Essay on Industrial Hemp for the Future

In modern society marijuana has always been considered a sort of taboo subject in the United States due mainly to the fact that it is illegal. Many people don’t realize however that considering the history of our country, marijuana has only been illegal for a relatively short time span. Several of our founding fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, grew marijuana for hemp (the material derived from the plant) regularly and there is even speculation Washington smoked the plant occasionally. Back in those days marijuana did not have the sinister reputation it has today but instead was a vital part of colonial life, with the hemp material having a number of uses including rope, clothing, and paper (West, 1998). It wasn’t until the early 20th century that the public opinion regarding marijuana began to shift and restrictive laws were put in place that would eventually lead to illegalization.

Marijuana, more botanically referred to as “Cannabis sativa” or “Hemp,” is a multiuse plant valued for its tough hemp fibers

“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.

Cannabis. It’s been called everything from “Weed from the Devil’s Garden” to “the happy little herb”. Cannabis, which is also called Marijuana, has a known history that dates back over 10,000 years. The oldest remnant of the industry of mankind is a little piece of hemp cloth/fabric that dates back to around 8,000 B.C. (website, HIA: Resources: Education: FAQs & Facts: Facts).

The Columbia History of the World states that the first archaeological record of human industry is a piece of hemp fabric. This is testament to the fact that the

A. There are many uses for industrial hemp and there are many economic and environmental advantages with industrial 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

Hemp was legal tender in most of the Americas from 1631 to the early 1800s, you could buy anything with hemp, even pay taxes. (Herer, 1) The first law passed on Marijuana in the

A group of discoverers uncovered hemp cord pottery at an ancient village dating back to around 8,000 B.C. Hemp was one of the oldest known agrarian crops. There were traces of hemp use and cultivation located in the area of modern day Taiwan. (10,000-year History) “Agriculture is not natural; it is a human invention. It is also the basis of modern civilization.” (Hamilton, Richard) 2009 Scientific American article pg. 1: Throughout history, people have used hemp as a source of fiber. Hemp was brought over to Europe between 1000-2000 B.C. Eventually, the crop was brought to South America around 1545 for plantation growing. Almost all hemp produce in the United States was located in Kentucky until 1912. (Small, Ernest and Marcus, David)

Although the recent political crusade against marijuana is worthy of notation, the real history regarding cannabis predates the politicalization. Marijuana, also known as cannabis, along with being legal, was once one of the largest agricultural crops in the world, including the United States. Cannabis can also be hemp. Hemp is unarguably the most natural soft fiber on the earth, retaining thousands of uses, including but not limited to fabric,

A short list of the many uses of this versatile plant during this era included paper, canvas, and most notably rope. As technology progressed the uses for the plant expanded as well. In the early twentieth century it was used in the production of the earliest plastics and gasoline. The first Ford Model T's ran on hemp gas and many of the car's parts were made from hemp fibers which had an impact strength ten times stronger than steel according to a Popular Mechanics article in 1941. The US government in 1916 predicted that by the 1940s all paper produced in this country would be made from hemp fiber and in its February 1938 issue touted hemp as the world's first “billion dollar crop”. From an environmental standpoint besides the important fact hemp grows in a single growing season, while it takes an entire generation to grow trees. It takes far fewer chemicals and thus creates much less pollution to make paper from hemp than from tree pulp. Hemp grows very fast and tall and will choke out all other plants in the area including weeds so the use of herbicides really isn't required. Oil derived from the seeds of the plant can profitably be used in the production of paints and varnishes. The seeds are also quite healthy, containing all eight essential amino acids and are an excellent source of protein.(1)

The “1916 USDA Bulletin #4” also analyzed that 10,000 acres of land growing hemp produced what 40,500 acres of wood could produce for intent of producing pulp to make paper. Some may argue that this is an outdated source and technology has vastly improved over the past century in the production of wood. There is no current literature to show the ratio for pulp production from hemp to wood still maintain the ratio of 4 to 1. However taking into account that Hemp has been strictly regulated fourteen years after this report and eventually criminalized, there has been no resource for further research. Hemp is a fast growing renewable resource that is no longer available, wrongly accused of being a dangerous substance. Industrial hemp produces

This paper written by Ernest Small and David Marcus covers the history of Hemp (hemp is the actual marijuana plant itself) and everything its used for. They start out covering the history stating when it was first used as a textile “somewhere between 1000 and 2000 BCE”. Next they list everything hemp can be used for. They really hammer on its uses as a fiber and in textiles as they claim “hemp is a bast fiber, i.e. the most desirable”. Another big topic the cover is hemps ability to replace wood as the leading material for paper. They state how using hemp would be more beneficial because “hemp’s long fibers could make paper more recyclable” and “hemp paper is useful for specialty applications such as currency and cigarette papers where strength

Cannabis, formally known as marijuana is a drug obtained from the tops, stems and leaves of the hemp plant cannabis. The drug is one of the most commonly used drugs in the world. Only substances like caffeine, nicotine and alcohol are used more (“Marijuana” 1). In the U. S. where some use it to feel “high” or get an escape from reality. The drug is referred to in many ways; weed, grass, pot, and or reefer are some common names used to describe the drug (“Marijuana” 1). Like most drugs, marijuana has a very long history. People have been using the plant around the world for thousands of years. The oldest record of the marijuana plant dates back to 2727 B. C. in China where the plant was used as a medical herb for treating conditions like rheumatism, gout, malaria and even absent-mindedness (“Cannabis, Coca, & Poopy: Nature’s Addictive Plants” 1). Slowly, the plant started spreading around the world. By 1545, cannabis was starting to appear throughout the western worlds. Being introduced to South America by the Spanish to be used as fiber. The crop also had many other common uses around the world. In North America, cannabis was often used to make paper, ropes, clothing and other materials (“The Origins of Cannabis” 1).

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,