The Truth About Hemp - Part 1
Various parts of the plant can be utilized in the making of textiles, paper, paints, clothing, plastics, cosmetics, foods, insulation, animal feed and other products.
Hemp produces a much higher yield per acre than do common substitutes such as cotton and requires few pesticides. In addition, hemp has an average growing cycle of only 100 days and leaves the soil virtually weed-free for the next planting.
The hemp plant is currently harvested for commercial purposes in over 30 nations, including Canada, Japan and the European Union. Although it grows wild across much of America and presents no public health or safety threat, hemp is nevertheless routinely uprooted and destroyed by law enforcement. Each year, approximately 98% of all the marijuana eliminated by the DEA's "Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program" is actually hemp.
Despite America's bureaucratic moratorium on industrial hemp cultivation, a domestic industry exists and continues to grow. In the US, retailers and manufacturers annually import approximately 1.9 million pounds of hemp fiber, 450,000 pounds of hemp seeds, and 331 pounds of hempseed oil from Canada and other nations that regulate hemp farming. (Federal law permits the importation of hemp fiber, sterilized seeds, and ingestible hemp-based products containing no THC.)
Thomas Jefferson was one of the first to smuggle marijuana into America. He understood the importance of a crop of a plant then known only as hemp. He smuggled rare seeds into America so as to help provide with our freedom and eliminate our need to import hemp from England and other countries.
In 1776, the first and second draft of the Declaration of Independence were written on paper made of hemp.
In 1781, Gov. Thomas Jefferson was obliged to pay for war goods with bails of hemp.
Yet the plant remains illegal today!
