OK so first post for the new year, guess what it is? It should be my trip to Pakiri the other day but I found something way more interesting.

I was looking through wikipedia as I do and I was looking at hemp production (the non-drug type of cannabis). In 1916 it was found that 1 acre of hemp can produce as much pulp for making paper as 4.7 acres of wood over a 20 year cycle. Also to break down the fibres 1/4 the amount of sulfur-based acid chemicals are needed for hemp (or none with soda ash). Also Chlorine bleach is not needed to bleach the paper, instead hydrogen peroxide can be used.

There are more environmentally friendly ways now but wood paper pulp production is still the second highest CO2 producing industry.

Did you know they use hemp fibre to strengthen concrete? Yeah, its called Hempcrete among other names and acts as an insulator and moisture regulator. Plus it is lighter, less brittle and doesn’t need expansion joints.

Some other random facts from the wiki article:

• It is reported to produce 250% more fiber than cotton and 600% more fiber than flax when grown on the same land.
• Hemp seed oil is reported to have anti-inflammatory properties.
• Hemp seeds contain all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary to maintain healthy human life.
• Mercedes-Benz uses a “biocomposite” composed principally of hemp fiber for the manufacture of interior panels in some of its automobiles.
• It is sometimes used in the manufacture of oil-based paints, in creams as a moisturising agent, for cooking, and in plastics.
• Biofuels such as biodiesel and alcohol fuel can be made from the oils in hemp seeds and stalks, and the fermentation of the plant as a whole, respectively – and it is reported to produce more energy per acre per year than corn, sugar, flax, or any other crop currently grown for ethanol or biodiesel
• Every industialized country in the world, excluding the United States, produces industrial hemp including Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Great Britain, France, Russia and Spain (although Canada only grows hemp for seed and oil, not fiber).
• Hemp Plastic is a new technology based on 20-100% hemp fiber-based plastics that can be molded or injection molded. Demand for fiber-reinforced composites and other natural plastics could become more popular as oil prices rise and environmental awareness increases.
• It is used for non-dairy milk somewhat similar to soy and nut milks, and for non-dairy hemp “ice cream.”
• Hempseed is an adequate source of calcium and iron. Iron deficiency is the leading nutrient deficiency world wide.

So as you can see, hemp has a lot of applications, that are better for the environment, and sometime of much better quality and quantity.

The problem is, hemp is grouped under marijuana and is condemned thanks to people and companies who had various interests in competing industries. Such as forestry (William Randolf Hearst), nylon (Dupont), and cotton plus competing industries to all mentioned above. Then there was the intense racism (which was suitable for this time ~1930) by Hearst, and Harry J. Anslinger, the first head of the Narcotics Bureau in the US. And finally the misrepresentation of the cannabis drug (which hemp is grouped under).

The game is rigged. Companies just want money and more money so they are gonna try and keep this stuff down.

A brief history of the criminalization of cannabis

This entry was posted on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 2:12 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.