- HEMP FACTS
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- 1) Hemp is among the oldest industries on the
planet, going back more than 10,000 years to the beginnings of
pottery. The Columbia History of the World states that the oldest
relic of human industry is a bit of hemp fabric dating back to
approximately 8,000 BC.
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- 2) Presidents Washington and Jefferson both grew
hemp. Americans were legally bound to grow hemp during the Colonial
Era and Early Republic. The federal government subsidized hemp during
the Second World War and US farmers grew about a million acres of hemp
as part of that program.
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- 3) Hemp Seed is far more nutritious than even
soybean, contains more essential fatty acids than any other source, is
second only to soybeans in complete protein (but is more digestible by
humans), is high in B-vitamins, and is 35% dietary fiber. Hemp seed is
not psychoactive and cannot be used as a drug. See
TestPledge.com
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 4) The bark of the hemp stalk
contains bast fibers which are among the Earth's longest natural soft
fibers and are also rich in cellulose; the cellulose and
hemi-cellulose in its inner woody core are called hurds. Hemp stalk is
not psychoactive. Hemp fiber is longer, stronger, more absorbent and
more insulative than cotton fiber.
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- 5) According to the Department of Energy, hemp as a
biomass fuel producer requires the least specialized growing and
processing procedures of all hemp products. The hydrocarbons in hemp
can be processed into a wide range of biomass energy sources, from
fuel pellets to liquid fuels and gas. Development of biofuels could
significantly reduce our consumption of fossil fuels and nuclear
power.
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- 6) Hemp grows well without herbicides, fungicides,
or pesticides. Almost half of the agricultural chemicals used on US
crops are applied to cotton.
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- 7) Hemp produces more pulp per acre than timber on a
sustainable basis, and can be used for every quality of paper. Hemp
paper manufacturing can reduce wastewater contamination. Hemp's low
lignin content reduces the need for acids used in pulping, and it's
creamy color lends itself to environmentally friendly bleaching
instead of harsh chlorine compounds. Less bleaching results in less
dioxin and fewer chemical byproducts.
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- 8) Hemp fiber paper resists decomposition, and does
not yellow with age when an acid-free process is used. Hemp paper more
than 1,500 years old has been found. It can also be recycled more
times.
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- 9) Hemp fiberboard produced by Washington State
University was found to be twice as strong as wood-based
fiberboard.
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- 10) Eco-friendly hemp can replace most toxic
petrochemical products. Research is being done to use hemp in
manufacturing biodegradable plastic products: plant-based cellophane,
recycled plastic mixed with hemp for injection-molded products, and
resins made from the oil, to name just a very few examples.
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-
- Hemp History
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- Hemp is among the oldest industries on the planet,
going back more than 10,000 years to the beginnings of pottery. The
Columbia History of the World states that the oldest relic of human
industry is a bit of hemp fabric dating back to approximately 8,000
BC.
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- Presidents Washington and Jefferson both grew hemp.
Americans were legally bound to grow hemp during the Colonial Era and
Early Republic.
-
- In 1937 Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act which
effectively began the era of hemp prohibition. The tax and licensing
regulations of the act made hemp cultivation unfeasable for American
farmers. The chief promoter of the Tax Act, Harry Anslinger, began
promoting anti-marijuana legislation around the world. To learn more
about hemp prohibition visit http://www.JackHerer.com or check out
"The Emperor Wears No Clothes" by Jack Herer
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- Then came World War II. The Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor shut off foreign supplies of "manilla hemp" fiber from the
Phillipines. The USDA produced a film called Hemp For Victory to
encourage US farmers to grow hemp for the war effort. The US
government formed War Hemp Industries and subsidized hemp cultivation.
During the War and US farmers grew about a million acres of hemp
across the midwest as part of that program.
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- After the war ended, the government quietly shut
down all the hemp processing plants and the industry faded away again.
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- During the period from 1937 to the late 60's the US
government understood and acknowledged that Industrial Hemp and
marijuana were distinct varieties of the cannabis plant. Hemp is no
longer recognized as distinct from marijuana since the passage of the
Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970. This is despite the fact that
a specific exemption for hemp was included in the CSA under the
definition of marijuana.
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- The United States government has published numerous
reports and other documents on hemp dating back to the beginnings of
our country. Below is a list of some of the documents that have been
discovered:
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- * 1797: SECRETARY OF WAR: U.S.S. CONSTITUTION'S HEMP
- * 1810: JOHN QUINCY ADAMS - RUSSIAN HEMP
CULTIVATION
- * 1827: U.S. NAVY COMMISSIONER - WATER-ROTTED HEMP
- * 1873: HEMP CULTURE IN JAPAN
- * 1895: USDA - HEMP SEED
- * 1899: USDA SECRETARY - HEMP
- * 1901: USDA LYSTER DEWEY RE; HEMP & FLAX SEED
- * 1901: USDA LYSTER DEWEY 13 PAGE ARTICLE ON HEMP
- * 1903: USDA LYSTER DEWEY RE; PRINCIPAL COMMERCIAL
PLANT FIBERS
- * 1909: USDA SECRETARY - FIBER INVESTIGATIONS:
HEMP/FLAX
- * 1913: USDA LYSTER DEWEY - HEMP SOILS, YIELD,
ECONOMICS
- * 1913: USDA LYSTER DEWEY - TESTS FOR HEMP, LIST OF
PRODUCTS
- * 1916: USDA BULLETIN 404 - HEMP HURDS AS A PAPER
MAKING MATERIAL
- * 1917: USDA - HEMP SEED SUPPLY OF THE NATION
- * 1917: USDA - CANNABIS
- * 1927: USDA LYSTER DEWEY RE; HEMP VARIETIES
- * 1931: USDA LYSTER DEWEY RE; HEMP FIBER LOSING
GROUND
- * 1943: USDA - HEMP FOR VICTORY - DOCUMENTARY
FILM
- * 1947: USDA - HEMP DAY LENGTH &
FLOWERING
- * 1956: USDA - MONOECIOUS HEMP BREEDING IN THE
U.S.
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- These documentes and many more are published online
by USA hemp historian extraordinaire, John E. Dvorak. His Digital Hemp
History Library is the most complete source for historical hemp
documents and data anwhere. To visit the Library click here.
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- You can also check out literary references to
Industrial Hemp from Aesop's Fables to the present: http://www.ofields.com/OFIELDS_HEMP_HISTORY.html
http://www.thehia.org/hempfacts.htm
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- Comment
- From Karma Blank
2-27-4
-
- Thank you so much for this page on the wonders of
hemp! When I was in high school and almost everyone I knew started
smoking pot, I began reading up on the subject. I wanted to know what
this mysterious plant was all about before I tried it. I was amazed by
the suppressed history I uncovered. Not only has cannabis been
smoked/eaten for millenia for spiritual & recreational purposes,
the fiber it produces has been right there all along. This truly is a
wonder plant, and I'm glad to see Rense.com spreading the word. People
need to know about this plant and the real reason it's
illegal.
Comment
From Alton
Raines
2-27-4
I really appreciate this consolidated
information which we can all take and shove in the face of all these
"hannitized" pro-drugwar idiots who live in feigned fear of the
dreaded "devil weed." This is an arsenal of powerful information about
hemp which can and should be used by every thinking person against the
idiots -- print this out, fold it up, keep it with you and when you
hear someone bemoaning our economic situation, whip it out and show
them that there IS an answer; when someone is prattling on about the
dying agriculture economy in America, shove this in their face. It's a
matter of EDUCATION. A little here, a little there. People have GOT to
overcome the propagandized fear of the hemp plant. It's not the
devil's weed, it's a magnificent gift of God, who said to man "And God
said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon
the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit
of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat (use,
consumption)." Genesis 1:29. He has given us EVERY herb and seed
bearing plant and tree. Not just some. And no government has a right a
outlaw any one of
them!
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