Industrial Hemp: The Great Debate

Hemp can single-handedly improve our world 's environment by cutting down our dependency on timber, cut our use of water, and eliminate greenhouse gases. Forty percent of our forests are use to create timber stated by hempethics.weebly.com. As referenced

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

“Each year the world loses up to 58 thousand square miles of forest for paper, construction materials, firewood, and agriculture (Deforestation).” Yet a much more sustainable crop that has been cultivated for thousands of years can greatly remedy this issue. Hemp, the cousin of the marijuana plant; banned back in 1937 through the “Marihuana Tax Act” which made possetion of hemp and marihuana as well as transfer, illegal. However, as of 2015, congress has passed “The Industrial Hemp Farming Act”, and now it is up to the individual states on what to do next. People are still unsure about hemp due to the similarities to its cousin. However, I know that hemp is the key to save the world’s forests because it is a much more sustainable source of paper, clothing, and construction materieals.

For many years, there has been a war against society and the federal government on whether or not marijuana should be legal in the U.S., for medicinal and recreational purposes. There are so many positive aspects as to why it would be a highly viable asset to communities all over the U.S. Though there are some aspects to be looked at and taken into consideration when it comes to legalizing this drug, it still stands as an important fact that marijuana should be in fact legalized by the federal government, so that the development of hemp crops can be used as a valuable agricultural crop in the U.S., creating a new bio-fuel to reduce carbon emissions we consume every day, so that we can expose majority of the prohibitions on the dangers of marijuana are solely based on disinformation and lies, and so that dollars collected in tax revenue from marijuana sales can be used for bettering our communities instead of spending our earned taxed dollars on criminalization costs keeping it illegal.

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.

Just the mention of the word Cannabis in today’s society brings about all types of negative connotations. This is understandable due to the major propaganda campaign that has been waged by the U.S. government on the plant. Most citizens have no idea what a mature Cannabis plant looks like, and close to none recognize the thousands of uses it has. This is paper will not discuss whether drug-type Cannabis should be legalized for recreational or medicinal purposes, what it will discuss is the many environmentally friendly products that can be made from non-psychoactive hemp.

Central Idea: Due to the war on drugs, hemp production is severely limited; however, with the proper legalization and regulation of this plant the U.S. economy would prosper due to job creation and the environment would benefit by the amount of tress saved.

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

Canada, which legalized the production of industrial hemp in 1998, might be considered a good measure of America’s potential future in industrial hemp production. As of 2015, 1,135 licenses were issued in Canada to grow 34,262.6 hectares of hemp (84,664.7 acres). Those numbers are down from 2011, when Canadian hemp farmers reaped an approximate profit of at least $30.75 million. By way of comparison, Canadian farmers saw at least $990 per acre of hemp while Indiana farmers can expect approximately $736 per acre of corn, and Californian farmers can expect approximately $630 per acre of

One of the first things about marijuana history that the American public still doesn 't understand is that cannabis, was once very legal to grow in the United States. In fact, up until 1883 it was one of the largest agricultural crops in the world, including America.(The Union) But it wasn’t grown for the psychoactive plant cannabis sativa. Cannabis hemp, which carries a fraction of the amount of THC, (the compound in marijuana that attributes to the high feeling) was and is used all over the world, producing the overall majority of Earth’s fiber, fabric, paper, and medicines.(Herer,20) Hemp has a deep American History as well, from the gardens of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to the 8,327 American hemp plantations counted in the 1850 census.(Herer,15) Yet the Federal government now recognizes cannabis as a Schedule I drug with no medical value, and 23 States have legalized cannabis for medicinal use. (The Union) Even though some western states such as Oregon and Colorado are making legal changes to marijuana policy at the state level, the most beneficial marijuana law we could pass is and always has been the Nationwide legalization of industrial Cannabis Hemp.

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

Imagine a miracle plant with the ability to cure cancer, feed communities, power cars, and build homes. Now imagine that plant being illegal. This is the case with the hemp plant. A subtype of Cannabis Sativa, hemp was at one point the major cash crop of America where “it was used in sails, rope, clothing, paper and other items.”(Schneider). Despite the fact that hemp contains very minute traces of THC, the chemical found in marijuana that induces psychoactive effects, it is oftentimes confused with marijuana, another subtype of Cannabis Sativa. Some hemp supporters chalk up the ban on hemp to the fact that “many policymakers believe that by legalizing hemp they are legalizing marijuana, which is not true.” (Yonovka). The federal ban on hemp should be removed because it is an incredible food source, can be used to replace non-renewable resources, and has unparalleled medical uses.

Industrial Hemp is an ancient crop, which has a multitude of diverse uses. The earliest uses of Hemp can be traced back to the Sumerians and probably even earlier in man’s unrecorded history. Industrial Hemp is not Marijuana though the two plants are of the same family and have passing resemblance to one another. Industrial Hemp’s myriad uses are being rediscovered and at the forefront of research in diverse fields. I will be attempting to dispel some of the myth, and providing history and proven uses of this amazing plant.

There are over 25,000 other economically feasible and environmentally friendly uses for marijuana including diesel fuel, insulation, paper, paint, beauty products and even food as its protein content is second only to soy (Mehling 11). With all of these environmentally friendly uses for hemp it seems almost irresponsible to not take advantage of its many advantages.

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,