Hemp, the Renewable Resource of Our Nation's Future

Hemp has over 50,000 commercial uses. It is the most versatile, sustainable and valuable natural resource on Earth. Hemp can be harvested to make paper, textiles, vegetable oil for cooking, cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, lubrication, plastics, building materials, food, medicine, paint, detergent, varnish, oil, ink, fuel and the list goes on. Hemp is estimated to produce $500 billion or more in profit along with tens of thousands of new jobs (Conrad).

Hemp has been a major crop used throughout history. Until the mid-1800s hemp was the world’s largest single industry (Conrad). Hemp was used to make the earliest known woven fabric and dates between 8000 - 7000 B.C. From 1000 B.C. to 1883 A.D., hemp was the world’s largest cash crop. In James town Colony (1619), Massachusetts (1631), and Connecticut (1632) by law farmers had to grow Indian hemp. “A variety of marijuana and hashish extracts were first, second and third most prescribed medications in the United States” from 1842 to 1896 (Hemp It’s Inevitable). "The crop of hempseed last fall, estimated at about 45,000 bushels, is the largest produced in the United States since 1859. A very large proportion of it was from improved strains developed by this bureau in the hempseed selection plats at Arlington and Yarrow Farms (stated in 1917)” (USDA). The Marijuana tax act passed in 1937 (Hemp It’s Inevitable).

Hemp can not be used as a hallucinatory drug. The way hemp is grown is different from marijuana. Hemp is grown to maximize the stalks with about 300 seeds per square yard. Marijuana is grown to maximize the leaves, branches and flowers with about two to three seeds per square yard (Hemp It’s Inevitable). Hallucinatory tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) lies primarily in flower, leaves and branches of the plant. Such low levels of THC exist in hemp that getting a high from the plant is not practical.

It is true that legalizing the growth of hemp will make marijuana much more accessible. “Marijuana is the most used illegal drug in the United States. Nearly 69 million Americans over the age of 12 have tried marijuana at least once” (Marijuana Statistics). Many people fear that this will lead to excessive use of other drugs and that marijuana is extremely harmful. “There is no evidence that smoking marijuana leads to using other harder drugs” (Hemp It’s Inevitable). But is marijuana anymore harming then legal drugs? No, it is not. Look at the chart below provided by Hemp It’s Inevitable.

Annual Causes of Death in the United States

Tobacco	435,0001
Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity	365,0001
Alcohol	85,000 1
Microbial Agents	75,0001
Toxic Agents	55,0001
Motor Vehicle Crashes	26,3471
Adverse Reactions to Prescription Drugs	32,0002
Suicide	30,6223
Incidents Involving Firearms	29,0001
Homicide	20,3084
Sexual Behaviors	20,0001
All Illicit Drug Use, Direct and Indirect	17,0001,
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin	7,6006
Marijuana	0

“There has never been a recorded death due to marijuana at any time in U.S. history. All illegal drugs combined kill about 4,500 people per year, or about one percent of the
number killed by alcohol and tobacco. Tobacco kills more people each year than all of the people killed by all of the illegal drugs in the last century” (Hemp It’s Inevitable). Is there really any question of marijuana’s safety over alcohol and tobacco?

Hemp is the Earth’s leading renewable natural resource. Hemp has a short growth cycle of only 120 days (HempNation). It can be grown virtually any climate or soil condition on Earth making hemp very versatile. Hemp can be grown anywhere in the United States. Essentially hemp uses the sun more effectively then any other plant on Earth. Hemp could be easily sustained for future generations.

Hemp is considered to be very environmental friendly; helping to preserve both the forests and ozone layer. “Today 93% of the world's paper is made from trees” (Conrad). And “70% of American natural forest have been destroyed since the prohibition of hemp started in 1937” (Hemp It’s Inevitable). Hemp is ideal for making paper, therefore deforestation could be minimal or eliminated completely. “Hemp farming could reduce deforestation by 50% or more worldwide” (Conrad). Hemp is a sulfur free charcoal and when used instead of coal, it will help to diminish the effects of acid rain (Conrad). Also unlike gasoline which pollutes the air hemp just like trees takes in carbon dioxide when it is grown and would release it when it is burned creating a natural balance. Also, hemp plant leaves fall off of the plant throughout the growing season; which retains soil moisture and provides top soil. This property makes hemp self-fertilizing and the plant does not require any extra harmful chemical fertilizers to grow.

What will we do when our fossil fuels run out? Hemp can be manufactured as a fuel. When we use fossil fuels, we are depending on other countries for our source of energy. “It would only take 6% of our U.S. land to produce enough hemp, for hemp fuel, to make us energy independent from the rest of the world” (Hemp It’s Inevitable).

The only drawback to growing hemp is it will cost a substantial amount of money to infiltrate the hemp industry. There no replacements for hemp products. There are no hemp fuel stations. There are no manufacturers or factories. This will all need to be built before the hemp industry can start which will take time and money. But will it really cost much more then it does to stop the circulation of marijuana? It cost $480.24 per marijuana arrest in 1984 (A Fiscal Analysis of Marijuana Decriminalization). About seven million dollars goes towards the prohibiting marijuana annually (Time to Tell the Truth about Marijuana).

Hemp is best investment this country could make. It is sustainable. Not only can hemp be easily grown, it is also easily renewed. Hemp fuel would make our air cleaner and reduce the burning of fossil fuels. Hemp paper would significantly reduce deforestation. With over 50,000 commercial uses hemp has unlimited possible benefits. Hemp has no hallucinatory effects. And marijuana really isn’t any worse than other legal drugs. The benefits of hemp by far exceed the drawbacks of marijuana. What is holding the United States back from taking advantage of this natural resource? Personally, I don’t know one good reason.