By Repo Man Cannabis Hemp, also known as marijuana, is an annual plant that flourishes in all 50 states. The benefits of the hemp plant to mankind are immeasurable, and references to its use date back to the beginning of recorded history. The plant has potential for a wide variety of medical and industrial uses, including fiber, paper, plastics, and fuel. Unfortunately, most people are blind to these benefits because of disinformation campaigns maintained by corporate entities that are in fear of losing profits to the hemp farmer. Throughout the centuries, hemp fiber had been used to make every grade of textile, from canvas to lace. In fact, the word 'canvas' comes from the Latin 'Cannabaceous Hempen,' which translates into the Modern English scientific name, 'Cannabis Hemp.' Some strains of the plant reach a height of over 20 feet in one growing season, making it an ideal crop for fiber production. Hemp has no natural enemies, and does not require a deluge of poisonous pesticides, unlike cotton, our "traditional" fiber plant. (Over fifty percent of all pesticides used on the planet today are used on cotton.) Consequently, not only can hemp fiber be produced more More [Y,n,c] efficiently than cotton, its production is environmentally sound. Hemp fiber has three times the tensile strength of cotton, and is softer and more absorbent. Since a living plant cannot be patented, and since Polyester or Dacron is inferior to hemp fiber in quality, it doesn't take a genius to figure out why DuPont wants it to remain illegal. After the fiber-making process, the hurds, which are the leftover bits of woody pulp holding the fibers together, have many uses. Hemp hurds contain 77 to 80 percent cellulose, which composed the tough, woody cell walls of the stem of the plant during the growing season. Cellulose is the raw material for a wide variety of manufactured goods, such as paper, cellophane, and rayon. The hurds decompose naturally into the basic cellulose, with no chemicals necessary as a catalyst. Tree pulp contains only about 60 percent cellulose, and the chemicals necessary to break down and process tree pulp are very toxic, and especially unhealthy when dumped into our rivers and streams. It takes 41 acres of trees to make the paper of 10 acres of hemp, and the paper made from hemp is substantially superior to the paper made from trees. A book printed on hemp paper will easily last 200 years. Hence, the manufacture of cellulose-based goods is much more efficient and environmentally sound with hemp, and as a bonus, paper made from hemp is dioxin-free. The possibilities of hemp as a source of energy cast an optimistic glow on these times of frugality. The seeds of the hemp plant contain 30 percent oil by volume, and straight from the seed it can be used as a very high grade machine oil, and as a base for paints and varnishes. The biomass, or the leafy portion of the plant, can be converted into charcoal and methanol by method of pyrolysis, which involves heating at extreme temperatures in a low oxygen environment. This charcoal can directly replace coal, one of our primary non- renewable resources, and burn without the sulfur by-product, which is the sole cause of acid rain. Methanol can be used as fuel in our cars, and burns cleaner and more efficiently than gasoline. Methanol also does not produce CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) which upset ozone formation. If six percent of U.S. acreage were planted in hemp, all of our nation's fuel requirements would be met without importing a drop of oil. With hemp as our energy source, the United States could assume a global position as a fuel exporting nation, with the added bonus of absorbing the majority of the greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels. Environmentally, hemp has many advantages. Since the plant grows so fast, it is a very efficient photosynthesizer. In fact, it is the only plant that can produce enough biomass per acre to process enough CO2 to reverse the greenhouse effect. In turn, this will cause the ozone layer to begin reforming properly by maintaining a balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide. The burning of fossil fuels is the direct cause of this imbalance, since the carbon remains of the organic matter that formed fossil fuels are not alive today to absorb the additional CO2 production when they are burned. With hemp as a source of fuel, and the hemp crop to absorb the CO2 by-product of combustion, a homeostasis can be maintained in which Earth's natural healing can begin. An additional environmental bonus of hemp is that it does not stress the soil like most other plants. Wheat, barley, cotton, and other crops have roots about one or two inches long, and while the plants are alive, nutrients are leached from this strata of the soil. When they are harvested, the roots decompose into nutrients to be used by the next generation of crops. Hemp, on the other hand, has roots that extend ten to twelve inches into the ground, and after harvest, these decomposing root structures will rebuild the soil. The leaves that drop from the plant add to the richness of the topsoil and act has humus, an organic fertilizer, giving the roots something to thrive on. Southern California and Utah had used hemp to rebuild compacted and overworked soil until 1915. For hundreds of years, the flowering tops of the female hemp plant have provided medicine for a myriad of maladies. In the 1800's and early 1900's, cannabis preparations were prescribed by physicians for various ailments, such as breathing problems, depression, eating disorders, and anxiety. Recently, it has been discovered that glaucoma patients can bring intraocular pressure down to a normal level by using cannabis. Also, it has been discovered that cannabis gives anorexic patients the desire to eat. Cancer patients would be able to live the rest of their life without the painful side effects and nausea of chemotherapy if cannabis were made available to them. Medicines made from hemp were prevalent all the way up until the time the plant was made illegal. From a recreational standpoint, many people view marijuana use as a viable alternative to alcohol and hard drugs. Many artists and musicians claim that their marijuana use enhances their creativity. Some say it makes them more industrious, and gives them good ideas. Some use it for religious reasons. Others enjoy relaxing after a hard day's work. Regardless of the uses and effects people claim, it is the safest recreational drug known to man, safer than alcohol, and considerably safer than nicotine. All was well with hemp until the year 1937, the year after E.I. DuPont DeNemours & Company invented the chemical catalyst that is used to process tree pulp into cellulose. Company executives predicted this chemical would be responsible for 80 percent of all rail tanker shipments coming from DuPont. Incidentally, this was also about the same time that Popular Mechanics (February, 1938) ran an article, called "Billion Dollar Cash Crop," about an invention that could make large-scale hemp processing available to the average farmer. This invention threatened to cause losses to major timber- holding companies, such as the Hearst Paper Manufacturing Division. After the threat of major losses, Hearst began the largest anti- marijuana campaign of all time, and one of his infamous headlines read as follows: "MARIJUANA MAKES FIENDS OF BOYS IN 30 DAYS; HASHEESH GOADS USERS TO BLOOD-LUST." Thus, hemp provided unwanted competition in the cellulose industry, and it simply had to be eradicated. Memorialized in DuPont's 1937 annual report to stockholders, profits would be made "to the extent to which the revenue-raising power of government may be converted into an instrument for forcing acceptance of sudden new ideas of industrial and social reorganization." They urged investors to continue investing despite this setback. Investors invested, and politicians were purchased. The result is a very expensive "war on drugs," which is a battle that cannot be won, no matter how many lives our government destroys. Simply put, the "war on drugs" promotes inefficiency of our economy and hurts everyone, whether they want to believe they are involved or not. Our founding fathers, under the hempen flag of the new nation, dressed in their hemp clothing, drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper, while their lamps were burning hemp seed oil. As quoted by Thomas Jefferson, "Hemp is of first necessity to the commerce and marine; in other words to the wealth and protection of the country." Unfortunately, our current "leaders" are merely puppets of political power, corrupted with corporate cash, protecting the profits of their powerful patrons at the expense of environmental emergency and the price of personal privacy. It's time people get educated beyond the disinformation campaigns and scare tactics being employed by the conglomerate corporations in control of this country, and begin to question the real motives of our Big Brother. * Much of the information in this essay comes from the book "The Emperor Wears No Clothes, by Jack Herer. Buy it at Budget. It's about twenty bucks, but worth every penny. Buy it. Read it..... 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