HISTORY FACTS:
*H**p has been grown for thousands of years for fiber (textiles and paper) and food. It has been effectively prohibited in the United States since the 1950s.
*George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew h**p. Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on h**p paper.
*When US sources of "Manila h**p" (not true h**p) was cut off by the Japanese in WWII, the US Army and
US Department of Agriculture promoted the "H**p for Victory" campaign to grow h**p in the US.
*Because of its importance for sails (the word "canvass" is rooted in "cannabis") and rope for ships, h**p was a required crop in the American colonies. INDUSTRY FACTS:
*Henry Ford experimented with h**p to build car bodies. He wanted to build and fuel cars from farm products.
*BMW is experimenting with h**p materials in automobiles as part of an effort to make cars more recyclable.
*Much of the bird seed sold in the US has h**p seed (it's sterilized before importation), the hulls of which contain about 25% protein.
*H**p oil once greased machines. Most paints, resins, shellacs, and varnishes used to be made out of linseed (from flax) and h**p oils.
*Rudolph Diesel designed his engine to run on h**p oil.
*Kimberly Clark (on the Fortune 500) has a mill in France which produces h**p paper preferred for bibles because it lasts a very long time and doesn't yellow.
*Construction products such as medium density fiber board, oriented strand board, and even beams, studs and posts could be made out of h**p. Because of h**p's long fibers, the products will be stronger and/or lighter than those made from wood.
*The products that can be made from h**p number over 25,000. SCIENTIFIC FACTS:
*Industrial h**p and ma*****na are both classified by taxonomists as Cannabis sativa, a species with hundreds of varieties. sativa is a member of the mulberry family. Industrial h**p is bred to maximize fiber, seed and/or oil, while ma*****na varieties seek to maximize THC (delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive ingredient in ma*****na).
*While industrial h**p and ma*****na may look somewhat alike to an untrained eye, an easily trained eye can easily distinguish the difference.
*Industrial h**p has a THC content of between 0.05 and 1%. Ma*****na has a THC content of 3% to 20%. To receive a standard psychoactive dose would require a person to power-smoke 10-12 h**p ci******es over an extremely short period of time. The large volume and high temperature of v***r, gas and smoke would be almost impossible for a person to withstand.
*If h**p does pollinate any nearby ma*****na, genetically, the result will always be lower-THC ma*****na, not higher-THC h**p. If h**p is grown outdoors, ma*****na will not be grown close by to avoid producing lower-grade ma*****na.
*H**p fibers are longer, stronger, more absorbent and more mildew-resistant than cotton.
*Fabrics made of at least one-half h**p block the sun's UV rays more effectively than other fabrics.
*Many of the varieties of h**p that were grown in North America have been lost. Seed banks weren't maintained. New genetic breeding will be necessary using both foreign and domestic "ditchweed," strains of h**p that went feral after cultivation ended. Various state national guard units often spend their weekends trying to eradicate this h**p, in the mistaken belief they are helping stop drug use.
*A 1938 Popular Mechanics described h**p as a "New Billion Dollar Crop." That's back when a billion was real money.
*H**p can be made in to a variety of fabrics, including linen quality. LEGAL FACTS:
*The US Drug Enforcement Agency classifies all C. sativa varieties as "ma*****na." While it is theoretically possible to get permission from the government to grow h**p, DEA would require that the field be secured by fence, razor wire, dogs, guards, and lights, making it cost-prohibitive.
*The US State Department must certify each year that a foreign nation is cooperating in the war on drugs. The European Union subsidizes its farmers to grow industrial h**p. Those nations are not on this list, because the State Department can tell the difference between h**p and ma*****na.
*H**p was grown commercially (with increasing governmental interference) in the United States until the 1950s. It was doomed by the Ma*****na Tax Act of 1937, which placed an extremely high tax on ma*****na and made it effectively impossible to grow industrial h**p. While Congress expressly expected the continued production of industrial h**p, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics lumped industrial h**p with ma*****na, as it's successor the US Drug Enforcement Administration, does to this day.
*Over 30 industrialized democracies do distinguish h**p from ma*****na. International treaties regarding ma*****na make an exception for industrial h**p.
*Canada now again allows the growing of h**p. ECOLOGY FACTS:
* H**p growers can not hide ma*****na plants in their fields. Ma*****na is grown widely spaced to maximize leaves. H**p is grown in tightly-spaced rows to maximize stalk and is usually harvested before it goes to seed.
*H**p can be made into fine quality paper. The long fibers in h**p allow such paper to be recycled several times more than wood-based paper.
*Because of its low lignin content, h**p can be pulped using less chemicals than with wood. Its natural brightness can obviate the need to use chlorine bleach, which means no extremely toxic dioxin being dumped into streams. A kinder and gentler chemistry using hydrogen peroxide rather than chlorine dixoide is possible with h**p fibers.
*H**p grows well in a variety of climates and soil types. It is naturally resistant to most pests, precluding the need for pesticides. It grows tightly spaced, out-competing any weeds, so herbicides are not necessary. It also leaves a weed-free field for a following crop.
*H**p can displace cotton which is usually grown with massive amounts of chemicals harmful to people and the environment. 50% of all the world's pesticides are sprayed on cotton.
*H**p can displace wood fiber and save forests for watershed, wildlife habitat, recreation and oxygen production, carbon sequestration (reduces global warming), and other values.
*H**p can yield 3-8 dry tons of fiber per acre. This is four times what an average forest can yield. HEALTH FACTS:
*If one tried to ingest enough industrial h**p to get 'a buzz', it would be the equivalent of taking 2-3 doses of a high-fiber laxative.
*At a volume level of 81%, h**p oil is the richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids (the "good" fats). It's quite high in some essential amino acids, including gamma linoleic acid (GLA), a very rare nutrient also found in mother's milk.
*While the original "gruel" was made of h**p seed meal, h**p oil and seed can be made into tasty and nutritional products.
