July 15, 2009 – What is hemp? Hemp is of the most versatile natural resource in the world. Hemp can be used to make hundreds of useful items. In fact certain uses of it can be very useful and profitable to every American. Hemp can be used industrially and as a major food source. The question we have to ask is, why is it Illegal to grow but perfectly legal to consume? Before we can answer that question we must look at hemp’s history in the United States.
Hemp’s history in the United States is a very frustrating one because you get the sense that we as a country had a very independent mindset. Hemp provided us with liberty until someone took it away from us. Hemp was second to tobacco as the crop to grow in early America. The demand for tobacco in England, kept the farmers busy with this cash crop. Most of the hemp crop in America was used at home in local commerce, much to the dismay of King George and the English navy. The first hemp laws in America were passed in 1619 and they were ‘must grow’ laws. If you were a farmer living in America and you didn’t grow hemp, you would be jailed or kicked out of the country as a non patriot. These first laws were put in place by the Colonist Government of Great Britain. In 1773 and again in 1776, (the year the Declaration of Independence was signed). American made their own must grow laws. At that time, it was one of the most widely used plants in the world. Cannabis hemp was legal tender (money) in most of America from 1631 until the early 1800s. Thomas Jefferson risked his life bring hemp seeds to America from overseas. Benjamin Franklin started the first paper mill in America and all of the paper was made out of hemp. Wars were fought over hemp and without it; America never would have won the Revolutionary war. Betsy Ross’s flag, the first drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were made from hemp; U.S. Government Archives. In the 1920’s during alcohol prohibition, almost every newspaper in the country was running ads for smoking hemp the only legal high left.
With hemp having a rich history in America; why was it outlawed to grow in America? Hemp was outlawed in 1937 because it threatened the corporate interests of William Randolph Hearst and DuPont. They had to get rid of the competition. Hearst’s yellow journalism newspaper chain wrote scathing stories about “marijuana” a word he made up because he knew no one would believe them about hemp, which George Washington himself grew hemp. Popular Mechanics called hemp the New Billion Dollar Crop, because of printing and bindery lead time required for publication, this February 1938 article was actually prepared in the spring of 1937, when cannabis hemp was still legal to grow and was an incredibly fast-growing industry. Newsprint could now be produced far more cheaply than any other method, and one acre of hemp could produce as much newsprint as four acres of forest trees. Hearst owned vast timber acreage and competition from the hemp industry might have driven his paper manufacturing out of business. He stood to lose millions of dollars. DuPont stood to lose on two fronts. DuPont owned the patent for converting wood pulp into newsprint and supplied Hearst with the necessary chemicals. Secondly, in the 1930s DuPont was gearing up to introduce nylon and other man-made fibers, along with synthetic petrochemical oils, which they hoped would replace hemp see oil used in paints and other products. The decorticator meant that hemp fibers could be manufactured as fine as any man-made fibers. DuPont would lose untold millions of invested dollars, plus an estimated 80 percent of all future business, unless hemp was outlawed. DuPont’s financial backer was Mellon Bank, owned and chaired by Andrew Mellon. Andrew Mellon at the time was also Secretary of Treasury Department, which was in charge of drug taxes, i.e., prohibition. Harry Anslinger, commissioners of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, which answered to the Treasury Department, was married to Andrew Mellon’s niece. Thus they had the power and the means. Anslinger’s lies about hemp were repeated endlessly in Hearst’s newspapers. Stories about marijuana, the killer weed from Mexico, instilled fear and completely misled the public that the weed was, in fact, just good old hemp. Cannabis hemp was not prohibited because it was dangerous. Indeed, for thousands of years it was the world’s largest agricultural crop used in thousands of products and enterprises, producing the majority of fiber, fabric, lighting oil, paper, incense, medicine and food. – No, cannabis hemp was prohibited to protect the Hearst and DuPont corporations from devastating competition, as well as appealing to the overt racism stirred up by Hearst’s yellow journalism.
Hemp has many uses that can be used to sell outside this country as a commodity. Popular Mechanics called hemp the New Billion Dollar Crop, cannabis hemp was still legal to grow and was an incredibly fast-growing industry. The hemp seed is not actually a seed but a fruit. They are extremely nutritious for human as well as animals. The seed is made up from 25% protein, 30% carbohydrates and 15% insoluble fiber. The hemp seed contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin A, and is our best vegetable source of the essential fatty acids, containing Omega 3 linolenic acid (55%) and Omega 6 linolenic acid (25%) in a near perfect ratio, and even containing the rare nutrient gamma linolenic acid. Essential fatty acids are necessary for maintaining healthy life and are found in few food sources such as fatty fish and flax oil. Hemp seeds are used whole or crushed to make cookies, burgers, porridge, cakes, casseroles or even roasted and eaten whole (sometimes with garlic or tahini seasoning). The hemp seed is used for hempseed oil for nutrition, soaps, cosmetics, paints, and etc. Natural fiber from the stalks is extremely durable. It can be used for all kinds of wonderful things. Textiles, clothing, canvas, rope, cordage, for archival grade paper, & composite fibers replacing heavier toxic fibers and building materials made with recycled plastic and fiber. This means there is reason to believe that you might in the future see a house that is completely constructed with hemp! Biodiesel can be made from domestically produced, renewable oilseed crops such as hemp. With over 30 million successful U.S. road miles hemp biodiesel could be the answer to our cry for cheaper fuel. We have spent the last century polluting our beautiful country with our petroleum based fuels that could have easily been replaced with fuels derived from hemp. Hemp stems are 80% hurds (pulp byproduct after the hemp fiber is removed from the plant). Hemp hurds are 77% cellulose a primary chemical feed stock (industrial raw material) used in the production of chemicals, plastics, and fibers. Biodiesel is the name for a variety of ester based oxygenated fuels made from hemp oil, other vegetable oils or animal fats. The concept of using vegetable oil as an engine fuel dates back to 1895 when Dr. Rudolf Diesel developed the first diesel engine to run on vegetable oil. Diesel demonstrated his engine at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 using peanut oil as fuel. Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel that runs in any conventional, unmodified diesel engine. It can be stored anywhere that petroleum diesel fuel is stored. Biodiesel is safe to handle and transport because it is as biodegradable as sugar, 10 times less toxic than table salt, and has a high flashpoint of about 300 F compared to petroleum diesel fuel, which has a flash point of 125 F. Biodiesel can be made from domestically produced, renewable oilseed crops such as hemp. Biodiesel is a proven fuel with over 30 million successful US road miles, and over 20 years of use in Europe. When burned in a diesel engine, biodiesel replaces the exhaust odor of petroleum diesel with the pleasant smell of hemp, popcorn or French fries. Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel in the US to complete EPA Tier I Health Effects Testing under section 211(b) of the Clean Air Act, which provide the most thorough inventory of environmental and human health effects attributes that current technology will allow. Biodiesel is 11% oxygen by weight and contains no sulfur. The use of biodiesel can extend the life of diesel engines because it is more lubricating than petroleum diesel fuel, while fuel consumption, auto ignition, power output, and engine torque are relatively unaffected by biodiesel. The Congressional Budget Office, Department of Defense, US Department of Agriculture, and others have determined that biodiesel is the low cost alternative fuel option for fleets to meet requirements of the Energy Policy Act.
Hemp can become food paper cosmetics and fuel oil from one strong plant. No one has ever died from it no one has ever overdosed on it. Hemp is safe cheap to produce. Stop believing the scare tactics do your own research then contact your STATE government and make them legalize hemp. Make them understand that it will bring much needed revenue to your state and, much more needed jobs. These will be Jobs that will be in manufacturing and producing a commodity. All the solar and wind generators in the world producing free electricity along are not going to save the economy unless you are able to sell these good out side of the country. Perhaps use these goods to pay off our debt like our forefathers did bank in the 1700’s. FURTHERMORE, IT IS A TRULY GREEN INDUSTRY!!