Hemp

The following is the last wording of the initiative Jack tried to get on the ballot before he passed away in 2010. He had been working on this since the 1970′s. If you are an activist in a state that allows the initiative process, please consider using this as an example for YOUR state. Thanks!

AN ACT TO AMEND THE HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE OF CALIFORNIA:

I. Add Section ________ to the Health and Safety Code of California, any laws or policies to the contrary notwithstanding:

1. No person, individual, or corporate entity shall be arrested or prosecuted, be denied any right or privilege, nor be subject to any criminal or civil penalties for the possession, cultivation, transportation, distribution, or consumption of cannabis hemp marijuana, including:

(a) Cannabis hemp industrial products.

(b) Cannabis hemp medicinal preparations.

(c) Cannabis hemp nutritional products.

(d) Cannabis hemp religious and spiritual products.

(e) Cannabis hemp recreational and euphoric use and products.

2. Definition of terms:

(a) The terms “cannabis hemp” and “cannabis hemp marijuana” mean the natural, non-genetically modified plant hemp, cannabis, marihuana, marijuana, cannabis sativa L, cannabis Americana, cannabis chinensis, cannabis indica, cannabis ruderalis, cannabis sativa, or any variety of cannabis, including any derivative, concentrate, extract, flower, leaf, particle, preparation, resin, root, salt, seed, stalk, stem, or any product thereof.

(b) The term “cannabis hemp industrial products” means all products made from cannabis hemp that are not designed or intended for human consumption, including, but not limited to: clothing, building materials, paper, fiber, fuel, lubricants, plastics, paint, seed for cultivation, animal feed, veterinary medicine, oil, or any other product that is not designed for internal human consumption; as well as cannabis hemp plants used for crop rotation, erosion control, pest control, weed control, or any other horticultural or environmental purposes, for example, the reversal of the Greenhouse Effect and toxic soil reclamation.

(c) The term “cannabis hemp medicinal preparations” means all products made from cannabis hemp that are designed, intended, or used for human consumption for the treatment of any human disease or condition, for pain relief, or for any healing purpose, including but not limited to the treatment or relief of: Alzheimer’s and pre-Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, arthritis, asthma, cramps, epilepsy, glaucoma, migraine, multiple sclerosis, nausea, premenstrual syndrome, side effects of cancer chemotherapy, fibromyalgia, sickle cell anemia, spasticity, spinal injury, stress, easement of post-traumatic stress disorder, Tourette syndrome, attention deficit disorder, immunodeficiency, wasting syndrome from AIDS or anorexia; use as an antibiotic, antibacterial, anti-viral, or anti-emetic; as a healing agent, or as an adjunct to any medical or herbal treatment. Mental conditions not limited to bipolar, depression, attention deficit disorder, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, shall be conditions considered for medical use.

(d) The term “cannabis hemp nutritional products” means cannabis hemp for consumption by humans and animals as food, including but not limited to: seed, seed protein, seed oil, essential fatty acids, seed cake, dietary fiber, or any preparation or extract thereof.

(e) The term “cannabis hemp euphoric products” means cannabis hemp intended for personal recreational or religious use, other than cannabis hemp industrial products, cannabis hemp medicinal preparations, or cannabis hemp nutritional products.

(f) The term “personal use” means the internal consumption of cannabis hemp by people 21 years of age or older for any relaxational, meditative, religious, spiritual, recreational, or other purpose other than sale.

(g) The term “commercial production” means the production of cannabis hemp products for sale or profit under the conditions of these provisions.

3. Industrial cannabis hemp farmers, manufacturers, processors, and distributors shall not be subject to any special zoning requirement, licensing fee, or tax that is excessive, discriminatory, or prohibitive.

4. Cannabis hemp medicinal preparations are hereby restored to the list of available medicines in California. Licensed physicians shall not be penalized for, nor restricted from, prescribing or recommending cannabis hemp for medical purposes to any patient, regardless of age. No tax shall be applied to prescribed cannabis hemp medicinal preparations. Medical research shall be encouraged. No recommending physician shall be subject to any professional licensing review or hearing as a result of recommending or approving medical use of cannabis hemp marijuana.

5. Personal use of cannabis hemp euphoric products.

(a) No permit, license, or tax shall be required for the non-commercial cultivation, transportation, distribution, or consumption of cannabis hemp.

(b) Testing for inactive and/or inert residual cannabis metabolites shall not be required for employment or insurance, nor be considered in determining employment, other impairment, or intoxication.

(c) When a person falls within the conditions of these exceptions, the offense laws do not apply and only the exception laws apply.

6. Use of cannabis hemp products for religious or spiritual purposes shall be considered an inalienable right; and shall be protected by the full force of the State and Federal Constitutions.

7. Commerce in cannabis hemp euphoric products shall be limited to adults, 21 years of age and older, and shall be regulated in a manner analogous to California’s wine industry model. For the purpose of distinguishing personal from commercial production, 99 flowering female plants and 12 pounds of dried, cured cannabis hemp flowers, bud, not leaf, produced per adult, 21 years of age and older, per year shall be considered as being for personal use.

8. The manufacture, marketing, distribution, or sales between adults of equipment or accessories designed to assist in the planting, cultivation, harvesting, curing, processing, packaging, storage, analysis, consumption, or transportation of cannabis hemp plants, industrial cannabis hemp products, cannabis hemp medicinal preparations, cannabis hemp nutritional products, cannabis hemp euphoric products, or any cannabis hemp product shall not be prohibited.

9. No California law enforcement personnel or funds shall be used to assist or aid and abet in the enforcement of Federal cannabis hemp marijuana laws involving acts which are hereby no longer illegal in the State of California.

10. Any person who threatens the enjoyment of these provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor. The maximum penalties and fines of a misdemeanor may be imposed.

II. Repeal, delete, and expunge any and all existing statutory laws that conflict with the provisions of this initiative.

1. Enactment of this initiative shall include: amnesty, immediate release from prison, jail, parole, and probation, and clearing, expungement, and deletion of all criminal records for all persons currently charged with, or convicted of any non-violent cannabis hemp marijuana offenses included in this initiative which are hereby no longer illegal in the State of California. People who fall within this category that triggered an original sentence are included within this provision.

2. Within 60 days of the passage of this Act, the Attorney General shall develop and distribute a one-page application, providing for the destruction of all cannabis hemp marijuana criminal records in California for any such offense covered by this Act. Such forms shall be distributed to district and city attorneys and made available at all police departments in the State to persons hereby affected. Upon filing such form with any Superior Court and a payment of a fee of $10.00, the Court shall liberally construe these provisions to benefit the defendant in furtherance of the amnesty and dismissal provision of this section. Upon the Court’s ruling under this provision the arrest record shall be set aside and be destroyed. Such persons may then truthfully state that they have never been arrested or convicted of any cannabis hemp marijuana related offense which is hereby no longer illegal in the State of California. This shall be deemed to be a finding of factual innocence under California Penal Code Section 851.8 et seq.

III. The legislature is authorized upon thorough investigation, to enact legislation using reasonable standards to:

1. License concessionary establishments to distribute cannabis hemp euphoric products in a manner analogous to California’s wine industry model. Sufficient community outlets shall be licensed to provide reasonable commercial access to persons of legal age, so as to discourage and prevent the misuse of, and illicit traffic in, such products. Any license or permit fee required by the State for commercial production, distribution or use shall not exceed $1,000.00.

2. Place an excise tax on commercial sale of cannabis hemp euphoric products, analogous to California’s wine industry model, so long as no excise tax or combination of excise taxes shall exceed $10.00 per ounce.

3. Determine an acceptable and uniform standard of impairment based on performance testing, to restrict persons impaired by cannabis hemp euphoric products from operating a motor vehicle or heavy machinery, or otherwise engaging in conduct that may affect public safety.

4. Regulate the personal use of cannabis hemp euphoric products in enclosed and/or restricted public places.

IV. Pursuant to the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, the people of California hereby repudiate and challenge Federal cannabis hemp marijuana prohibitions that conflict with this Act.

V. Severability: If any provision of this Act, or the application of any such provision to any person or circumstance, shall be held invalid by any court, the remainder of this Act, to the extent it can be given effect, or the application of such provisions to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

VI. Construction: If any rival or conflicting initiative regulating any matter addressed by this act receives the higher affirmative vote, then all non-conflicting parts shall become operative.

VII. Purpose of Act: This Act is an exercise of the police powers of the State for the protection of the safety, welfare, health, and peace of the people and the environment of the State, to protect the industrial and medicinal uses of cannabis hemp, to eliminate the unlicensed and unlawful cultivation, selling, and dispensing of cannabis hemp; and to encourage temperance in the consumption of cannabis hemp euphoric products. It is hereby declared that the subject matter of this Act involves, in the highest degree, the ecological, economic, social, and moral well-being and safety of the State and of all its people. All provisions of this Act shall be liberally construed for the accomplishment of these purposes: to respect human rights, to promote tolerance, and to end cannabis hemp prohibition.

– CANNABIS HEMPSEED: As a basic world food. –

By: Dustin F. Lowery

I will first start out by saying that the title is actually taken from “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” written by the Grandfather of Hemp himself, Jack Herer. We lost a great man last April who truly saw the potential of cannabis as not just a recreational past time but as a solution to world hunger, deforestation of trees for paper and lumber, pollution, clean energy and economic stability. I would like to thank, Bene-Joaquin Herer, Barry Herer, River Walker-Herer, Mark Herer, Chanci Herer, Dan Herer and of course Jeannie Herer and all the other members of the Herer family for keeping his spirit and drive to see Cannabis/Hemp legalized and utilized alive and with us today. ( R.I.P – Jack Herer – June 18, 1939 – April 15, 2010 )

          ( Here is the beginning to Chapter 8 of the Emperor Wears No Clothes )

Cannabis Hempseed as a Basic World Food

In 1937, Ralph Loziers, general counsel of the National Institute of Oilseed Products, told the Congressional committee studying marijuana prohibition that “hempseed… is used in all the Oriental nations and also in a part of Russia as food. It is grown in their fields and used as oatmeal. Millions of people every day are using hempseed in the Orient as food. They have been doing this for many generations, especially in periods of famine.”

That was over 70 years ago. Today we know hempseed is the plant kingdom’s richest source of life-giving essential fatty acids, and may well be the cure for cancer and heart disease.

Hempseed: Humanity’s Best Single Food Source

Of the 3-million plus edible plants that grow on Earth, no other single plant source can compare with the nutritional value of hempseeds. Both the complete protein and the essential oils contained in hempseeds are in ideal ratios for human nutrition. Only soybeans contain a higher percentage of protein. However, the composition of the protein in hempseed is unique in the vegetable kingdom. Sixty-five percent of the protein content in hempseed is in the form of globulin edestin.1 (The word “edestin” comes from the Greek “edestos,” meaning edible.)

The exceptionally high edestin content of hempseed combined with albumin, another globular protein contained in all seeds, means the readily available protein in hempseed contains all the essential amino acids in ideal proportions to assure your body has the necessary building blocks to create proteins like disease-fighting immunoglobulins -antibodies whose job is to ward off infections before the symptoms of sickness set in.2

Cannabis seed protein even allows a body with nutrition-blocking tuberculosis, or almost any other nutrition-blocking ailment, to get maximum nourishment.*

*Cohen & Stillman, Therapeutic Potential of Marijuana, Plenum Press, NY, 1976; Czech. Tubercular Nutritional Study, 1955.

Even more important for building a strong immune system, hempseeds are the highest source in the plant kingdom of essential fatty acids. These essential oils, linoleic and linolenic acids, are responsible for the luster in your skin, hair, eyes, and even your thought processes. They lubricate (clear) the arteries and are vital to the immune system.

These essential fatty acids were used by Dr. Joanna Budwig (nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year since 1979) to successfully treat “terminal” cancer patients, as well as those suffering from cardiovascular disease, glandular atrophy, gallstones, kidney degeneration, acne, dry skin, menstrual problems and immune deficiency.

This, as well as other research, prompted William Eidleman, M.D., UCLA, and R. Lee Hamilton, Ed.D., Ph.D. Medical Researcher-Biochemist UCLA Emeritus, to speak out on behalf of “the life-giving values” of cannabis hemp. They state:

“These essential oils support the immune system and guard against viral and other insults to the immune system. Studies are in progress using the essential oils to support the immune systems of persons with the H.I.V. virus. So far they have been extremely promising.

“What is the richest source of these essential oils? Yes, you guessed it, the seeds of the cannabis hemp plant … The insane prohibitions against the most valuable plant on Earth, cannabis hemp, must yield to public demand … The promise of super health and the possibility of feeding the world is at our fingertips.” (December 29, 1991 and April 2007)

Hempseed extracts, like soybeans, can be spiced to taste like chicken, steak, or pork and can be used to make tofu-type curd and margarine, at less cost than soybeans. Sprouting any seed improves its nutritional value and hemp can be sprouted and used like any other seed sprout for salads or cooking.

Sprouted hempseeds make milk, just as soybeans do. Alan “Birdseed” Brady of Santa Cruz, California and Abba Das of Colorado use this milk to make a delicious and nutritious ice cream in many flavors that actually lowers cholesterol levels.

Hempseed is ground and used like flour, or cooked, then sweetened and combined with milk to produce a nutritional breakfast cereal-like oatmeal or cream of wheat. This type of porridge is known as a gruel. (Like the fiber, hempseeds will not get you high.)

“Hemp is a favorite [bird seed] because of its nourishing oily content.” (Margaret McKenny, Birds in the Garden, Reynal & Hitchcock, NY, 1939.) Incredibly, when cannabis hemp is grown for seed, half the weight of the mature, harvested female plant is seed!

English and European fishermen who cast in fresh-water lakes and rivers first told me in 1995 that hempseed has always been the preferred bait in Europe for chumming – that is, casting the hempseeds on the water – causing the fish to scramble from all over to get the seeds, thereby getting caught. Not one of the many European fishermen I talked to knew that hemp seeds and marijuana were one in the same. So hempseed is the favorite of fish, as well as, most birds.

The byproduct of pressing hempseed for its nutritious vegetable oil is a high protein seed cake. Hempseed cake was one of the world’s principal animal feeds until this century.* Hempseed can supply a nearly complete diet for all domesticated animals (dogs, cats), many farm animals and poultry, and allows animals maximum weight gain for less than current feed costs. And without any need for artificial growth steroids or other drugs currently poisoning the human race and food chain.

Isn’t it strange – doesn’t it make you mad as hell – that the number one food of all time for most birds, fish, horses, humans, and life in general, is illegal to have naturally and healthfully in the United States of America, as ordered by the Nazi/Gestapo-like Amerikan Drug Enforcement Administration and, through them, the USDA?

                  ( End of excerpt from Chapter 8 of the Emperor Wears No clothes )

Hell yes it makes me mad! Does it make you guys mad? I mean I live in Fresno, CA. All we know here is agriculture. Small time farms as well as large industrial farms are a common sight around the surrounding parts of town and throughout the entire Central Valley. Fresno State University is celebrating its 100 year anniversary and is known around the world for their College of Agricultural Science and Technology. Now I know (from driving tractor-trailers full of tomatoes up, down and all around this great state) that there are a lot of dried up, un-utilized farm plots and acreage due to water shortages.

But don’t worry! Wal-Mart to the rescue? In a really big effort to try to feed the hungry, Wal-Mart offered up $1 million to the poorest and most needy city in America. The contest was held on Facebook and Fresno took 2nd place. We got a $100,000 donation instead of the the big prize of $1 million. The mayor of Fresno has asked its citizens to donate a dollar to help the homeless. Now I am all for that don’t get me wrong but, is this really the best we can do? Relying on HUGE corporations that barely pay their own employees a decent wage and refuse to pay their healthcare costs and expenses to provide the homeless and hungry with food and shelter. Or in a Economic downturn asking the Taxpayers to share just a little more through donations to help the homeless.

If we want to feed the fourth hungriest city in the nation it is as simple as planting the seed. We have a entire Central Valley of generation after generation of farmers. The Hemp plant requires far less water then corn and most vegetable crops, Replenishes the Soil, Requires very little , to no pesticides, and would also help reduce the nations 2nd most polluted city in America, Second only to Bakersfield Ca. Hemp in the Central Valley of California makes perfect sense in more ways the one. It puts our farmers back to work, it also feeds the hungry with the most nutritional seed for human consumption on this planet. All while cleaning the heavily polluted soil and air here in the valley.

It is not all about getting high, It is not about the money, It’s about a simple non toxic plant that has been prohibited by our government, who was duped by the lobbyist of there times. Most of the claims made in those days were so racist you would be afraid to say them in public these days in fear of hurting ones feelings. They scared the American public with propaganda and lies , they were conned into thinking it was something very Evil and destructive, things like ” Black men under the use of marihuana would want to look at a white women twice ” or smoking that Mexican loco weed will send you into uncontrollable murderous rages of psychedelic mayhem. Reefer Madness at its finest, they were lies then, and there even worse lies now! So Central Valley, its up to us now to carry the torch into a Cleaner, Renewable ,more nutritional food to eat and cleaner air to breath. Putting farmers back to work, creating and stimulating our economy with the worlds single greatest renewable resource known to man, Cannabis Hemp. We can do this, you cant have a tree that bears fruit without a seed, so lets plant that seed and grow it together.

BY: Dustin F. Lowery

Here are some awesome Hemp facts everyone should know:

For Starters:

-Farmers around the world grow hemp. Legally. And they’ve been doing so for thousands of years. View a timeline of hemp throughout history here.

-Hemp is a plant grown from a seed. It can get up to 15 to 20 or so feet tall. It is an annual, herbaceous, long fiber plant similar to flax (linen), jute and ramie. [i]

-It’s the sister plant to marijuana but it won’t get you high. However, it’s good at doing almost anything else except making you ‘high’. You’ll learn more about its versatility in this document.

-Although hemp and marijuana are both from the cannabis species, hemp contains virtually no THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.) If you smoke hemp you will likely get a headache. You will not get ‘high’. Its THC level is less than 1%, whereas marijuana may contain between 5 – 15%.[iii]

-Its seeds are pressed for oil that can be used for food (salad dressings, supplements, etc.), industrial lubrication, diesel fuel, paints, varnishes and more.

-Hemp is a distinct variety of the plant species cannabis sativa L. [ii]

-Hemp is among the oldest industries on the planet, going back more than 10,000 years to the beginnings of pottery. [iv]

-The Columbia History of the World states that the oldest relic of human industry is a piece of Mesopotamian hemp fabric dating back to approximately 8,000 BC.[v]

-For more than a century, hemp was legal tender to pay American taxes.[vi]

-Over 600,000 acres of hemp grow worldwide today.[vii] Over 8,500 acres were grown in Canada in 2008.[viii]

-The 2002 figures for global hemp sales were US$250 million. US$150 million in the United States alone.[ix]

-The HIA (Hemp Industries Association) is confident that the total North American hemp food and body care market in 2008 accounted for at least $100 million in retail sales. In 2005-2008, hemp food sales have averaged 47% annual growth, making hemp one of the fastest-growing natural food categories. Source.

Legality:

-For the first 162 years of America’s existence, marijuana was totally legal and hemp was a common crop. But during the 1930s, the U.S. government and the media began spreading outrageous lies about marijuana, which led to its prohibition. (“Marijuana: The devil’s weed with roots in hell”, “Marijuana makes fiends of boys in 30 days”, “Reefer Madness”, etc.) It was banned in the USA under the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. In a blatant case of mistaken identity, industrial hemp was banned along with it.[x]

-It is said that the motivation for the hemp ban was that new processing technologies were developed that made it a potential competitor with the newly founded synthetic fiber and plastics industries. Hemp’s potential for producing paper also posed a threat to the timber and oil industries. Evidence suggests that commercial interests, having much to lose from hemp competition, helped propagate the reefer madness hysteria and used their influence to lobby for Marijuana Prohibition. It is debatable at to whether special interests conspired to destroy the hemp industry via Marijuana Prohibition, but evidence exists to raise the possibility.[Xi]

-In Canada, parliament passed Bill C-8 in May of 1997, freeing industrial hemp from the drug legislation imposed in 1938 when Canada’s Opium and Narcotics Control Act followed the United States’ lead and banned hemp production. The responsibilities to regulate the “new” crop were given to Health Canada. [xii] (The UK lifted its ban in 1993.[xiii])

-It is currently illegal to grow industrial hemp for food, oil, paper or fabric in the USA, but it is perfectly legal to export hemp to the U.S. and to process, consume and wear it there. [xv]

Versatility:

-A Popular Mechanics article from 1938 stated that over 25,000 different products could be made from hemp in oil, seed or fiber form.[xvi]

-Used for thousands of years by a wide variety of cultures, hemp is currently being used worldwide in industries such as fabric, food, bio-diesel fuel, paper, plastics, rope, building material, molded panels, car components, wallpaper, acoustic baffling and barn bedding for farm animals.[xvii]

-125 years ago, 70 to 90 percent of all rope, twine, cordage, ship sails, canvas, fiber, cloth, etc., was made out of hemp fiber. It was replaced by DuPont’s then newly discovered petrochemical fiber (nylon) beginning in 1937. [xviii]

Farming:

-The hemp plant is highly resistant to most insect and disease, largely eliminating the need for most (or all) pesticides and herbicides.[xix]

-No herbicides have been approved for industrial hemp. Early planting, as soon as the soil is warm enough, is a recommended weed control strategy.[xx]

-A normal stand of 200 to 300 plants per square meter shades out weeds, leaving the fields weed-free at harvest and covered in leaves that improve the soil in a self-mulching eco-system.[xxi]

-Industrial hemp can be grown on a wide variety of soil types, but tends to grow best on land that produces high yields of corn.[xxii]

-Hemp prefers a mild climate, humid atmosphere, and a rainfall of at least 25-30 inches per year. [xxiii]

-A hemp field produces a very large bulk of plant material in a short period of time. (Stalks can reach 15 feet tall in 70-90 growing days)[xxiv] [xxv]

-Yields can reach between 3 to 7 tons of dry hemp fibre stalk per acre.[xxvi]

-HEMP IS THE NUMBER ONE biomass producer on planet earth: 10 tons per acre in approximately four months. It is a woody plant containing 77% cellulose. Wood produces 60% cellulose.[xxvii]

-Low abrasion means low impact on farm equipment and workers hands. [xxviii]

-Hemp was one of Canada’s first agricultural exports when the fiber was sold to Britain and France for use in their navies. It was common practice for tracts of land to be issued to settlers in Canada on the provision that they grow hemp.[xxix]

-During World War II the U.S. government relaxed the anti-hemp laws and spurred mid-western farmers to grow over a million acres of the plant for the war effort. “Hemp For Victory” was the name of the informational film made by U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1942.[xxx] Decades later they denied they ever made the film. This was disapproved by researchers in 1989 when they found evidence of it at the Library of Congress.[xxxi]

-Of all the hemp grown in Canada, almost all of it was for seed, oil and construction material. Little went to the fabric industry. Most fabric is imported from China and Europe. [xxxii] See Canadian farming acreage stats here.

Fibers, Fabric & Clothing:

-The agriculture world’s longest and most durable natural fibers are hemp’s ‘bast’ fibers, contained in the bark of the plant’s stalk. [xxxiii]

-Cinema Space, in Montreal, is Canada’s first cinema to use hemp fabric to cover its seats.

-In 1853, the first pair of Levi’s jeans was made. Due to a fire in the Levis archives (San Francisco’s Great Earthquake and Fire – 1906 ) it can no longer be proven, but many believe the first pair of Levis were made from hemp.

-The word canvas (traditionally made from hemp) comes from cannabis (Latin). This word comes from kaneh-bosem, Hebrew for ‘aromatic cane’. [xxxv]

-Un-dyed hemp fabric will not rot and won’t fade in sunlight.[xxxvi] [xxxvii]

-Hemp is anti-microbial, anti-mildew, naturally UV resistant and readily takes on eco-safe plant-based dyes. [xxxviii]

-Frequently blended with cotton, silk, tencel, bamboo, spandex and other fibers to make a wide variety of fabrics with various attractive properties. It is also an efficient insulator keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer.[xxxix]

-A 2000 year-old hemp-rope toupé was found in Sichuan, China. Source.

-It is said that a parachute rigging made of hemp saved the life of George Bush Sr. when the young bomber pilot bailed out of his burning plane.[xl]

-Hemp softens with each washing, without fiber degradation.[xli] As the saying goes: “Hemp doesn’t wear out, it wears in.”[xlii]

Compared to Cotton:

-Environmentally, hemp is a safer crop to grow than cotton. Cotton is a soil-damaging crop and needs a great deal of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.[xliii]

-Cotton crops in the USA occupy 1% of the country’s farmland but use 50% of all pesticides. [xliv] “The pesticides used on cotton, whether in the U.S. or oversees, are some of the most hazardous available today,” says Doug Murray, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at Colorado State University who has studied pesticide use on cotton overseas. Source.

-1 acre of hemp will produce as much as 2-3 acres of cotton.[xlv]

-Hemp is 4 times warmer than cotton, 4 times more water absorbent, has 3 times the tensile strength of cotton. It is also many times more durable and is flame retardant.[xlvi]

-Many high fashion clothing manufacturers have produced clothes and footwear made with hemp. Some of these include: Nike, Converse, Armani, Patagonia, Polo Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta and many more.[xlvii]

-Hemp fabrics were once far more expensive than cotton and other fabrics due to limited supply, but increased demand and availability in recent years have lowered the price considerably. [xlviii]

-Hemp breathes well and wicks moisture away from the body better than cotton. [xlix]

-HT Naturals (Canada’s largest hemp t-shirt supplier) asserts that selecting their hemp/cotton blended t-shirt over an all-cotton t-shirt saves the environment 744 gallons of water. This company has recently partnered with Canada’s National Research Council to create Crailar an enzyme that will make hemp fibers as soft as cotton.[l]

Paper:

-Hemp paper can be made from both the outer fibers of the hemp stalk (bast fibers) as well as the inner core (or ‘hurd’ fibers) of the stalk.[li]

-One acre of hemp (grown in a single season) yields as much paper as up to 4 acres of trees (which take many more years to grow). [lii]

-Hemp paper is stronger, acid free, has a longer shelf life and costs less than half as much to process as tree paper. [liii]

-Hemp paper can be recycled 10 times whereas wood-based paper can only be recycled twice without losing integrity and requiring additional virgin fiber content.[liv]

-China, the world’s first paper maker, used hemp to make paper 1,900 years ago. [lv]

-Both the Gutenberg Bible (15th C.) and the King James Bible (17th C.) were printed on hemp-based papers. [lvi]

-In 1776, Thomas Jefferson, a hemp farmer, wrote the first two drafts of the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper.[lvii]

-Since deforestation is a serious environmental concern, hemp can offer a significant contribution to the world’s environment as well as its economy.[lviii]

Building Materials and Plastics:

-The core of the hemp stalk is used to produce fiberboard, insulation, carpet, fiberglass substitute, cement blocks, concrete, stucco and mortar.[lix]

-Hemp oil extracted from hemp seeds is used in the production of plastics, oil paints, varnishes, inks, solvents, lubricants, putty and coatings.[lx]

-In an effort to initiate industrial hemp production, a Native farmer named Alex White Plume on his reservation in South Dakota built a house entirely out of what he calls “Hempcrete” bricks. [lxi]

-In 1941, Popular Mechanics ran a story featuring a photograph of Henry Ford standing next to the car he “grew from the soil”. The hemp-ethanol fueled and hemp-resin bodied vehicle was a dream of his but many bills proposing a national agricultural based fuel energy program were killed by smear campaigns launched by vested petroleum interests. One claim put forth was that the U.S. government’s plans “robbed taxpayers to make farmers rich”. [lxii]

Environment:

-Hemp planting reduces deforestation and improves the soil upon which it is grown.[lxiii]

-All products made solely from hemp fiber are biodegradable, compostable and recyclable. As such, they are easy on landfills.[lxiv]

-A lightweight product: for greater fuel efficiency in transport, ease of handling, increased payload capacity.

-Hemp advocates say it is possible to leave the forests alone and go back to making paper from hemp, but is that really feasible? Technically, yes. Once plant cellulose is turned into pulp, machines cannot tell the difference between it and wood pulp.[lxv]

-A worker-friendly, non-toxic material

Food and Nutrition:

-Of the 3 million plus edible plants that grow on Earth, no other plant source can compare with the nutritional value of hempseeds. [lxvi]

-Hemp is edible as whole seeds, hulled seed (the hemp ‘nut’ or ‘heart’), protein powder, or as oil extracted from seeds.

-It is used in salad dressings, protein bars, breads, cakes, soups, beer, butters, shakes, milk, breakfast cereals and many more food products and recipes.

-Hemp plants produce seeds that contain between 25-35% oil by weight. This non-trans-fatty-acid oil is high in a perfect balance of essential fatty acids (EFAs: Omega-3, 6, 9) considered to be necessary to maintain health. [lxviii] Hemp’s EFA profile provides a healthy alternative to fish, often high in mercury and other toxins.

-Hemp’s overall protein content of 35% is comparable to soybeans and is higher than that found in nuts, other seeds, meats, dairy products and fish or poultry. Hemp protein contains all of the essential amino acids in more nutritionally significant amounts and at a ratio closer to “complete” sources of protein (like meat, milk and eggs) than all other seeds except soy. [lxix]

-65% of the proteins in hemp are “edestin,” which are easily digestible and act as pre-cursors to such vital body components as hormones, hemoglobin, enzymes and antibodies. Hemp’s edestin structure is the highest in the plant kingdom, making it more digestible than soy and many other plant foods. [lxx]

-Hemp also contains a healthy 35% of dietary fiber, the highest of all commercial flour grains, and it is high in the natural antioxidants Vitamin E, Vitamin C and chlorophyll.[lxxi]

-The hardiness and nutritional benefits of hemp could help address many of the world’s starvation problems.[lxxii]

-Hemp should not be cooked at temperatures over 350F because at this emperature the fats are in danger of becoming “trans” and thus unhealthy. Source.

-NOT including Whole Foods Markets sales, hemp food sales in North America grew by 39% over the previous year (from August 2006 to August 2007), or by $2.1 million, to a total of $7.7 million. Based on this, it is estimated that the total retail value of hemp foods sold in this period in North America grew from $14 million (in 2006) to approximately $20 million in 2007. Source.

-View a detailed scientific breakdown of the hemp seed here.

Bio-Diesel Fuel:

-Industrial hemp would be a viable bio-diesel fuel if hemp were legal to cultivate in the United States.

-In 2001, the “Hemp Car”, a converted 1980s diesel Mercedes station wagon drove a 13,000 mile 50 city tour of North America. It was powered by solely by 600 gallons of hemp bio-diesel fuel made from the stalk of the hemp plant.[lxxiii]

-The exhaust emissions of carbon monoxide from bio-diesel are 47% lower than carbon monoxide emissions from diesel.[lxxiv]

-Bio-diesel reduces the health risks associated with petroleum diesel. Bio-diesel emissions showed decreased levels of PAH and nitrited PAH compounds, which have been, identified as potential cancer causing compounds.[lxxv]

-In a period of 28 days, pure bio-diesel degrades 85 to 88 percent in water.[lxxvi]

-Any CO2 released from burning hemp as fuel matches the CO2 the plant had beneficially taken from the environment wile growing, creating what is called a closed carbon cycle that could slow down the effects of global warming[lxxvii]

Body Care Products:

-Thanks to its nourishing oil, hemp is booming in the personal hygiene industry with hemp found in soaps, shampoos, lotions, lip balms, bath oils, personal lubricants and more.

-Due to the large hemp body care line sold by The Body Shop, as well as the fact that many unreported leading mass-market brands of sun tan lotion and sunscreen products include hemp oil, the HIA (Hemp Industries Association) estimates the total retail value of North American hemp body care sales to be at least $50 million. Source.

-Cosmetics manufacturers, such as Revlon, include hemp oil in makeup, lotion and shampoo. In Europe they’re using hemp in household cleaners as a natural alternative to harsher chemicals.[lxxix]

Hemp Around The World:

Chinese: Ma 大麻

Czech: Konopí

Dutch: Hennep

Esperanto: Kanabo

French: Chanvre

German: Hanf

Greek: κάνναβη

Hebrew: Kanabos

Italian: canapa

Japanese: Taima 麻

Korean: 대마

Romanian: Cinepa

Russian: пенька

Slovak: Konope

Spanish: Cáñamo

Yiddish: Hanef

“Make the most of Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere.”

-George Washington, 1794