Industrial Hemp Should be Legal Essay

II. [Topic Statement] First, hemp fibers from the stalks of the Cannabis plant have countless uses.

On of your local grocery stores should carry Hemp Granola. They might even carry other Hemp items. The imported products are extremely popular. Americas inability to produce their own products. Forces local consumers to buy forienge items. Creating a profitable agricultural industry. Will help the local and national economy. It will also create thousands of American jobs. These improvements would decrease our need to import. From other countries and eliminate the need to import Hemp.

Do any of you know the difference between industrial hemp and marijuana? Would you like to? The purpose of this speech is to explain the differences in marijuana and industrial hemp, and to show the need to reform the present hemp laws in the United States in order to make hemp available for industrial purposes. The hemp plant shows its unique versatility by having many uses in industry and hemp has many distinct benefits over its counterpart in industry today. The usage of hemp would result in cleaner and more efficient industry. I will first discuss the differences between hemp and marijuana to avoid confusion, and then state the many ways that industrial hemp can help our economy such as; the use for fiber, the use in foods, and

The benefits of hemp give reasons that farmers should be permitted to grow the crop in the United States. Seed that the plant produces are very high in nutritional benefits when used in food products. The seed is high in both the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These fatty acids are important to nutrition because the body can not produce them; they also are used to produce the hormone progesterone, which is found in the body. The plant itself is useful for many different products from clothing to car parts. The pulp from the hemp stalks is used in the place of wood on homebuilding projects. Four acres of hemp produces more pulp than four acres of trees. Trees are a very valuable renewable resource and if farmers were allowed to grow hemp, which is more efficient than trees, they wouldn’t have to timber much of the forests. Hemp is a biodegradable substitute for plastic. Some car manufactures use the hemp-fiber plastic for door panels and trunk panels. The United States already uses products from hemp that is imported from other countries. Why shouldn’t the U.S. farmers be able to grow industrial hemp and partake in economic profit?

The legalities of hemp have come into question over the last few years based on its close relationship to marijuana, even though they are very different when used for their specific "benefits". There is legislation in place for US states unfortunately to this point hemp production stateside is limited. Section 7606 of the 2014 farm bill has made it legal to grow industrial hemp under the direction of state departments and four year agriculture programs at universities stating that the hemp can only be grown for research purposes.

Hemp used to be, and can be again, a useful resource for america. It was used to make sails, rope, paper, and clothes. Since marijuana grows faster than trees, would it not be smarter to make paper out of hemp rather than cutting down entire forests. In St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture it is stated that “Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson advocated a hemp-based economy.” (Tony Brewer. Page 459) If important people like our past presidents prefered a hemp-based economy it would not be

Industrial Hemp has received an extensive amount of legislative attention in the past 20 years. Early Vermont legislation on the subject includes ACT176 (1996) requesting the commissioner of agriculture, food and markets as well as the University of Vermont do research into the viability of the industry, ACT222 (1998) urging the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to review the new Canadian hemp policies, and ACT333 (2000) “urging the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reconsider federal policies that restrict the cultivation and marketing of industrial hemp and related products.”

It can be made into fabric that is “10 times stronger than cotton” (Ayers). Additionally, “The high cellulose level of hemp is perfect for make ethanol fuel production.” (Ayers). But it does not stop at fabric and fuel. The outer coating of hemp can be made into animal bedding, mulch, cardboard, fiberboard, insulation, and various types of filters. The inner fibers can be made into rope, paper, carpet, and canvas. When ground up and mixed with a concentration of citric acids, it produces a material called hempcrete; a building material that unlike concrete, gets stronger and firmer with age. With the bounty of materials that hemp can create, it has the ability to save our environment. If legalized, hemp would replace the need for cotton farms, lower the amount of deforestation, and reduce the demand for

Given the exact same piece of land, there will be a significant amount more hemp produced than cotton will be

Thesis: The hemp plant is the solution to many of the global problems humanity is facing today.

Herodotus reported that the inhabitants of Thrace made clothes from hemp fibers. It is related that Hiero [3rd century, BC], tyrant of Syracuse, had hemp brought from Rhodanus in order to equip a ship. Pausanias [2nd century BC] mentions that hemp and other textile plants were cultivated in Elide; and Pliny the Elder [Ad 23-79], relates that the sails and cordage of the Roman galleys were made of hemp. In the thirteenth century, garments of hemp were in common use throughout Southern Europe. (Andrews 14)

In Canada, growing industrial hemp was legalized in 1998. Eighteen years later, producers still face many challenges. Farmers first have to get a license from the government to grow hemp. Then they can only plant the seeds of specific cultivars, or types, of hemp. These specific cultivars have been approved by the Canadian government because they contain minimal amounts of THC. (THC is the psychoactive component found in marijuana.) Finally, farmers in eastern Canada face an additional challenge because very little is known about how to grow hemp in eastern Canada.

The hemp plant has a mind- altering chemical of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is what gets detected when taking a drug test. I know you hear a lot of people talking about how bad marijuana is for you when in reality it is not. Alcohol and cigarettes cause way more damage to your body health wise than marijuana ever will. The Washington Post reported, “They found that at the level of individual use, alcohol was the deadliest substance, followed by heroin and cocaine”. Marijuana is also the only drug studied that posed a low mortality risk to its users. Looking at charts from 2012 roughly 111 million people have tried marijuana at least once and approximately 19 million people smoke marijuana regularly regardless of it being illegal.

Throughout American history our country has come to rely on many different natural resources. With technology and the population increasing, the number of fossil fuel reserves and natural forests are going down. What America needs is a renewable source of fuels and fibers that will meet the growing needs of the future, but will not damage our environment. One of the most promising sources of fiber, fuel, and natural oil is hemp. Hemp, also known as Cannabis Sativa L, has been used in our country since the early 17th century (Schreiber 160). Although hemp is considered an illegal drug, many people forget that it is a part of our country’s history. Despite its negative connotations, hemp has the potential to revolutionize the paper,

Robert C. Clarke Naturetex International B.V. Van Diemenstraat 192 1013 CP Amsterdam The Netherlands Clarke, R.C. 1995. Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Cultivation in the Tai 'an District of Shandong Province, Peoples Republic of China. Journal of the International Hemp Association 2(2): 57, 60-65. This paper summarizes the history of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) cultivation and traditional use in the Tai 'an District of Shandong Province in the People 's Republic of China, and investigates the cultivation and processing techniques currently being employed to produce hemp ribbon and hemp seed. Recent