Hemp and More.org

There is so much confusion about hemp and marijuana.  Many people think they are the same thing.  Hemp is misunderstood because it looks like its cousin, marijuana.  Hopefully the follow info compiled will help straighten it out for you or people you know.

1.  The THC (active ingredient of marijuana) levels in Industrial Hemp are so low that no one could get high from smoking it. Industrial hemp has a THC content of between 0.05 and 1%. Marijuana has a THC content of 3% to 20%. Hemp is to marijuana as a miniature poodle is to a St. Bernard!

2. Hemp is not legal to grow in the U.S. under Federal law because of its unjustified relation to marijuana, and it is considered a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act.

3.  Some states have defied Federal law and made the cultivation of industrial hemp legal. These states — North Dakota, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, West Virginia, Oregon and Vermont — have not yet begun to grow hemp because of resistance from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

HISTORY:

 4.  Hemp is the oldest cultivated fiber plant in the world. From more than 1,000 years before the time of Christ until 1883 A.D., hemp was our planet’s largest agricultural crop and most important industry, involving thousands of products and enterprises; producing the overall majority of Earth’s fiber, fabric, lighting oil, paper, incense and medicines. In addition, it was a primary source of essential food oil and protein for humans and animals.

5.  The Constitution of the United States was written on hemp paper. The Declaration of Independence (June 28, 1776) was written on hemp paper.  In 1776 Betsy Ross made the first American flag of hemp cloth. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp on their plantations.

6. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 effectively made the cultivation of hemp illegal, due largely to corporate greed and the efforts of businessmen Andrew Mellon, William Randolph Hearst and the DuPont family.

7. In 1942, The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in contradiction to the Marijuana Tax Act, produced and distributed a motion picture called “Hemp for Victory” in which the federal government not only promoted the many uses of cannabis hemp, but also detailed the most efficient cultivation and harvesting methods.

THE ENVIRONMENT and SUSTAINABILITY:

 8.  Hemp is biomass champion, breathing in more carbon dioxide (the most abundant greenhouse gas) than any other plant-approx. 3 times more than trees. Hemp scrubs the air of excess CO2 gas – a contributing factor in global warming – as it grows. It is capable of producing 10 tons per acre in four months.

9. Farming 6% of the continental U.S. acreage with hemp crops could provide all of America’s energy needs. One acre of hemp is capable of producing 1000 gallons of methanol and 500 gallons of gasoline. Hemp can produce 10 times more methanol than corn.

10.  Planting hemp actually restores nutrients to the soil.  Hemp was planted after the Chernoble nuclear disaster to clean the radioactive toxins left in the soil. The hemp plant’s deep taproot system prevents top soil erosion and aerates the soil.

 INDUSTRY, MANUFACTURING & AGRICULTURE:

11.  Almost any product that can be made from wood, cotton, or petroleum (including plastics) can be made from hemp and usually better than it’s made from now. There are more than 30,000 known uses for hemp.

12.  In 1941 Henry Ford built a plastic car made of fiber from hemp and wheat straw. Over two million cars on the road today, including some BMW’s, Mercedes, and Lotus, have hemp composite parts for door panels, dashboards, luggage racks, etc.

13.  Hemp plastic is biodegradable, synthetic plastic is not.

14. One acre of hemp with a 4 month growth cycle can produce as much usable fiber as 4 acres of trees with a 20 yr. growth cycle.

NUTRITION AND HEALTH:

15.  Hemp contains 25% – 31 % protein, second only to soy (35%), but the protein in hemp foods is more easily digestible. .  Hemp seed protein is unique from other seeds (including flax)  in that it contains all the amino acids and omega 3’s essential to life. The very high density of nutrients per  calorie make hemp a good choice if your goal is quick weight loss.

16.  Hemp seed is an excellent source of calcium and iron and are also a good source of phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, copper and manganese.

17.  Hemp seed is gluten free and consequently will not trigger symptoms of celiac disease.

Hemp oil has been shown to relieve the symptoms of eczema and have anti-inflammatory properties.

THE ECONOMY:

 18.  in 1938 Reader’s Digest and Popular Mechanics hailed hemp as the first billion-dollar crop. The article was the very first time in American history that the term “billion-dollar” (equivalent to $40-$80 billion now) was ever applied to any U.S. agricultural crop!

19.  In America alone, the hemp industry has grown from $5 million in 1990, to $50 million in 1995, to      about half a billion dollars in 2002 and has an estimated $500 billlion annual potential worldwide market today.

20.  Hemp grown for biomass could fuel a trillion-dollar per year energy industry, while improving air quality and distributing the wealth to rural areas and their surrounding communities, and away from centralized power monopolies.

21.  The United States is the #1 importer of hemp in the world. We can import it, manufacture with it and sell it, but our farmers are not allowed to grow it!

Sources:
JackHerer.com, The Emperor Wears No Clothes byJack Herer, Industrial Hemp.net,

The Hemp Industries Assoc. (theHIA.org), Wikipedia.org

For info or orders with hemp foods or supplements, visit Versativa.