HEMP: WHY WAS & OFTEN STILL IS THE WORLD’S MOST USEFUL PLANT BANNED? Re-written 12.03.2012 and updated 28.11.2012

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

THIS PLANT CAN PRODUCE SUPERIOR FOOD & DRINK, CLOTHING, PAPER, CIGARRETTES, PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS AND MANY PRODUCTS MADE FROM OIL, IT CAN BE EASILY GROWN IN ANY SOIL WITH LITTLE WATER AND VIRTUALLY NO CHEMICALS, AND IS THE NUMBER ONE BIOMASS PRODUCER ON LAND. 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, so now with so many hemp products easily obtainable don't we use it more?

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.

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: 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.

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.

THE BAN: 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 namely, cotton, paper, alcohol, tobacco, plastics, pharmaceutical and oil industries. You see industrial hemp is so easy to grow and so useful 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 from oil. 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 Marihuana 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!

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).

In natural forms some varieties (or species, according to more modern views) of the plant contains a narcotic; cannabinoids (THC) some varieties contain a great deal, while others (industrial hemp) contain so little you could never get high from them. Some varieties are so different that some experts believe more than one species is involved. Selective breeding has created many more varieties for different end-products.

"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.

In fact it is such a different variety of the plant that experts can tell it apart just by looking at it and some believe it is a different species, since it grows differently and flowers at different times. 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. Incidentally, hemp is a unique plant in a way, since male and female plants are completely different (male plants have 5 or more finger leaflets, females are single).

Six states have legalised industrial hemp (Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia) and California may be next, 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 STIGMA: 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.

UK governments statements

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.

Vested interests include the pharmaceutical industry, who know very well that marijuana is an excellent medicine for all manner of pains and ills, and can even cure some types of cancer keep hemp banned.

HEMP PROVEN TO CURE MANY CANCERS, WATCH THESE TESTIMONIALS

The US Govt 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 Chemo which deteriorates your entire body and kills 1 in 5 patients) Not only that, but it dissolves ALL forms of tumors 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 — unsuccessfully — to develop synthetic forms of THC that would deliver all the medical benefits without the “high.”

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! 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.

Hemp ban in USA and efforts to reverse it

more on efforts to reverse the ban

FOR BIOFUEL: It can be used as 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 with biomass crops such as hemp would supply all current domestic demands for oil and gas.” Source: Global Hemp Website.

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 and 20 times more bio-diesel. 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.

"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?"

Biodiesel Magazine

Hemp biofuel

FOR PLASTICS etc: Hemp plastic is 10x stronger for resisting impacts than steel, as Henry Ford knew. 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!

FOR EVERYTHING ELSE: Hemp can be used in the construction industry as a substitute for cement 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 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

www.birdingsiteguide.com