Writer Nate Berg , sourced from Ensia under the terms of Creative Commons’ Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license.
October 6, 2020 — It has become almost a cliché to discuss the benefits of hemp, the supposed wonder plant with almost endless uses — from woven fibers to edible seeds to bioplastics. “Of course, hemp is that magic crop that does everything,” says Nicholas Carter, an environmental researcher who, along with Tushar Mehta, a Toronto-based doctor, runs the website Plant Based Data. His work involves reading through scientific papers and studies and summarizing the most important work supporting plants as a source of food and other important uses. Given the hype, Carter wondered just how much power hemp really had. “I wanted to see the research out there on it, to see what’s actually real, what’s actually backed by evidence,” he says.
Magic? Not exactly. But Carter came away from his attempted debunking a hemp believer. And one of the most promising of its many uses, he found, is its application as a building material known as hempcrete.
Like its namesake concrete, hempcrete is a material mixed with a binder that hardens it into a solid in the form of blocks and panels. Made from the dried woody core of hemp stalks and a lime-based binder, hempcrete can be cast just like concrete. But unlike concrete and its binding cement, which accounts for about 8% of human-generated carbon dioxide emissions annually, hempcrete actually sequesters CO2. According to a recent study, hempcrete can sequester 307 kilograms of CO2 per cubic meter (19 pounds per cubic foot), roughly the equivalent of the annual carbon emissions of three refrigerators.
“While we’re growing it and building hempcrete, it’s sucking CO2 the whole time and encapsulating the CO2 in the structure,” says Eric McKee, founder of the U.S. Hemp Building Association.
S.R. Karade, senior principal scientist of the Central Building Research Institute in Roorkee, India, outside New Delhi, has been studying hempcrete and wrote in a recent paper for the Journal of Cleaner Production about how hempcrete performs as a building material in terms of insulation, durability, structural strength and acoustic control, among other criteria. Overall, Karade found, hempcrete meets the current standards of most building applications and in many cases outperforms materials currently used, particularly for insulation.
Hempcrete is not a direct replacement of concrete, Karade cautions. In the lab he’s been able to make hempcrete with a compressive strength of 3 megapascals (MPa). “Typical concrete blocks, used for making walls, have compressive strength values varying between 5 MPa and 20 MPa,” he wrote in an email. “Due to its poor mechanical strength, it cannot be sufficiently relied upon to undertake any structural loads. However, considering its impressive functional properties, in terms of thermal resistance and [moisture-absorbing] behavior, hemp concrete may be at the top spot in the list of walling materials in the future.”
In other words, it can’t supply the load-bearing structure of a building, but it can insulate and cover its walls.
That’s part of what makes hempcrete such a potentially transformative building material, says Steve Allin, director of the International Hemp Building Association. Not only can hempcrete itself sequester carbon, but its use can help reduce the production of more CO2. “What’s really important about this material is we can create new structures or we can update or retrofit existing structures so that they don’t need air conditioning,” Allin says.
As Karade notes, hempcrete has a high thermal capacity compared with concrete, making it good for both the structure of a wall and its insulation.
Hempcrete can also cut down on another big problem: construction waste. Concrete represents more than half of the debris generated by building construction and demolition. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than 23 million tons (more than 20 million metric tons) of concrete debris was created during construction in 2015. And while hempcrete can’t be used for structural sections of a building, it can be used to replace non-structural elements of walls that traditionally could use concrete. Hempcrete can also be used in place of common construction materials like drywall and plaster, which account for about 8% of building construction debris.
Allin says builders are beginning to see value in hempcrete. Buildings have been built or renovated with hempcrete in France, the U.K., Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy and Australia. He says the British Science Museum Group’s artifacts storage facility used hempcrete, as have public housing towers and even renovations on stone buildings hundreds of years old.
The challenge, he says, is availability. There are only about a dozen hemp processing plants that are able to process hemp into a form usable in the creation of hempcrete, and most are in Europe, according to Allin. “That’s really the logjam,” he says. “What we really need is investment in primary processing. And that investment needs to be on the longer term, rather than people expecting quick returns and thinking of it as some other standard quick buck.”
Karade notes that the other major challenge is the legality of growing hemp, which can be hard to distinguish from marijuana plants. “The commercial off-take of hemp concrete is still limited by the regulatory constraints of hemp cultivation,” Karade says.
But laws are beginning to change. In the U.S., the 2018 Farm Bill allows for the broad cultivation of “industrial hemp,” but with tight restrictions on grower licenses and the crop’s psychoactive content, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Allin hopes this will lead to more farmers producing hemp crops and entrepreneurs seeing the opportunity to build the processing plants necessary to turn that hemp into building products. He says builders are willing to use hemp in their projects, but the products have to be available, which relies on the processing, which relies on the farmers. “Once those things are in place, it will all become profitable,” Allin says. “In a way we’re talking about starting an industry from the ground up.”
by MaryJanesGirl™On June 19th this year, Canada became the 2nd country in the world to legalize cannabis for recreational use.
Regarding industrial hemp in Canada, well that’s been legalized since 1998 but you still don’t hear much about it. I thought this would be a good time to mention Canada’s hemp industry and see how it how it has done in the last 20 years, These are just the basic stats from gov site, but a starting point to learn and perhaps get inspired to make it happen here in the states or wherever you call home.
#HHW18
Hemp History Week 2018 is officially here and this a great time to Inspire hemp legalization with all the festivals and gatherings happening summer. With several states now legalizing cannabis , the Industrial Hemp discussion is now more prevalent and relevant. It is a real reality, a real option that many people have been advocating for decades and now those people with the help of the “new” advocates that are being found and created now will have a better, stronger chance of reintroducing Industrial Hemp to our farms, our industries, our lifestyle.
To help Inform you I suggest you do some light reading about hemp and it’s varied history. This book: http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/ was a groundbreaking book in it’s day and it’s author Jack Herer is still revered as the godfather of hemp. Good, easy light reading. After you get sense of what hemp is, the benefits of hemp, some of the industrial uses of the hemp plant, then take the next step and share what you learned, Involve others about it:
*tell a friend about hemp while hanging out,
*post a hemp question or fact on a forum and get the discussion going,
*write a letter congress support hemp legalization;http://capwiz.com/votehemp/issues/?style=D
*buy hemp products, like food ( hemp seeds) , clothes( yoga pants), fabric ( shower curtain)
*create art about hemp or using hemp paper, canvas, or fabric
*wear Hemp clothes, hemp shoes, hemp hat and flaunt it
*change your profile picture to support hemp legalization….
Support : www.hemphistoryweek.com
~MaryJanesGirl
by MaryJanesGirl™With #hhw15 starting this week ( June 1st) this a great time to Inspire hemp legalization with all the festivals and gatherings happening summer. With both Colorado and Washington state legalizing recreational cannabis , the Hemp discussion is now more prevalent and relevant. It is a real reality, a real option that many people have been advocating for decades and now those people with the help of the “new” advocates that are being found and created now will have a better, stronger chance of reintroducing Industrial Hemp to our farms, our industries, our lifestyle.
To help Inform you I suggest you do some light reading about hemp and it’s varied history. This book: http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/ was a groundbreaking book in it’s day and it’s author Jack Herer is still revered as the godfather of hemp. Good, easy light reading. After you get sense of what hemp is, the benefits of hemp, some of the industrial uses of the hemp plant, then take the next step and share what you learned, Involve others about it:
*tell a friend about hemp while hanging out,
*post a hemp question or fact on a forum and get the discussion going,
*write a letter congress support hemp legalization;http://capwiz.com/votehemp/issues/?style=D
*buy hemp products, like food ( hemp seeds) , clothes( yoga pants), fabric ( shower curtain)
*create art about hemp or using hemp
*wear Hemp clothes, hemp shoes, hemp hat and flaunt it
*change your profile picture to support hemp legalization….
Participate in Hemp History Week 2015! www.hemphistoryweek.com
~MaryJanesGirl
by MaryJanesGirl™This is an older film, but still has valuable information on what industrial #hemp is and it’s varied uses. A good way to #rediscoverhemp
by MaryJanesGirl™The new, revised, up to date version of the classic “Hempology 101 textbook” is available for purchase now and the 3rd edition, which is a few years old now, is available to read for free on the website below. I’m not sure how long the 3rd edition will remain there for free but I advise all hemp enthusiasts to take a little time of of your day and read the book, whether your buy the new version or read the older one.
The author, Ted Smith, is very passionate and knowledgeable about hemp and I have been fortunate enough to have listened to several of his lectures a few years back in Canada and he is truly a hemp advocate and a bookworm, a great combination for activism.
http://www.hempology.ca/textbook/index.html
by MaryJanesGirl™From its mysterious origins and importance in colonial times thru today, this controversial plant’s roots run deep in America.
This showed aired for the 1st time last night and is available to watch anytime for free online at the link below. The show will also be airing several more times this month, check out the website for the additional dates.
10 things you don’t know about hemp
by MaryJanesGirl™
Did you know that hemp seeds are one of the most nutritional and highest/most digestible protein sources that exist?
And the best part? It tastes amazing!
I know what you’re thinking. Either, come on dude, you’re just a hippy who likes to get high and eat at the same time; hemp seed just kills two birds with one stone. Or, c’mon dude, shut up and pass it.
Well hear me out happening hipster, because hemp seeds might just end up blowing your traditional diet right out of the cosmos. First, hemp seeds will not get you high. Industrial hemp itself contains extremely little THC (.05% – 1%), the compound that destroys food pantries and makes CSPAN hilarious. Most commercial hemp products, like Nutiva brand hemp seeds, contain no THC at all. As a comparison, ‘marijuana’ has a THC content of somewhere between 3% and 20% (depending on if your dealer is James Franco or your cousin’s smelly roommate). Although marijuana and hemp are both cannabis plants, they are only relatives. To say they are the same is like saying a grey hound and a shih tzu are the same dog. The bottom line is that no matter how much hemp seeds you pour down your gullet, it won’t make you high, just healthy.
And speaking of health, hemp seeds are downright full of it! Hemp seeds are one of the most nutritionally beneficial substances known to man.
Here is a list of what makes hemp seeds so great, from an article in Body Ecology:
Hemp seeds contain:
* All 20 amino acids, including the 9 essential amino acids (EAAs) our bodies cannot produce.
* A high protein percentage of the simple proteins that strengthen immunity and fend off toxins.
* Eating hemp seeds in any form could aid, if not heal, people suffering from immune deficiency diseases. This conclusion is supported by the fact that hemp seed has been used to treat nutritional deficiencies brought on by tuberculosis, a severe nutrition blocking disease that causes the body to waste away.
* Nature’s highest botanical source of essential fatty acid, with more essential fatty acid than flax or any other nut or seed oil.
* A perfect 3:1 ratio of Omega-6 Linoleic Acid and Omega-3 Linolenic Acid – for cardiovascular health and general strengthening of the immune system.
* A superior vegetarian source of protein considered easily digestible.
* A rich source of phytonutrients, the disease-protective element of plants with benefits protecting your immunity, bloodstream, tissues, cells, skin, organs and mitochondria.
* The richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids.
And guess what? It gets better!
Hemp seeds are 25% protien, second only to soy in the plant kingdom. The reason hemp is preferred over soy is because soy contains a high amount of phytic acid, an anti-nutrient that prevents your body from absorbing certain minerals. Hemp seeds contain NO phytic acid! (phytic acid is actually a really interesting compound. It has a great amount of health benefits and detriments, and is a source of controversy regarding its proper level of intake in my own mind. For more information take a look at Healthy Eating Politic’s article on Phytic Acid.)
Furthermore, hemp seeds contain vitamin E, phytosterols (cancer fighting), fiber, magnesium, iron, zinc, and potassium.
This article has even more amazing information. It states that because hemp protein is 65% globulin edistin, and also contains albumin, it is very similar to the blood plasma already coursing through our bodies. This makes it the most easily digestible source of protein that we have ever found.
Why is that so great? It means less waste and greater efficiency. You can eat less and get even more out of what you put into your system.
The article explains that:
Hemp is not unique in having all the essential amino acids in its embryonic seed. Flax seeds also contain all the essential amino acids as do many other seeds in the plant kingdom. What is unique about hemp seed protein is that 65% of it is globulin edistin. That is the highest in the plant kingdom.
Globulins are one of seven classes of simple proteins. Simple proteins are constructed from amino acids and contain no non-protein substances. Globulins are in seeds and animal blood. Edistins are found in seeds: serum globulin is in blood. Edistins are plant globulins. And globulins along with albumins are classified as globular proteins. All enzymes, antibodies, many hormones, hemoglobin and fibrogin (the body converts fibrogin into non-soluble, fibrin, a blood clotting agent) are globular proteins. They carry out the main work of living.
Albumin, globulin and fibrogin are the major types of plasma proteins. Plasma is the fluid portion of blood that supplies nutrients to tissues. And the three protein types: serum albumin, serum globulin and fibrogin, compose about 80% of plasma solids. These plasma proteins serve as a reservoir of rapidly available amino acids should any body tissues be in need.
Here’s the break down chap:
The Hemp Formula: hemp seed= healthier cells= healthier tissue= healthier body= healthier + happier YOU!
To wrap this up, I’d like to share a list of information provided by the North American Industrial Hemp Council found here. I’m not 100% positive how accurate all of this information is, but it is interesting nonetheless and worth further investigation.
I would also like to add to this list, and to your ideas for further investigation, that hemp oil has been showing a great deal of results in not only preventing many forms of cancer, but also curing it. Here are some great sites and videos to get started:
Author: Eric Fein
Sources:
by MaryJanesGirl™
Hemp paper still makes for a fine variety of art papers, which is rather appropriate when you consider that the word canvas is derived from the word cannabis. Heavyweight and durable, hemp fibers makes for a very strong, yet soft canvas. Hemp’s durability compares with the finest linen used for the same purposes, and is usually sold off white and un-primed. Acid-free processing is used to produce these paper due to the low lignin content. Hemp papers make a fine long-lasting medium for prints and posters of value.
Things such as coffee filters, oil filters, and vacuum cleaner bags, for example. Some paper uses need to be permeable and still maintain their integrity. Filter papers are made of very small filaments, about 20 micrometers long, that allow liquids to pass through and solids to be trapped. Paper filters also absorb compounds that metal screen filters cannot. They are healthier and cleaner.
Tea Bags began as hand sewn fabric sacks and evolved to become paper based. Like other filters, tea bags need to be porous and maintain integrity when wet. Tea bags are usually made from blends, including wood fibers, natural fibers like hemp and sometimes plastic polymers. Re-useable, easy to clean, self-fill cloth hemp tea bags are available.
Hemp fibers have traditionally been used to add strength to paper money, which has to hold up to frequent handling, folding, and casual movement from hand to hand. The average life of a banknote is two-three years. More countries are switching to novel polymers these days in order to better incorporate novel security features, while other nations are experimenting with hybrid paper-polymer fibers for their currency.
To read the complete article “Top 10 uses for Hemp paper” visit http://www.globalhemp.com/2014/03/top-10-uses-for-hemp-paper.html
by MaryJanesGirl™My quick, somewhat concise answer 🙂
To break the stigma associated with HEMP, it is important to understand the difference between “marijuana “, and hemp and what the word cannabis refers to.
Cannabis is the genus of the plant species. Cannabis Sativa L. to be exact.
Marijuana and Hemp are related through the same genus of plant, cannabis sativa L. They are like cousins. They are related and look somewhat similar, but behave very differently and are not the same thing.
While Hemp is a rather helpful resource in the world, due to it’s many industrial uses it lacks the stimulating, intoxicating power of the substance known as delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or for short, THC. It is this active chemical of THC that brings about most of the “high” associated with marijuana. While Hemp usually contains less than 1% of this substance (THC ), “marijuana” possesses between 4 % and 20%. Ingesting marijuana will intoxicate you. Ingesting hemp will not. You can utilize the fibers, bast hurds, & stalks of the hemp plant for a variety of fuel, fiber, & building materials. Hemp seeds can be cold pressed for their oil which is high in EFA’s and it used as a nutritional supplement. Hemp is considered to be an industrial product and nutritional supplement. Marijuana is used for it’s medicinal properties as a medicine or for it’s intoxicating properties as a drug.
by MaryJanesGirl™
With Hemp History Week 2014 being just around the corner this a great time to Inspire hemp legalization with all the festivals and gatherings happening this 4/20 and summer. With both Colorado and Washington state legalizing cannabis last year, the Hemp discussion is now more prevalent and relevant. It is a real reality, a real option that many people have been advocating for decades and now those people with the help of the “new” advocates that are being found and created now will have a better, stronger chance of reintroducing Industrial Hemp to our farms, our industries, our lifestyle.
To help Inform you I suggest you do some light reading about hemp and it’s varied history. This book: http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/ was a groundbreaking book in it’s day and it’s author Jack Herer is still revered as the godfather of hemp. Good, easy light reading. After you get sense of what hemp is, the benefits of hemp, some of the industrial uses of the hemp plant, then take the next step and share what you learned, Involve others about it:
*tell a friend about hemp while hanging out,
*post a hemp question or fact on a forum and get the discussion going,
*write a letter congress support hemp legalization;http://capwiz.com/votehemp/issues/?style=D
*buy hemp products, like food ( hemp seeds) , clothes( yoga pants), fabric ( shower curtain)
*create art about hemp or using hemp
*wear Hemp clothes, hemp shoes, hemp hat and flaunt it 😉
*change your profile picture to support hemp legalization….
Support : www.hemphistoryweek.com
~MaryJanesGirl
by MaryJanesGirl™
This is the book that started the cannabis hemp revolution. Jack wanted this information to be available to everyone, so he published the text of the book on the internet for free. Though Jack Herer passed on from this life in 2010, his words, research, and influence continue to positively affect the hemp movement.
For centuries, industrial hemp (plant species Cannabis Sativa) has been a source of fiber and
oilseed used worldwide to produce a variety of industrial and consumer products. Currently, more
than 30 nations grow industrial hemp as an agricultural commodity, which is sold on the world
market. In the United States, however, production is strictly controlled under existing drug
enforcement laws. There is no known commercial domestic production and the U.S. market
depends on imports.
Industrial hemp is a variety of Cannabis sativa and is of the same plant species as marijuana.
However, hemp is genetically different and distinguished by its use and chemical makeup. Hemp
has long been cultivated for non-drug use in the production of industrial and other goods. Some
estimate that the global market for hemp consists of more than 25,000 products. It can be grown
as a fiber, seed, or other dual-purpose crop. Hemp fibers are used in a wide range of products,
including fabrics and textiles, yarns and raw or processed spun fibers, paper, carpeting, home
furnishings, construction and insulation materials, auto parts, and composites. The interior stalk
(hurd) is used in various applications such as animal bedding, raw material inputs, low-quality
papers, and composites. Hemp seed and oilcake are used in a range of foods and beverages, and
can be an alternative food protein source. Oil from the crushed hemp seed is an ingredient in a
range of body-care products and also nutritional supplements. Hemp seed is also used for
industrial oils, cosmetics and personal care, and pharmaceuticals, among other composites.
Precise data are not available on the size of the U.S. market for hemp-based products. Current
industry estimates report that U.S. retail sales of all hemp-based products may be nearly $500
million per year. Because there is no commercial industrial hemp production in the United States,
the U.S. market is largely dependent on imports, both as finished hemp-containing products and
as ingredients for use in further processing. Under the current U.S. drug policy, all cannabis
varieties, including hemp, are considered Schedule I controlled substances under the Controlled
Substances Act (CSA, 21 U.S.C. §§801 et seq.; Title 21 CFR Part 1308.11). As such, while there
are legitimate industrial uses, these are controlled and regulated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA). Strictly speaking, the CSA does not make growing hemp illegal; rather, it
places strict controls on its production and enforces standards governing the security conditions
under which the crop must be grown, making it illegal to grow without a DEA permit. Currently,
cannabis varieties may be legitimately grown for research purposes only. Among the concerns
over changing current policies is how to allow for hemp production without undermining the
agency’s drug enforcement efforts and regulation of the production and distribution of marijuana.
In the early 1990s a sustained resurgence of interest in allowing commercial cultivation of
industrial hemp began in the United States. Several states have conducted economic or market
studies, and have initiated or passed legislation to expand state-level resources and production.
Several states have legalized the cultivation and research of industrial hemp, including Colorado,
Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, Washington,
and West Virginia. However, because federal law still prohibits cultivation, a grower still must get
permission from the DEA in order to grow hemp, or face the possibility of federal charges or
property confiscation, despite having a state-issued permit.
The 113thCongress considered certain changes to U.S. policies regarding industrial hemp during
the 2013 farm bill debate. The House-passed version of the farm bill (H.R. 2642, Section 6605)
would allow certain research institutions to grow industrial hemp, if allowed under state laws
where the institution is located. Similar provisions were not included in the Senate-passed farm
bill (S. 947). Other introduced legislation, such as the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013 (H.R.
525; S. 359), could allow for possible commercial cultivation of industrial hemp in the United
States. Those bills would amend the CSA to specify that the term “marijuana” does not include
industrial hemp, which the bill would define based on its content of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), marijuana’s primary psychoactive chemical. Such a change could remove low-THC hemp
from being covered by the CSA as a controlled substance and subject to DEA regulation.
Source and further reading: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32725.pdf
by MaryJanesGirl™It’s the final day of the official Hemp History Week 2013 and a good reminder that whether you use words, images, music or performance pieces, there are many ways to involve yourself in being an active activist for the causes you believe in. It may take just a few moments or a few weeks…it can be simple or complex, small or huge, all efforts add up, what matters is that you attempt to affect change.
~mjg
by MaryJanesGirl™
June 3-9, 2013 is the 4th annual Hemp History Week. Now in its forth year, Hemp History Week (www.hemphistoryweek.com) is the largest national, grassroots marketing and public education effort to renew strong support for hemp farming in the U.S. and raise awareness about the benefits of hemp products. Hemp History Week is an opportunity to have our voices heard in support of bringing hemp back to U.S. farms.
Hemp is a traditional American crop, grown by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Despite the fact that industrial hemp has no drug value, misguided federal policy criminalized the cultivation of industrial hemp in the U.S.. This outdated policy has created a missed opportunity for American farmers and consumers alike.
U.S. consumers are demanding U.S. grown hemp. Today, millions of consumers know hemp as a healthful source of plant-based protein and Omega 3s and 6s. They are purchasing hemp clothing, using hemp paper, and may even live in an energy efficient home being built with hemp. The Hemp market is rapidly growing where SPINS marketing data from 2012, showed up $156 million in retail sales of hemp-based foods, nutritional supplements, and body care products. The Hemp Industries Association has reviewed sales of clothing, auto parts, building materials and various other products, and it estimates the total retail value of hemp products sold in the U.S. in 2012 to be over $500 million.
Hemp is an untapped opportunity for American farmers and this is a crop that pays. Industrial hemp has been grown in Canada since 1999. Today, Canadian hemp farmers net an average $200-$400 per acre for hemp grown just north of the U.S. border. Hemp farming supports not just farms, but secondary businesses such as processing and manufacturing, creating jobs and building the health of local economies.
During Hemp History Week, our U.S. Senators need to hear from us on behalf of industrial hemp. The campaign is leading a drive to collect 100 letters to Senators in each of the 50 states in support of industrial hemp farming legislation. Write a letter at http://www.hemphistoryweek.com/takeaction
There are many compelling reasons for lawmakers to support industrial hemp. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) explains: “There are several successful businesses in my state who are manufacturing healthy and sustainable products made from hemp. Currently these companies are forced to import their raw materials from Canada and other countries. Changing federal policy to allow American farmers the right to grow hemp right here at home will help these companies thrive, while creating new economic opportunities in Oregon and across the country.”
Support for hemp is building. Hemp History Week is a diverse campaign that includes farmers; prominent natural foods and products sponsors; grassroots organizers; college students; restaurants; and as many as 800+ participating retail stores, including most Whole Foods Market locations in the U.S. By hosting events, educating communities, offering promotions, and spreading the word, together these groups are expanding the base of support for industrial hemp. Farmers play a key roll in this conversation. There are many ways that you can support this campaign. To learn more and find out how you can get involved visit http://hemphistoryweek.com/getinvolved.php and check out the Hemp History Week Farmer Toolkit for helpful resources on hemp farming. http://hemphistoryweek.com/eventkit.php
by MaryJanesGirl™Hemp History Week is next month (May) and now is a good time to start brainstorming and solidify how you want to contribute to HHW 2013. Taking a picture and adding your words ( or someone else’s, just remember to give credit ) to spread the message and get people talking may be one of the easiest ways to be an activist online.
Right now images speak volumes. Make it count!
by MaryJanesGirl™http://www.hempstersthemovie.com/master.html
by MaryJanesGirl™
An explosion at a nuclear reactor on April 26th, 1986 in Chernobyl, Ukraine created the world’s worst nuclear disaster – so far.
The blast heavily contaminated agricultural lands in a 30 km radius around the reactor. The few people still living there must monitor their food and water for radiation. However the combination of a new technology (phytoremediation) and an old crop (industrial hemp) may offer the Ukraine a way to decontaminate it’s radioactive soil.
In 1998, Consolidated Growers and Processors (CGP), PHYTOTECH, and the Ukraine’s Institute of Bast Crops began what may be one of the most important projects in history – the planting of industrial hemp for the removal of contaminants in the soil near Chernobyl.
CGP is an ecologically-minded multinational corporation which finances the growing and processing of sustainable industrial crops such as flax, kenaf, and industrial hemp. CGP operates in North America, Europe and the Ukraine.
PHYTOTECH (see webpage: www.phytotech.com ) specializes in phytoremediation, the general term for using phyto (plants) to remediate (clean up) polluted sites. Phytoremediation can be used to remove radioactive elements from soil and water at former weapons producing facilaties. It can also be used to clean up metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and toxins leaching from landfills.
Plants break down or degrade organic pollutants and stabilize metal contaminants by acting as filters or traps. PHYTOTECH is conducting feild trials to improve the phytoextraction of lead, uranium, cesium-137, and strontium-90 from soils and also from water.
Founded in 1931, the Institute of Bast Crops is now the leading research institution in the Ukraine working on seed-breeding, seed-growing, cultivating, harvesting and processing hemp and flax.
The Bast Institute has a genetic bank including 400 varieties of hemp from various regions of the world.
“Hemp is proving to be one of the best phyto-remediative plants we have been able to find,” said Slavik Dushenkov, a research scienst with PHYTOTECH. Test results have been promising and CGP, PHYOTECH and the Bast Institute plan full scale trials in the Chernobyl region in the spring of 1999.
Industrial hemp is not a drug. Unlike its cousin marijuana, industrial hemp has only trace amounts of THC – the chemical that produces the high. In 1973, the Department of the Interior and Department of Health and Agriculture of the former USSR issued an ultimatim to the Institute of Bast Crops – either create non-psycoactive varities of hemp or stop cultivating hemp. So, scientists at the institute created an industrial hemp plant containing only minute traces of THC. Modern testing in Canada confirmed the low THC content of the Bast Institute’s hemp.
New technologies in hemp harvesting and processing are also being developed at the Institute whose library contains more than 55,000 volumes mainly on hemp-growing and flax-growing.
Chernobyl may seem distant, but the EPA estimates that there are more than 30,000 sites requiring hazardous waste treatment throughout the U.S. including Hanford and Three Mile Island.
Phytoremediation with industrial hemp could be used at many of these sites. Unfortunantly, the U.S. government refuses to legalize the cultivation of industrial hemp and clings to the obsolete myth that it is a drug.
source: http://www.hemp.net/news/9901/06/hemp_eats_chernobyl_waste.html
© Central Oregon Green Pages
by Elaine Charkowski
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, news clippings are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
by MaryJanesGirl™By Richard A. Adams
Abstract
An examination and evaluation of the hemp industry in the United States of America with particular emphasis on current issues involved in the agricultural production of hemp both domestically and internationally. Discussion of the economic benefits of a re-evaluation of the legal issues, in particular those laws which necessitate importation versus domestic production of raw hemp for production purposes. A brief examination of the history of the hemp industry and hemp agriculture in the United States of America provides a background against which the current legal and economic status of hemp may be viewed. Discussion of various hemp products, the suitability of the product to American agricultural and production capabilities, and the potential of the market provide an economic understanding of the question.
Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the economic benefits/drawbacks which would result from changes in the current legal status of hemp production in the United States of America. Through an examination of current status of hemp production and marketing structures in the United States and a comparison of those structures in other nations, an economic understanding of the issue will be more easily achieved. Because of the very substantial profit potential involved in this industry a study of the subject was deemed beneficial to pursue.
Methods used in obtaining information relevant to the study.
Information was obtained primarily from three sources:
The situation was addressed from an analytical, versus participatory, perspective.
Benefits accruing from the solutions presented.
Benefits to the hemp industry would include increased market shares on an international basis, substantially higher profit margins, reduced production costs, the potential to benefit from increased economies of scale, increased product development potential, andthe opening of new markets for current and newly developed products.
Benefits to the National economy would include the creation of a new and highlyprofitable agricultural industry, increased trade opportunities, an increase in the GNP, improved environmental conditions, new tax resources, and reduced costs with respect enforcement of current laws.
Personal benefits would include the ability to add additional, profitable, product lines to those currently carried by my firm, personal economic savings resulting from reduced costs of goods resulting from such changes, and the social benefits inherent in use of more environmentally beneficial products.
A brief history of legal hemp in America
In contrast to modern laws which prohibit the agricultural production of hemp and severely regulate the importation and production of raw hemp and hemp products, early colonists not only were free to cultivate the plant, they were required by law to do so. Puritans, for example, grew hemp to meet the conditions of their 1607 contract with the Virginia Company.(Robinson, 1996)
Throughout the colonization and political unification of what is now the United States of America, hemp production played a key role in international trade and in the development of a significant agricultural industry within the emerging nation. So important was the product, in fact, that any list of prominent Americans of the era who were involved in the hemp industry tends to resemble a list of American political figures. Among the many well known individuals whose writings clearly demonstrate their personal involvement with this industry are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Quincy Adams. Economically, the industry was so vital to the prosperity of the colonies that the Massachusetts House of Representatives commissioned a study of the subject in 1765, in which the author, Edmund Quincy, clearly stated:
It is presumed none will be at a loss to determine, that the two most important materials which the inhabitants of these colonies should be principally encouraged in the growth of, are Flax and Hemp of any which can be so easily and generally produced in North America. (Quincy, 1765)
Indeed, so common was the use of Hemp during the era that the first two drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the final version of the Constitution of the United States of America were, in fact, printed on paper made from hemp.
Throughout the nineteenth century, hemp continued to excel as a domestic agricultural crop and the uses for the product, ranging from paper making to the production of sails, rope, medicines and clothing continued to be expanded by visionary entrepreneurs who were able to recognize new potential markets and capitalize on their development. In times of war, particularly, hemp was of critical importance to the nation, a trend that held true well into the twentieth century. During the Second World War, in order to promote production of this vital material, the government inaugurated programs which exempted American farmers from military duty if they agreed to produce hemp products in support of the war effort. (Frazier, 1991) As the industrial revolution took hold in the nation, new means of production which incorporated hemp products as integral parts of the processes were introduced. Even Henry Ford, one of automations greatest innovators, Aenvisioned a future where plastics from hemp polymers were the building blocks of almost all products and where fuel was provided by hemp biomass. (Robinson, 1996, p. 139) Ford even went so far as to develop an all organic car which was constructed from a combination of hemp and other products and which ran on hemp fuel. (Henry Ford Museum Information Center, Greenfield Village) In 1938, Mechanical Engineering magazine called hemp Athe most profitable and desirable crop that can be grownin an article that, due to production delays, was published shortly after the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 which rendered the production of hemp illegal.
Under current U.S. law, the agricultural production of hemp is forbidden, except under special permit, by Federal statute. Internationally, hemp is grown commercially in most European and Asian countries. Australia, Canada, and Germany have granted limited research plots. The U.S. has not granted any large-scale licenses since the 1950’s. (Industrial Hemp Information Network, 1996) As a result of these restrictions, all industrial production of hemp products in the United States of America requires the importation of raw materials, resulting in higher production costs and decreased competitiveness in both domestic and international markets.
Economic implications of agricultural hemp production in the United States of America
To understand the economic implications of hemp production we must examine both the basic principles of agricultural economics and the nature of hemp agriculture itself.
While agriculture, in general, adheres to the basic economic principles applicable to any industry, there are several unique and very relevant characteristics which must be considered in any examination of agricultural production. These may be divided into discrete areas, which include:
1. Regional Specialization.
Due to climatic and geographical concerns, agricultural production is commonly divided into distinct areas of specialization, within each of which unique mixes of products are produced. Unlike many forms of production, in which such concerns as labor availability or materials costs are the primary factors upon which location is based, in the agricultural market weather and soil conditions provide the primary determinants. By necessity, therefore, all things being equal, those products which are adaptable to the widest range of climatic and geographical conditions provide the greatest potential for agricultural production.
Within the continental United States ten distinct farm production regions have been defined for statistical purposes. They are, respectively, the Pacific region, the Mountain region, the Northern Plains, the Southern Plains, the Lake States, the Corn Belt, The Delta States, the Northeast, the Appalachian region, and the Southeast. While considerable overlap exists, the differences between these regions are significant enough to define the product mixes which may be produced efficiently within each as being distinctly different from the product mixes appropriate to any other region. Cotton, a major competitor of hemp products, is, for example, produced primarily in the three southern farm regions while, due to poor climatic conditions range livestock production, among the least efficient of all forms of agricultural production due to excessive requirements for land and feed, is the primary agricultural product of the Mountain region. (Wilcox, Cochrane, & Herdt, 1974)
Hemp, unlike nearly all other common agriculturally valuable products, is unique in its ability to thrive in an extremely wide range of climates and geographical conditions. As a result of this property, it can profitably be grown in all ten regions. In addition to its heartiness with respect to climate, it is a particularly efficient plant with respect to nutrient requirements, and therefore, is as effectively grown in relatively poor soil conditions as it is in the nutrient rich soils of the farm belt. This characteristic makes the plant ideally suited to agricultural production in regions where most cash crops either require extensive (and expensive) fertilization and irrigation, or cannot be grown efficiently at all. Combined with the particularly low labor costs inherent in the agricultural production of hemp, a very high yield per acre planted, and the lack of any significant requirement for costly (and environmentally damaging) insect or weed eradication measures, this results in extremely low production costs and, therefore, an average cost curve significantly lower than that for comparable products. Thus, hemp production may, given a ready market for its output and a sufficiently high demand (both of which already exist or may easily be developed as will be demonstrated later in this paper), be considered to have a remarkably attractive profit potential for investors. Indeed, even the most cursory examination of the relatively high profits currently enjoyed by such agriculturalists in nations which permit the commercial production of hemp clearly demonstrates the potential income available to the American farm industry, one reason the American Farm Bureau Federation, the largest farming organization in the United States (4.6 Million members) passed a unanimous resolution at its 77th annual convention in 1996 stating:
2. Enterprise Combination.
Modern farmers plan their production to include the most profitable mix of products in a Acropping sequence@ or crop rotation. (Wilcox et al, 1974) The result is a mix of crop and livestock enterprises which is determined by the principle of equal marginal returns. Hemp, due to its exceptionally low fertilizer and irrigation needs, high nutrient return (with up to 70% of all nutrients absorbed by the plant returned to the soil), and its short-day growing cycle, is an ideal rotational alternative for use with short season high-demand crops. (Hemp, 1994) Thus, it offers modern farmers the opportunity to make optimum use of available resources with the lowest possible average cost figures, given the nature of the secondary crop (which often can utilize, at least in part, the nutrient and soil enrichment properties of the hemp crop in lieu of expensive and ecologically damaging fertilizers) and, therefore, provides a far more attractive cost curve than is the case for other agricultural products. In addition, because many of the byproducts of hemp production are appropriate for use as livestock feed, the range of efficient product mixes is even greater than is the case with many other product choices.
3. The Farm Market System.
As a close approximation of a perfectly competitive market organization, agricultural firms have above average needs for efficient and cost effective means of production. In addition, due to the nature of a competitive market, the opportunity to compete on the basis of product differentiation is essentially non-existent, and the sole criteria for successful production becomes the ability to produce goods profitably given the fact that the product demand curve for agricultural products is perfectly price elastic (from the standpoint of the individual firm, of course, from the industry perspective, the curve is highly inelastic). Thus the selection of a product mix which maximizes the potential for profit under as wide a range of conditions as possible is a necessity for any firm which wishes to remain competitive. Moreover, due to the nature of the farm market itself, which is based in large part on speculative investment in future production (the commodities market) as well as the wide range of uses for its outputs, which in the case of hemp include such diverse applications as the production of paper, use as a fuel, food production, clothing production, and industrial applications, crop selections which maximize not only production possibilities but market possibilities as well increase the likelihood of profit while minimizing the impact of any potential substitution effect as a result of the lowering of the price of other agricultural products. Indeed, given the exceptionally wide range of products which incorporate hemp into their production, the likelihood that a substitute product will adversely affect product pricing is exceptionally low, a positive inducement to farmers to produce the crop.
4. Environmental Concerns.
Due to the very low requirements for artificial fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides in the production of hemp, the crop produces substantially fewer external diseconomies than is the case for nearly any other domestic agricultural product. Not only does this provide a direct benefit in terms of reducing the environmental impact of crop production, a significant problem, given modern agricultural methods, but the nature of the products produced from the raw hemp themselves offer similar benefits, with the concurrent reduction in environmental costs inevitable in such a transition. Paper produced from hemp fiber, for example, requires far less chemical processing than is the case for the wood pulp based form, despite its comparable cost of production. Studies done at the Wageningen Agricultural University, in fact, demonstrate that waste from the hemp pulping process does not contain toxic elements (as are common to wood pulping processes), and that all components are biodegradable with the exception of a very small percentage of the lignin, which is expected to be resolved by further research as well. (Van Roekel, 1995) In addition, because hemp produces substantially greater biomass per acre of cultivation than is true of trees, and requires a far shorter growth cycle to produce yield, the impact of a conversion to hemp production for such products as paper, building materials, and other products commonly associated with the lumber industry would result in the reduction of many of the negative effects of the timber industry on the environment, including preservation of forests and wildlife habitats, erosion of topsoil due to logging, and pollution of lakes, rivers, and streams, all of which costs represent diseconomies with respect to the wood industry. (Environmental and economic benefits, 1996)
5. Social Control of Land Use.
As a remarkably high yield crop, hemp produces significantly more usable product per acre than is the case for any other modern agricultural product. The result of this high yield is to maximize the use of land resources while minimizing the impact on society resulting from the dedication of such land to agricultural uses. Indeed, an area of land only 25 miles square (the size of a typical U.S. County) is sufficient to produce enough hemp fiber in one year to manufacturer 100 million pair of denim jeans, thus providing an equivalent yield to an area ten times the size planted in cotton, and offering the additional benefit of producing clothing which is 10 times stronger than cotton and that, in contrast to cotton which requires exceptionally high applications of pesticides and enormous quantities of water, requires no pesticides and only minimal quantities of water as well. Moreover, by being amenable to production in all 50 states, versus the 10 states in which cotton can be reliably produced, hemp offers the additional advantage to clothing manufacturers of being relatively immune to price variations due to climatic variations or natural disasters, thus permitting more accurate long run cost stability for such producers.
In addition to these social benefits, because hemp products include such socially valuable items as non-fossil (and non-polluting) fuels, highly nutritious high-protein oils which exceed the nutritional and industrial values of soybean oils with a lower cost associated with their extraction, and because hemp production in the United States of America could significantly influence the balance of trade in a positive direction, as well as providing a source of additional export revenues (rather than an additional cost of production associated with import costs, as is currently the case in the United States of America), the social costs of hemp production are exceptionally favorable, and thus social control of land resources clearly favors the production of hemp as a viable alternative to less efficient uses.
6. Governmental Policies and Agricultural Supports.
Current government policies prohibit the production of industrial hemp (defined as hemp plants containing less than 0.03% THC and thus non-intoxicating substances) and no current policy exists with respect to the production and marketing of such products. Based on European models, however, it can be successfully argued that hemp production would, due to the nature of the market, be highly unlikely to require any form of government subsidies in order to be profitable or competitive in the farm market. Indeed, it is very possible that the legalization of hemp production in the United States of America would actually reduce the cost of agricultural supports by the government in that it would offer a highly attractive alternative crop to agricultural interests which currently rely on subsidized or price supported products as their primary crops.
7. Seasonality and Natural Hazards in Agricultural Production.
All forms of agricultural production are subject to seasonality and natural hazards. Seasonality, or the tendency of agricultural prices to follow a seasonal pattern (normally at a low point at or soon after harvest and a high point just prior to harvest), results in a cyclic variation which, by necessity, influences both marginal revenues and, as a result, profits. While such a pattern is integral to the production of any crop, in the case of single-season, limited region products (such as avocados or oranges) it is far more influential than in the case of crops which grow well in a wider range of climates, or which are adaptable to multi-season, multi-harvest production. Hemp, because it meets both these criteria, and because its crop yield is not as time immediate (i.e., it is less perishable than is the case of many other agricultural products) tends to be far less influenced by such variations and, therefore, offers the potential for more stable and accurate revenue forecasting, with the resultant increases in benefits to the producer.
In a similar manner, all crops are subject to natural hazards such as droughts, floods, late (or early) frosts, or similar disadvantageous conditions. Hemp, however, by nature of its botanical characteristics, is far more immune to such influences than is true of most other agricultural crops grown in the United States of America. Two of the most notable characteristics of hemp, from a production standpoint, are its relative immunity to frost damage and its inherent ability to thrive in widely varying conditions with respect to water. Coupled with the ability to grow hemp in essentially all parts of the United States, thus avoiding dangers of localization with respect to natural disasters, hemp may be considered an ideal crop from this aspect as well. From an agricultural perspective, few, if any, products combine the economic benefits of hemp with the ease of production inherent in the crop.
Industrial and Commercial uses for hemp and hemp products.
The hemp plant lends itself to a very wide range of production possibilities, and thus is particularly appealing to the agricultural firm seeking new markets. Some of the products which may be, and are being, profitably produced from hemp include: Animal bedding, auto/boat covers, backpacks, bags (both paper and canvas), balms, bandages, baseball caps, baskets, bed linens, belts, bioplastics, birdseed, books, boots, bread, butter, candlewick, candy, canvas, cardboard, carpeting, caulking, cellophane, cement, chairs, cheese, cloth and paper napkins, cloth and paper towels, coffee filters, compost, cosmetics, curtains, cushions, denim, desks, detergents, diapers, dolls, draperies, duffel bags, dynamite, erosion control, fabrics, fire hoses, fiberboard, fishnets, flags, floor mats, flooring, flour, fuels, furniture, futons, gloves, glues, hammocks, harnesses, hats, ice cream, inks, industrial coatings, industrial oils, insulation, jackets, jeans, linen, livestock feed, lubricants, luggage, magazines, medicines, moisturizers, mulches, natural pesticides, nets, newsprint, note pads, oil-spill absorbents, packaging, paints, paneling, pants, parachutes, particle board, pasta, pet foods, pharmaceuticals, pillows, plaster, plywood, polymers, protein, purses, quilts, roofing materials, rope, sails, salad oils, salves, sandals, scarves, shampoos, shirts, shoes, skirts, slippers, soaps, socks, sofas, stationary, tablecloths, tables, tea, tents, thread, tissue paper, toilet paper, twine, varnishes, wallets, and wallpaper. (Environmental and economic benefits, 1996, Frazier, 1991, Industrial Hemp Informational Booklet, 1996)
With respect to production, one researcher summed up the position of industrial hemp in the agricultural marketplace quite definitively when it was stated that: ANo tree or plant species on earth has the commercial, economic, and environmental potential of hemp. Over 30,000 known products can be produced from hemp.@ (Environmental and economic benefits, 1996)
World wide production of hemp and hemp products.
Despite major legal obstacles to industrial hemp production in many nations, and complete prohibition in the United States of America, hemp still produces substantial sales internationally. According to Canadian Government figures, world production of hemp in 1992 equaled 124,000 tonnes, comparing favorably to other vegetable fiber crops (none of which suffer the legal limitations of industrial hemp) such as sisal (383,000 tonnes) and flax (610,000) tonnes. (Hemp, 1994) While it is obviously impossible to predict with any degree of accuracy the market share that would ultimately be occupied by industrial hemp were legal limitations on its production removed, some indication of the potential of this agricultural product may be discovered by a comparison to cotton production (a crop for which hemp serves as a direct substitute) which in 1992 was 18,064,000 tonnes. (Hemp, 1994) Given the far greater production potential of industrial hemp with respect to other fiber crops, and given the increased agricultural regions in which it can be profitably grown, there is no reason to doubt that once established as a viable world wide competitor for cotton and wood products (among other uses) it would equal or even exceed this volume. Indeed, in Canada where hemp production is still limited in scope, and thus the overall production possibilities are not, as yet, fully realized, the gross revenue generated by chopped hemp stalk is $750 per hectare, comparable to Ontario corn. (Hemp, 1994) Once hemp production has been expanded and thus made more amenable to modern technological methods (as has been projected by Canadian agricultural experts), it is reasonable to expect this figure to become even higher.
Conclusions
Clearly industrial hemp can be shown to be a viable product of enormous economic benefit to the United States agricultural market. Even the most cursory examination of its economic and social benefits easily demonstrates the necessity to follow the recommendations of the American Farm Bureau Federation with respect to researching the introduction of this crop into the American agricultural market. Not only would such an introduction benefit the agricultural industry itself, but due to its extensive economic, environmental, and social values as discussed earlier in this paper, it would provide substantial benefits to the nation itself. By reducing dependence on imported products, it would provide impetus to manufacturers to develop new product lines (or revise their production approaches to old product lines) incorporating the use of industrial hemp, thus simultaneously enhancing domestic production and improving the balance of trade as those products were produced for export, rather than being imported as is currently the case. In addition, by providing a more dependable, heartier, and less seasonally affected crop for agricultural interests it would reduce dependence on government farm subsidies and price supports, thus enhancing the economic structure of U.S. agriculture even further.
A number of steps must be taken if such a change is to occur, given the current status of industrial hemp in the United States of America. First, and most important, research needs to be conducted to demonstrate the applicability of hemp cultivation to modern American farming techniques. Next, legislators and other government officials need to be provided education concerning the nature of industrial hemp which demonstrates the non-drug nature of the plant, and thus provides justification for the elimination of overly broad legislation concerning its cultivation. Finally, an intensive effort aimed at developing a new market within the United States, as well as abroad, for the products resulting from agricultural production of industrial hemp would need to be undertaken in order to insure a solid, and profitable, market for the product once farms began to produce it in volume.
Clearly, such change is inevitable. Given that hemp production on a world wide basis has steadily increased over the past several years, and each year an increasing number of nations are experimenting with, or actually legalizing, the production of industrial hemp (one of which, Canada, is a major competitor to United States agricultural interests, particularly in border states where shipping costs are relatively similar to those borne by United States producers), by necessity the United States of America will ultimately have to give in to international pressure and legalize the production of this valuable product. Hopefully, such a change in policy will occur before other nations become so firmly entrenched in the market that they will present a significant barrier to international trade for American agricultural and manufacturing interests.
References
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Environmental and economic benefits of hemp. (1996). [On-line]. Available: http://htmpnet.com/tornado.htm
Frazier, J. (1991) The great American hemp industry. Peterstown, WV: Solar Age Press.
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Robinson, R. (1996). The great book of hemp. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.
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There aren’t many things upon which long-haired radical Ben Masel, state Department of Agriculture official Erwin “Bud” Sholts, agronomy researcher Pat LeMahieu and corporate head George Tyson can be expected to agree. Among them: kicking puppies is mean, Drano should not be taken internally, and hemp – commonly known as marijuana – could become a major cash crop for Wisconsin.
According to these and other participants in a, ahem, budding scientific discussion, the hemp plant could be cultivated not just for such traditional uses as rope and fabric, but also as a readily renewable resource for making paper, construction materials, high protein food, and safe, clean fuel.
Masel, director of the Wisconsin Chapter of NORML, (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), in 1990 spoke in more than 50 US cities on the potential uses of the pot plant. Scientific American last December published an item on the nascent “grass-roots” movement in support of hemp; Masel was just interviewed by the Wall Street Journal for an upcoming article on the same.
A primary organizer of Madison’s annual “marijuana harvest” festival, the oft jailed Masel says his goal is “to relegalize this useful plant for its paper, fiber, fuel, food, medical and recreational value.”
Sholts, director of the state ag department’s development and diversification program, affirms part of Masel’s message: that hemp grows well in Wisconsin, even on soil not good for much else.
“My father raised it on his farm,” Sholts recalls of the time during WWII when farmers were encouraged to grow hemp for the war effort. (Masel, citing old US Department of Agriculture reports, says Wisconsin was once the nations leading producer of hemp, in some years accounting for more than half the nation’s total crop.)
Because hemp grows quickly and has a high per-acre yield, Sholts says “It’s a very, very prime product for biomass” -organic material that can be converted to fuel. Hemp is also seen by “people with expertise” as preferable to kenaf, (aka ambry) a warm weather fibrous plant, for making paper and other products.
But alas, Sholts points out, hemp has one big problem: With its current properties its illegal.”
LeMahieu, director of operations for Agrecol, the Agricultural research division of Madison-based W. T. Rogers Co., has a solution in mind: the development of a strain of hemp that is “socially acceptable.” In other words, hemp that has been genetically engineered to remove the alkaloids that get people high.
“It’s feasible,” insists LeMahieu, formerly a leading agricultural researcher at the UW-Madison. “Any trait can be bred out of a plant with recombinant DNA.” Engineering a strain of hemp with the desired traits for mass cultivation will require “massive amounts” of money and commitment, says LeMahieu, who thinks Wisconsin- which has “the top plant-genetics research groups in the nation, maybe in the world” – is ideally suited for the task.
“It truly is an amazing plant” says LeMahieu of hemp. “If you look at all the possible products that could be made from the hemp plant, it makes you wonder why we haven’t pursued this.”
Tyson, chairman of the board of Xylan Inc., a biomass research firm in the University Research park, takes the point beyond wonder to rage. “We have the technology now to convert biomass into the fuel we’re fighting for in the Persian Gulf,” he says, asserting that the United States could eliminate its dependence on foreign oil simply by growing high-biomass crops like hemp on the acreage it now pays farmers to keep fallow.
“It just seems silly to be paying farmers $26 billion a year not to produce something that would replace something that we are importing at the cost of over $100 billion a year.
“This,” Tyson asserts, “is a national disgrace.”
GRASS ROOTS
Throughout most of U.S. -and indeed human- history, hemp has been domestically cultivated for a variety of uses, including textiles, rope, and paper. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp on their farms; the rigging and sails of the U.S. Constitution were all made from hemp (some 60 tons worth; Betsy Ross used hemp cloth to make the first U.S. flag; hemp canvas (the word “canvass” comes from cannabis, Latin for hemp) covered the pioneers’ wagons and prairie schooners; Abraham Lincoln used a hemp-oil lamp to study law.
Hemp was also used to make fine linen and underwear. Masel has a friend in Hungary [actually Germany] who still uses his family’s hemp tablecloth – made in 1820. According to Jack Herer’s pro-hemp manifesto, The Emperor Wears No New Clothes, the word “towel” comes from its original material-hemp tow, a silk-like textile professedly four times as absorbent as cotton.
There is little historical record of people smoking hemp grown for rope or fabric. Masel, who testified as a marijuana expert in a 1988 court case, says plants used for such purposes would be harvest before flowering, and thus be more likely to cause headaches than highs, Still, some hemp grown for seed was smoked for its psychoactive and medicinal properties-a use no one seemed too bothered by until the plant became a threat to U.S. petrochemical companies.
As outlined in Herer’s history of hemp, super-efficient fiber- stripping machines invented in the in the 1930s promised to do for hemp what the cotton gin did for cotton, Corporations like Du Pont and industrialists like William Randolph Hearst feared hemp would compete with their pulpwood paper and synthetic products.
The Hearst chain of newspapers declared hemp and other drugs Public Enemy No.1. Hemp, renamed “marihuana,.” was blamed for crime and car accidents and linked to black jazz musicians and Mexican revolutionaries. “Marihuana makes fiends of boys in 30 days,” screamed the headlines of one Hearst story, which claimed that hemp “goads users to blood lust.”
Du Pont, which had just patented a new process for making pulpwood paper and was at work on a petroleum-based synthetic it later named nylon, behaved similarly. Banker Andrew Mellon, Du Pont’s chief financial backer and President Herbert Hoover’s Secretary of the Treasury, tapped his nephew-to-be, Harry Anslinger, to head the newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Anslinger, backed by the Hearst papers, crusaded for pot prohibition. (Among his favorite slogans, “If the hideous monster Frankenstein came face to face with the monster marihuana, he would drop dead of fright.”) Such efforts resulted in the “Marihuana Tax Act of 1937”-the apparent death knell of legal hemp.
As it happened, however, the government was unable to keep a good weed down. Hemp was still needed for a variety of uses, especially naval ones (hemp being the only natural fiber that can withstand saltwater for long). When World War II began and Japan blocked U.S. imports of Indian hemp, the government called on the nation’s “patriotic farmers” to resume growing the monster marihuana.
A 1942 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) film entitled “Hemp for Victory” evoked hemp’s historical usefulness (“For the sailor, no less than the hangman hemp was indispensable,”), noting that the plant – “now little known outside of Kentucky and Wisconsin” was sorely needed for war items ranging from tow lines to the webbing of parachutes.
“In 1942, 14,00 acres of fiber hemp were harvested in the United States,” the narrator proclaimed amid strains of patriotic music. “The goal for 1943 is 300,000 acres. “The film also touted hemp’s agronomical virtues: “A dense and shady crop, hemp tends to choke out weeds. Here’s a Canada Thistle that couldn’t stand the competition, dead as a dodo. Thus hemp leaves the ground in good condition for the following crop.”
When Asian markets reopened after the war, domestic hemp production again came to a halt. Well, sort of: State agriculture official Sholts notes that, as a result of its erstwhile cultivation, hemp still grows wild over much of Wisconsin – including on his father’s farm, 11 miles south of Madison.
Observes Sholts, “It’s a very prolific plant.”
At this point, no one knows just how prolific or useful hemp may be-because, unlike such crops as corn, hemp has not benefited from modern agricultural techniques, including plant genetics.
Although Agrecol (the company’s name, like its mission, blends agriculture and ecology) has had impressive results test-planting kenaf, division head LeMahieu says hemp has higher-quality fiber, more potential uses, the ability to withstand cold better, and possibly higher yields: “If it weren’t for the alkaloids [psychoactive ingredients] in hemp, we wouldn’t even be talking about kenaf.”
Masel, who last September garnered 11,230 votes in a pro-hemp Primary challenge to Gov. Tommy Thompson, is especially fired up about the potential as a renewable source of paper and other products traditionally made from wood. One advantage of hemp over trees, says Masel, is that it contains significantly less lignin, a natural adhesive whose content must be lowered in the papermaking process.
Roger Faulkner, a UW research specialist who works at the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Products Lab in Madison, adds that annual growth plants including hemp generate four to five times as much biomass yearly as trees. The disadvantage is that trees can be cut and stored until needed, but annuals not immediately processed or properly warehoused will degenerate. A “polymer scientist,” Faulkner is part of a team of Forest Products Lab researchers studying the feasibility of using high-fiber plants to make “structural components.” Within the last year, the group has made high-density construction boards using both kenaf and hemp-the latter from “ditch weed” (low-grade wild marijuana) that Tyson brought in. By blending plant fibers and polymers – compounds of high molecular weight – Faulkner thinks the same techniques can be used to make hemp and kenaf auto-body parts. (Hemp is already being used in some wallboard made in Germany.)
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that hemp’s one of the best fiber crops there is,” says Faulkner, “Certainly, it’s the best-adapted plant for Wisconsin.”
Faulkner further laments that both the Forest Service and private industry seem more interested in timber than annual-growth plants – although the USDA is funding a mill in Texas that will make paper from kenaf. Cultivating fiber on farms, he argues, is ecologically preferable to growing “monocultural” forests for pulp. What’s more, it would allow fallow farmland to be put to use without adding to surpluses of existing crops.
Another potentially useful hemp product is seed, which can account for 50% of the weight of plants grown for this purpose. Hemp seed, Says Masel, is about 16% protein and contains eight amino acids, compared with just four in soybeans. Masel has made cake from imported hemp seeds (legal if sterilized to make them “incapable of germination”) and envisions their use as a high-protein food or animal feed. (In China, hemp-cake was used to feed animals for centuries.)
Hemp-seed oil, at least 35% of seed content by weight, can be used as a lubricant (as it was in World War II fighter-plane engines), a cooking and salad oil, or even as a diesel fuel. Gatewood Galbraith, a Democrat running for governor of Kentucky on a pro-pot platform, last fall campaigned with singer Willie Nelson from Lexington to Louisville in a diesel Mercedes powered with 25% hemp-seed oil. The engine, says Masel, would have run on straight hemp-seed, but Galbraith didn’t have a big enough supply.
Masel, who sells $35 dollar hemp T-shirts and $10.00 hemp product sampler kits through an outfit called Wisconsin Hemp Products Inc. (P.O. Box 3481, Madison 53704), also thinks the hemp plant’s “Styrofoam-like stalk” could be used as an insulator, or to make biodegradable fast-food clamshells. Can Masel see the day when McDonald’s sells hamburgers in containers made from hemp? “I can see the day when they will be paying me royalties on the patent.”
HARVESTING THE SUN
Perhaps the most exciting us of hemp is as biomass fuel. Through process called pyrolysis-the application of intense heat in the absence of air-hemp and other organic material can be efficiently converted to charcoal, oil, gas, or methanol.
Hemp is a favored crop for biomass-organic material-because it grows very rapidly in a variety of climates. Indeed hemp has been called “the world’s champion photosynthesizer,” capable of converting energy from the sun more readily than any other plant.
Biomass boosters further claim that pyrolytic fuels would be good for the environment. Pyrolysis charcoal, said to have the same heating value as coal, is virtually sulfur-free, unlike coal or other fossil fuels, a key cause of acid rain. What’s more, hemp and other high-growth plants produce beneficial oxygen when grown- and take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere equal to the amount they release when burned. Thus, hemp hounds assert, if biomass replaces fossil fuels, the amount of acid rain and smog will be reduced and the trend toward global warming – the so-called greenhouse effect – will have a chance to reverse.
“We’re fighting in the Middle East for the right to pollute ourselves,” hemp guru Herer told Al Giordano of Massachusetts’ Valley Advocate newspaper. “We have a plant that can win a war. We have a plant here that can save the planet.”
James Converse, chairman of the Department of Agricultural Engineering at the UW-Madison, says university researchers hav done some work converting biomass material – corn, primarily – to ethanol. But he thinks the day when it makes sense to talk about biomass fuels replacing fossil fuels is a long way off: “Biomass will hold possibilities only when the price of fuel or the availability of fuel becomes such that you can make a profit with [biomass.]
Tyson, whose company develops and licenses rights to emerging biomass technologies, disagrees. “These people [the UW scientists] are ten years behind. They don’t know the current state of the art,” he says. “We are much closer than that.”
Still, Tyson stresses the need for “a national policy” to develop the technology and build the refineries to convert biomass to fuel. “Bring the troops home and put them to work to build this infrastructure,” he urges. “That will scare the daylights out of that part of the world. When [oil exporting countries] see we don’t need them anymore, oil prices will come down. More importantly, we will not have to go to war for this reason anymore.”
“Let’s harvest the sun through the process of photosynthesis,” continues Tyson in a tone reminiscent of the narrator in Hemp for Victory. “Let’s harvest solar energy into clean, safe fuels.”
OBSTACLES
The revival of hemp and the development of other promising non food uses for fallow cropland will be discussed at an April 5 conference in Middleton organized by Sholts and other state agricultural officials. Gov. Thompson, outgoing federal Small Business Administration head Susan Engeleiter, and representatives of agribusiness will attend the all-day affair, which is open to the public for a $20 fee.
Tyson, who is now focusing on “demonstration projects” to prove the viability of biomass technology, hopes Wisconsin can get the ball rolling by genetically engineering a strain of hemp that lacks psychoactive properties. “It can be done,” he says unreservedly. “We can make anything we want to now.”
Agronomist LeMahieu agrees, saying the goal should be to create “a whole new plant” that lacks alkaloids and doesn’t look like ordinary marijuana – ostensibly to foil folks who might wish, as Masel puts it, to “sneak a few” smokeable specimens alongside those grown for fiber or biomass.
But LeMahieu frets about the legal roadblocks to any use of hemp. “State laws would have to change, federal laws would have to change, and we have international agreements that prohibit it.,” he says.
Jim Haney, assistant to state Attorney General James Doyle, notes that the state Controlled Substances Board can issue permits allowing possession of otherwise illegal drugs “for purposes of scientific research, instructional activities, chemical analysis, or other special uses.” However, rejoins Masel, the wholesale cultivation of hemp would still be illegal under state and federal laws-which define marijuana in terms of plant parts, not alkaloid content.
Ultimately the psychological obstacles to renewed hemp production may prove more formidable than legal ones. UW researcher Faulkner is uneasy even discussing the plant’s potential, sensing “widespread opposition to and repression of the whole idea that hemp may have other uses.”
Masel is more optimistic. “I think [domestic revival of hemp] could happen surprisingly quickly,” he says. Whenever one state moves the others are going to follow, rather than see that state make all the money.”
Does Wisconsin, which in 1990 seized and eradicated 849,324 domestic marijuana plants, 97% of which were wild plants no self respecting marijuana smoker would want, have the gumption to become that first state? Put it another way: Is making billions of dollars while helping save the environment and achieve domestic energy independence a strong enough incentive for officials like Thompson to let a long-haired radical like Ben Masel say “I told you so”?
by MaryJanesGirl™I came across this during my research on hemp and it’s affects on topsoil, and I must say that I am very impressed, grateful and inspired by the time and detail put into it, on top of the fact that it is offered as a free read. This is the kind of activism that moves me and reminds me of why I do what I do.
Thank you to the authors and contributers!
by MaryJanesGirl™