things (see The Stigma for more on this). Is it because it may lead to stronger drugs? Well no, people who use marijuana either medicinally or recreationally stick with it or give up or are naturally addiction prone. Marijuana has about a 9% addiction rate, but the addiction is not strong and this is a lower percentage than for say sugar or caffeine.

So why is it banned if it is so useful? Is it too useful, too easy to produce that anyone could produce it? BINGO! How could a company ever make a profit from something like this even if they could patent it? “The only serious side effect of marijuana is that you might get arrested.” Alan Watts 

WIKIPEDIA THC

THE MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY - THE TRUTH ABOUT WEED (PART 1)

THE MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY - THE TRUTH ABOUT WEED (PART 2)

There are any number of similar videos and articles to prove the facts.

The reason why it is still relatively expensive in the West then is because of the ban on Cannabis growing by the USA federal government, who seem unable or unwilling to distinguish between marijuana plants and industrial hemp. Fortunately some states have overturned this ruling (and it can now be grown in all of Canada and Europe).

It was actually illegal not to grow hemp in the USA and UK in the 17th and 18th Century, as much of industry, particularly the navy relied on it.


THE STIGMA: Seemingly intelligent people and the law continue to insist cannabis is demonised as addictive, dangerous and aggression causing (as in film Reefer Madness), when with the totally overwhelming information to the contrary they should know better and be able to bring about more helpful laws for the production of hemp products. Why is this not happening or happening very slowly? Take this quote for instance.

"Industrial hemp is not marijuana, but rather a non-intoxicating plant that has been cultivated and used in a multitude of ways around the world for millennia." Assembly member Virginia Strom-Martin, California State Assembly.

As of 2014 21 states have legalised cannabis at least for medical use, and two have legalised it recreationally (Colorado and Washington State) so you can buy products made from it there. None yet grow it because there is a federal law banning hemp crops and possession of marijuana (and therefore implicitly hemp). Kentucky may be the first state to legalise growing hemp.

The US government has schizophrenia over marijuana and cannabis, which unlike everyone else in the world they claim are the same plant! On the one hand it is a Class 1 drug (the worst) and they say it has no medicinal benefits so as to keep it Class 1 and they lock up a staggering 850,000 people a year for mainly possession and use. On the other hand the US government has taken out its own patents on medicinal CBD from cannabis (see later)! The mostly privately run jail system in the US loves this ban and lobbies hard (with lots of money) to keep it that way. The US government loves it too, not just for revenue, but because it justifies their huge spending on police and other enforcement agencies, which all governments love.

Worldwide four countries have totally legalised cannabis for all uses (but not in all places or all age groups or people: there may be restrictions for foreigners) these are North Korea, Holland, Bangladesh and Uruguay.

Marijuana and hence hemp and all its products were banded in the USA due to a conspiracy by industries who wanted to protect their interests. These were mainly, pharmaceutical and oil industries, cotton, paper, alcohol, tobacco, plastics. Natural chemicals, from plants, cannot be patented, if a pharmaceutical or oil company cannot patent it their profits would be minimal due to competition. This competition would be intense with hemp products as t is so easy to grow and so useful anyone could do it and their monopolies would be sure to be broken.

To protect their interests these companies (Du Pont in 1937 patented many processes to make plastics and other products such as nylon. Other companies (included Kimberley-Clark, Kleenex, the oil, cotton and alcohol industries) demonised hemp by calling it marijuana and saying it was the most dangerous drug ever. Marijuana, and hence hemp was banned by the US under the Narcotics Act of 1914. On 14th April 1937, then the Ways & Means Committee (without the tiresome business of having to pass a vote through Congress) brought in the Prohibitive marijuana Tax Law. This demonising continued under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970; marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug on the basis that is has "a high potential for abuse”. It has also recently been banned by the Supreme Court as being used as a medicine!

These companies control politicians with money and they foster ‘research’ in to cannabis which never shows anything good. Take for instance monkeys which died from inhaling too much marijuana; they didn’t actually die because of the THC levels as proven by further studies, they simply died from suffocation due to the hemp smoke masks not allowing enough oxygen to be breathed, causing brain damage and death (see the videos). It is physically medically impossible to overdose on marijuana, due to the area of brain it affects. The law also make false claims about hemp ‘addiction’, citing how many people attend clinics for addiction. This is because if a person is caught in possession they are usually given an option of a very long and rough jail sentence or attending a clinic. Which would you choose?

Even though many governments have realised they cannot justify a ban on such a useful and harmless plant, they still will not totally endorse it because of vested interests of established industries and invariably paint a negative picture.

These evil companies seek to control the market by developing very similar synthetic alternatives to hemp products such as nylon and other fabrics for clothes (Du Pont) and THC like drugs such as Marinol (which unlike the plant THC has 4 deaths directly attributed to it between 1997 and 2005 in US).

Let’s take a look at annual US deaths from some other causes: tobacco 435,000; poor diet 365,000; alcohol 85,000; prescription drugs 32,000; vehicle crash 26,308; aspirin 7,600; peanuts 100; marijuana 0 ever (US government official figures).

WORLD MAP SHOWING LEGAL STATUS OF CANNABIS BY COUNTRY 

 

HEMP AS MEDICINE Firstly we need to establish that hemp seed and hemp cooking oil (from industrial plants or not), while being second to nothing in terms of nutrition has no medicinal value. This is because the seeds and hence oil do not contain the medicinal cannabinoids (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). They are found in the flowers and the flower leaflets mainly and on the plant look sticky like varnish. So seeds and cooking oil (from seed) for healthy diet, CBD and THC extract oil (eaten raw or extracted with a solvent using heat) from flowers for health products. The medicinal oil is often called confusingly hemp oil too, make sure it says something like CBD or THC hemp oil or Rick Simpson oil or medicinal oil or extract; it should cost at least 100 times as much as cooking oil too. The medicinal oil has different properties if heated during the making, because this de-carboxylate the CBD from acid form in the plant.

The range of serious ailments cannabis can effectively treat is around 200 but keeps growing. These range from all types of cancer, epilepsy and other seizures to diabetes and intestinal complaints. It is able to treat such a wide range of complaints because it works by boosting our body’s own immune system with plant chemicals (phytocannabinoids) very similar to the ones our bodies produce (endocannabinoids). So it literally superchargers the whole of our immune system, to fight whatever threat comes our way. In many parts of the world it is illegal to make health claims of herbal remedies because of the influence of the evil pharmaceutical companies, with laws saying they are not scientifically tested. Yet hemp has been used as a medicine for thousands of years and not a single death can be attributed to it; so isn’t it the world’s best tested medicine? This could be argued for many medicinal plants, and even if they were not totally safe, why should this matter, it is not as though synthetic drugs are safer or totally safe anyway (even given their comparatively much shorter use inhuman history) yet they are still used. Besides which hemp medicine has been totally tested and used on animals for years, vets use it regularly for instance to treat cancer in animals, its just us humans who are prevented from its use. If, or should I say when, Codex Alimentarius is fully implemented we will no longer need to worry about herbal remedies as there will not be any. This UN/World Trade Organisation rule is already law worldwide (overwriting any existing national law) and will make the selling of any medicinal herbs only possible through registered pharmacies.

Contrary to what you may think there is a massive amount of science behind CBDs even though they were only discovered 10 or so years ago. All big pharmaceutical companies research it and attend the conferences. To keep up to date with the science and discoveries in the latest scientific papers, the CBD Project is the website to use.

THE INTERNATIONAL CANNABINOID RESEARCH SOCIETY

THE CBD PROJECT: 100s of SCIENTIFIC PAPERS ON CBD COVERING MANY AILMENTS

Even the reserved National Cancer Institute acknowledges it works! THE NATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE

This article explains how CBD works. HOW CBD WORKS

LEAFLY: DATABASE ON VARIETIES OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA, USES AND EFFECTS Very detailed, from Colorado.

THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS THREAT

THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS THREAT AND THE THREAT TO HEALTH FREEDOM VIDEO

 

The US Government has known since 1974 that Cannabis cures Cancer. In ’72 Richard Nixon wanted a larger budget for his war on drugs. He thought that if he proved Cannabis caused lung cancer like cigarettes do, he would get the support he needed. He gave the Medical College of Virginia 2 years to do a study on the effects of THC on the body. In ’74 the study was completed. It turns out, THC when ingested in highly concentrated forms (such as eating Cannabis oil) will attack any mutated cells in your body while strengthening and rejuvenating the healthy cells. They found the PERFECT cure for Cancer. It worked fast, it worked well, it worked on many different forms of Cancer in ALL stages and it had ZERO harmful side effects. (Unlike chemotherapy which deteriorates your entire body and kills 1 in 5 patients). Not only that, but it dissolves ALL forms of tumours and can even combat superbugs like MRSA. When Richard Nixon saw the results of the study he was FURIOUS. He threw the entire report in the trash and deemed the study classified. In 1976 President Gerald Ford put an end to all public cannabis research and granted exclusive research rights to major pharmaceutical companies, who set out to develop synthetic forms of THC that would deliver all the medical benefits without the “high.” Unfortunately synthetic medicinal drugs which seek to copy cannabis have already proven unsafe and at least five people have been killed directly. Many more people have been killed due to synthetic CBD recreational drugs. A survey of US oncologists found 80% would not use the medicine they prescribed (chemotherapy and prescription drugs). The US Government now openly and publicly, officially says cannabis cures many cancers (next link).

US GOVT PUBLISHES 50+ SCIENTIFIC PAPERS SHOWING CANNABIS CURES CANCER, ALSO TAKES OUT CBD PATENT! Read the scientific papers here

U.S. government’s National Institutes of Health: Finally Recognize the Anti-Cancer Potential of Cannabis Publicly

The US government now has its own patent on CBD health oil, which it keeps very quiet about, because at the same time it is saying in court that cannabis has no medicinal value. The Federal government pedals this blatant lie as part of it fight against the largely harmless recreational drug marijuana. It has to be noted here that some varieties of very high THC marijuana, that have had virtually all their CBD bred out can give an intense high but can also give bad trips as with high paranoia, fear and unease. These varieties can also harm in causing memory loss and are more prone to making some people addicts. With CBD marijuana does not cause these effects and instead gives a very pleasant ‘all at one’ high.

THE EFFECTS OF HIGH THC VARIETIES WITH HIGH AND LOW CBDs

IN DEPTH SCIENCE ON HOW CANNABIS FIGHTS CANCER, EXPLAINED BY DOCTORS AND SCIENTISTS

UK GOVERNMENT STATEMENTS

MARIJUANA CUTS LUNG CANCER IN HALF (2007 Harvard study in Science Daily)

INHIBITION OF SKIN TUMOR GROWTH AND ANGIOGENESIS IN VIVO BY ACTIVATION OF CANNABINOID RECEPTORS (2003 The Journal of Clinical Investigation)

 

The above makes no comment about how much better this crop performs in warmer countries or its ability to grow on any soil with low input. 

HEMP PROVEN TO CURE MANY CANCERS, WATCH THESE TESTIMONIALS

PHEONIX TEARS FOUNDATION

PHEONIX TEARS CALIFORNIA

MEDIVAPE AWARD WINNING MEDITIVA

US GOVERNMENT STUDY PROVES HEMP CURES CANCER KEPT SECRET

US SCIENTISTS PROVE HEMP CURES CANCER

CANNABIS SEARCH

They say smoking it for medicinal purposes can have some side effects as if their petro-chemical based drugs don’t have vastly many and more serious side effects anyway, as well as being less effective! Hemp actually safeguards against lung cancer if smoked, it does not contain nicotine or any other harmful chemicals that tobacco does. Periodically papers appear and get excellent media coverage that show that pot IS harmful (even if you have to look very hard and be very paranoid to show any danger) but these papers, like papers debunking climate change are pseudo-scientific and funded by the vested interests of companies trying to protect their profits. There are no proven and no serious effects from smoking pot risks are so incredibly low and cases so unique to individuals as to be below the risks posed by nearly any other everyday activity. In fact the US government official statistics show no-one has ever died directly from smoking pot! It should be remembered that what makes smoking tobacco dangerous is the nicotine and other chemicals it contains, the smoke on its own is relatively harmless.

Maybe one way to reverse the marijuana and cannabis ban would be to challenge the US government agencies in court over the science of their ban. Doctors and scientists with all the huge amount of scientific papers found on CBD Project website (see link earlier) and cured patients could give testimony. This could be crowd funded through the internet. Since they could not possibly show any harm, what could they do?

HEMP BAN IN USA AND EFFORTS TO REVERSE IT

MORE ON EFFORTS TO REVERSE THE BAN 

THE LEGAL SITUATION OF CBD HEMP OIL IN THE UK Cannabis is currently a Class B drug in the UK and marijuana possession is illegal, it was for a few years a Class C drug when possession was not a criminal offence but growing and dealing still was. I do not know the exact legal requirement for CBD hemp oil in UK (each product has to be individually assessed and licensed by Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency: seems the first to have been made legal was in 2010) but as far as I can make out it seems to be legal if it has no (or very low) THC content, because it can then be classed just as food. The only product I could find available in UK is by company hempotion1 on eBay and Cibdex on Amazon both below. I believe Medivape is going to start distribution. One very bad source of confusion is why it is called oil and so confusing it with hemp oil from seed for cooking, why not call it hemp EXTRACT.

MEDIVAPE.ORG SUPPLIERS IN UK Based in Seattle, Washington State.

CIBDEX CBD DROPS SUPPLIERS IN UK

NORML WORKING TO REFORM CANNABIS LAWS

THE LONDON CANNABIS CLUB

Disclaimer: I am not a scientist or doctor and these are not my claims but claims of other people. While I believe them to be sincere, I cannot vouch for accuracy and you should seek expert advice before using anything as a medicine. Cannabis is currently a Class B drug in the UK and marijuana possession is illegal, it was for a few years a Class C drug when possession was not a criminal offence but growing and dealing still was. 

 

BIOFUEL FROM HEMP Biofuel from hemp is called hemp biodiesel. It gives the same miles per gallon (or slightly more) as diesel from petro-chemical oil, it gives the same power (or slightly more) as diesel from petro-chemical diesel and it burns cleaner, produces less pollutants and makes engines run smother than petro-chemical diesel. It can be used neat without any alterations to the internal combustion engine (ICE) settings and it is widely used as an additive to petro-chemical diesel to improve all round performance.

Hemp can produce an effective high yield biofuel, either just burnt or by a trans-esterification process can produce a fuel with properties almost identical to diesel. In temperate climates Hemp may not overall have quite the highest yield of biofuel compared to Miscanthus Miscanthus sinensis, if measured over 3 years or more. But Hemp is an excellent soil conditioner with deep roots and once the biofuel has been extracted the leftover pulp can be made into high protein animal feed pellets (as only carbohydrate is removed to make biofuel). Also Hemp has a huge range of other uses that Miscanthus does not. “Industrial hemp is the number one biomass producer on earth. Planting only 6 per cent of the continental United States (34 million hectares) with biomass crops such as hemp would supply all current domestic demands for oil and gas.” Source: Global Hemp Website. It produces four times as much biomass as sugarcane. This can be achieved with no loss of food production land as currently 30 million hectares of cereals (mainly corn) are sown every year and left to rot, they are not fertilized or sprayed for weeds and pests but have to be sown so the farmer can claim money from the government. The other 4 million hectares can be areas where hemp will grow but other crops won’t. Hemp grown on this scale could replace 750 large nuclear power plants or to put it another way 2000x all the energy currently produced by all US renewable energy sources. More than enough for domestic and transport needs.

The growing of hemp in the USA is still banned in most states (despite it growing rampantly in the wild there) even though non-THC varieties are grown in Canada and it can produce 8 times more bio-ethanol than corn (at 1000 gallons per acre) and 20 times more bio-diesel. The energy input to output ratio for hemp is 16:1 better than any other crop. Just 6% of the USA arable land would free them from fossil oil forever (but this is an old figure from 1985). Why the US pursues the idiotic idea of using Corn to produce biofuel, is beyond belief, when such a massive increase in yields of fuel can be made from hemp, and it can be grown on even marginal land not used for food production.

Henry Ford was a big fan of the plant and besides building a car completely of hemp and running on it he said. 

BEST ARGUMENT EVER FOR WHY WE SHOULD USE HEMP FOR BIOFUEL

WHY WE SHOULD USE HEMP FOR BIOFUEL

 

"Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the hemp fields?" Henry Ford.

BIODIESEL MAGAZINE

HEMP BIOFUEL 

FOR FOOD & DRINK: Hemp is the world’s most nutritious natural food for humans. Hemp seeds taste great (like Sunflower seed) and are the most nutritious, well balanced naturally occurring food of all.

It is second only to soya in protein content (at 33%) and has high complex carbohydrates content at about 34% it is also high in fibre. It contains all 20 known Essential Amino Acids (EAAs), the only natural life form in the world that does and this includes the 9 humans must have (they are Essential because our bodies cannot make or store them). It has Omega-3, Omega-6 and Omega-9, it contains more Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) (Linoleic (LA) and Linolenic acid (LNA) than any other plant, it has some zinc, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur and vitamins (including E) and enzymes. You can eat them with shells on (crunchy) on their own or add when making bread or sprinkle a few on sandwiches or on salads or you can buy them unshelled (texture of sunflower seed) and add to muesli, or any sweet or savoury food.

IN DEPTH BREAKDOWN OF NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION, VITAMINS, MINERALS OF HEMP SEED (of hempseeds at Recommended Daily Allowance per adult: 100g)

For all types of products mentioned, eBay probably has the largest range and competitive prices.

HEMP AS FOOD

HEMP RECIPES Some you may have heard of and many you won't have!

CANNABIA HEMP BEER This beer is truly amazing, you will struggle to find anything to compare with its hoppy, nutty flavour. 

FOR CLOTHING: Some of the original, legendary hard-wearing Levi Strauss jeans, made for Sierra Nevada gold rushers 1872, were made of rugged hemp sailcloth, not cotton.

Unfortunately, because he used the rough and unrefined hemp it could chafe, so he switched to cotton. Fine hemp however lasts four times as long and is infinitely more environmentally friendly than cotton (which requires large chemical and water inputs and polluting chemical herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers as well as needing many chemicals in processing that Hemp does not) and is more comfortable to wear becoming softer with age. It will not stretch or shrink and it holds its colour better than any other fabric and it dries faster and breathes better than cotton too.

Because hemp is so strong, the strongest plant fibre in the world, it can be used to make shoes. And because strong bio-degradable plastics can be made from it, even the soles can be made of hemp. It is also excellent as a replacement for canvas and nylon rope in any situation being as good as either.

SATIVA BAGS UK based company selling high quality affordable hemp products including bags, rucksacks, foot wear and clothing.

 

FOR PAPER & OTHER WOOD SUBSTITUTES It can be used to make paper and was in fact much preferred for books such as Encyclopaedia Britannica, as it will not yellow or weaken with age. It does cost four times as much to process to paper than wood but can be recycled a great many times more than wood pulp without losing any quality, which offsets the initial cost. Besides this expensive processing is justified because hemp produces 4x as much pulp per hectare as trees do. The only real disadvantage at the moment is creating a dedicated hemp paper sorting and recycling system.

An area the size of the UK would easily meet ALL the USA paper needs forever and produce much better quality paper without any polluting bleaching processes.

It can be used to make pallets, which would help reduce the 40% (of all timber) worldwide that is currently harvested for packaging and pallet making.

BIOFIBA HEMP PALLETS

Hemp can replace all paper and plastic packaging and is 100% environmentally friendly and bio-degradable. 

HEMP PACKAGING MATERIALS

HEMP PACKAGING MATERIALS IN EUROPE

TREE PAPER VERSUS HEMP PAPER

THE GREEN STATIONERY COMPANY: PURE HEMP and HEMP & RECYCLED PAPER, WRITING PAPER PACKS A4, A5 Grown and produced in UK!

HEMP WRITING PAPER SUPPLIERS Also every other type of hemp paper.

HEMP NOTE PADS

HEMP OFFICE PAPER SUPPLIERS Soon available in Australia then worldwide. 

FOR COMPOSITES & PLASTICS: Hemp composite is very similar to fibreglass, as it is similarly bonded with a resin, but the hemp fibre is many times cheaper and easier to use, and much more environmentally friendly. It is much stronger and lighter than fibreglass too, not being as brittle; it is 10x stronger for resisting impacts than steel, as Henry Ford knew. It is not quite as strong as carbon fibre but is simpler to manufacture being moulded into shape like fibreglass. It could revolutionise car safety as well as making them far lighter. Why are chemists the world over searching for biodegradable plastics/rubbers/packaging when the answer is staring them in the face! Its cheap and easy to produce, its environmentally friendly and bio-degradable and can replace most plastics. The car industry is starting to use the hemp composite in a big way, with BMW using a lot for internal strengthening of doors and dashboards. Lotus have built a car with all hemp body work, the Eco Elise, as have the Canadian consortium Motive Industries Inc. with their all electric car the Kestrel. The latter however seems to have been killed off by vested interests in the auto industry, just as Henry Ford’s was. 

LOTUS ECO ELISE

KESTREL MOTORS

 

FOR EVERYTHING ELSE: Hemp can be used in the construction industry as a substitute for concrete and as a fibre board can replace wood, planks made from it are stronger than wood. It makes excellent building insulation, being equal to wool but cheaper, more compact and can be used both between walls and in the loft.

PVC plastics release dioxins and other extremely hazardous persistent bio-accumulative toxic chemicals. Plastics made from hemp are stronger than those made from oil and could in most cases it could replace them. 

 

GROWING, MARKETING, OTHER TRADERS: Hemp is the most or nearly most profitable crop that can be grown, even tobacco cannot compete. This is because hemp grown for biofuel say, not only yields biofuel. First it yields seeds or alternatively flowers, used for food and medicine. Then after harvest biofuels are extracted, but this still leaves the centre of the stems for fibre and the rest for best possible quality animal fodder. Combining all these incomes together, and the fact that two crops a year can be grown in even temperate climates makes hemp very profitable. Also remember companies which buy the hemp harvest such as Hemcore guarantee a price per hectare.

Hemp can be grown just about anywhere and needs little water and often no fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides and gives 3 to 6 crops a year in tropical areas and up to 2 crops in Britain. Because it is spring grown, winter stubble can be left for birds.

“Hemp is among one of the most productive and useful plants known; also very safe. The following materials can be made from hemp: paper, textiles, building materials, food, medicine, paint, detergent, varnish, oil, ink, and fuel. Unlike many crops, hemp can be grown in most locations and climates with only moderate water and fertilizer requirements. Where hemp is grown, it has become a valuable and environmentally friendly crop.” Source: 

HEMP NATION

INDUSTRIAL HEMP SUPPLIERS AND MANUFACTURERS Comprehensive worldwide listing of the main suppliers, their products and contact details.

EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL HEMP ASSOCIATION In Europe if you are starting your own business start here, comprehensive details.

HEMCORE Ltd The UK's biggest processor of industrial hemp! Technical information and costs for farmers of growing hemp and the guaranteed price Hemcore will pay you.

YORKSHIRE HEMP & PRODUCTS Every product you need!

HEMP INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION If you want to start a business or trade industrial hemp try here.

HEMP TRADERS

GLOBAL HEMP WEBSITE Nutritional information and much more.

THE HEMP SHOP 

FURTHER INFORMATION:

CANNABIS SEARCH

HEMP FACTS As you can see many people believe in this plant.

WIKIPEDIA: HEMP INFO

INDUSTRIAL HEMP

HEMP

Author: BSG

 

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