Hemp Essay, Research Paper

Hemp

PREAMBLE

As we enter a new millennium, we find ourselves reevaluating the paths

we’ve chosen and the decisions we’ve made. Have we made the best with what

we’ve got or are we stumbling in the dark? How many gaps riddle the blanket of

our knowledge?

The problem lies in how we make sense of where we’re heading. Do we

choose the path of economics and progress or do we choose the path of

environmentalism and sustainability? Is there a median available for us to take

where the greens of economy and environment are balanced or are we doomed to

blindly continue the path of short-term gain and comfort . . . living out a

flawed paradigm?

Canada is a prime example of a country that is continually weighing its

power and influence on the natural and manmade worlds. We’ve found ourselves

sitting on the global fence between our magliomaniacal brother to the south and

our staunch traditionalist motherland to the east. From this division of powers

and alliances we find ourselves locked into a self-induced ignorance and

stifling conservatism. It’s ironic that we have the opportunity to solve most

of Canada’s critical environmental issues in one fell swoop . . . with one

simple plant. It is ignorance and the maintenance of the status quo that has

blinded and crippled our ability to realize this resource.

INTRODUCTION

A plant exists that is so strong that it can be grown without requiring

chemicals in almost every part of the world. Many have touted this plant as a

possible way in which to wean society from its dependence on fossil fuels for

energy and the need to log forests for pulp, paper and wood. It is even said

that this plant could adequately clothe and feed the world more efficiently and

cheaply than we can do now!

Why is this miracle plant not used if all evidence points to its

versatility? The answer is bogged down in a century of law, sociology, the

corporate agenda and conspiracy theories. Since the early part of the

century, hemp has been considered a drug, though it has no euphoric attributes.

Hemp: the wonder plant and possible solution to the bulk of our problems is

illegal only because it is seen as guilty by it’s association with marijuana.

Hemp is a herbaceous plant called “cannabis sativa”, which means `useful

(sativa) hemp (cannabis)’. Fiber is the best known product, and the word `hemp’

can also mean the rope or twine which is made from the plant, as well as just

the stalk of the plant which produced it.

History has proven its acceptance of hemp: both the U.S. Constitution

and the first draft of the Declaration of Independence were drafted on hemp

paper; Ben Franklin started the first American newspaper with hemp hurds, while

Thomas Jefferson said, “Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth and protection

of the country”. Canvass, a hemp product, was widely used as sails in the

early shipping industry, as it was the only cloth which would not rot on contact

with saline sea spray. Archaeological digs in China have determined that hemp

was being used as far back as 4,000 B.C. as a civilization’s answer for food and

the best fiber for clothes and ropes.

Only because we relate it to a natural drug have we justified the

banishment of a plant that’s been in almost continual use for thousands of years.

HEMP AS AN AGRICULTURAL CASH COW

Hemp is an annual herbaceous plant that can be harvested within four

months of planting after growing to heights of 5 meters (20 feet) tall. If

rotated with other crops, hemp can be grown without pesticides or herbicides,

naturally repels weed growth and, unlike most commercial grains and fibres has

very few insect enemies. Hemp requires little fertilizer, and grows well

almost everywhere, including most of Canada and even some areas of the Canadian

Shield, like North Bay and Sudbury. Hemp puts down deep roots, which is good

for stabilizing the soil from erosional forces, and when the leaves drop off

the plant, minerals and nitrogen are returned to the environment. Hemp has been

grown on the same soil for twenty years in a row without any noticeable

depletion of the quality and stability of the soil.

Using less fertilizer and agricultural chemicals is good for two reasons.

First, it costs less and requires less effort. Second, many agricultural

chemicals are dangerous and contaminate the environment — the less we have to

use, the better.

HEMP AS A PAPER ALTERNATIVE

According to the US Department of Agriculture, one acre of hemp can

produce four times more paper than one acre of trees. Trees must grow for

twenty to fifty years after planting before they can be harvested for commercial

use. This lag time between cuttings result in fewer jobs on an annual and total

basis, whereas hemp is a continual crop that can provide close to year-round

employment for farmers, workers and processors, not to mention peripheral

employment for transportation employees, distributors and the manufacturing

community.

Both the fiber (bast) and pulp (hurd) of the hemp plant can be used to

make with the process originating in ancient China. The world’s first paper is

thought to have been made from hemp. Fiber paper is thin, tough, and a bit

rough. Pulp paper is not as strong as fiber paper, but is easier to make,

softer, thicker, and preferable for most everyday purposes. The paper we use

most today is a `chemical pulp’ paper made from trees.

Hemp pulp paper can be made without chemicals from the hemp hurd. Most

hemp paper made today uses the entire hemp stalk, baste and hurd. High-strength

fiber paper can be made from the hemp baste, also without chemicals. Hemp

offers us an opportunity to make affordable and environmentally safe paper for

all of our needs, since it does not need much chemical treatment. Today’s paper

is manufactured with an excess of chemicals, and will turn yellow and fall apart

as acids eat away at the pulp. This takes several decades, but because of this

publishers, libraries and archives have to purchase specially processed acid

free paper or coating sprays to protect literature. This is a very expensive

endeavour. Paper made naturally from hemp is acid free and will last for

centuries.

It is estimated that one acre of hemp would replace an entire four

acres of forest while, at the same time, this acre would be producing textiles

and rope.

Substituting hemp for trees, especially if planted on marginal lands

that are no longer able to support food crops, would save forest and wildlife

habitats and would reduce the tree pulp pollution of lakes, rivers, and streams.

Some estimates predict that the production of every ton of hemp pulp saves

twelve mature trees from being used for the same purpose.

The prohibition of hemp has led to the unnecessary destruction of

forests in Canada and the world over, not to mention the loss of revenue from an

easily managed crop that can be grown relatively close to the urban centres

where the products will be used.

HEMP AS A SOURCE OF FUEL

To stop and reverse the greenhouse effect, world energy production must

return to using fresh biomass as the raw material for all fuel currently made

from fossil biomass. The only way to stop the CO 2 build-up in the atmosphere is

to cease burning fossil fuels. As the most efficient biomass which can be grown

in soil, hemp is a prime candidate as a source of alcohol fuel. The pulp (hurd)

of the hemp plant can be burned as is or processed into charcoal, methanol,

methane, or gasoline.

Plant “biomass” is simply dead organic material, and it’s the fuel for

the future. Cleaner than fossil fuels, it can provide gasoline, methane, and

charcoal to meet all of our home and industrial energy needs. Hemp has more

potential as a clean and renewable energy source than any crop on earth.

Burning anything produces carbon dioxide, but year after year, the hemp crop

photosynthesis would convert that carbon dioxide back into oxygen. This biomass

can be converted to fuel in the form of clean-burning alcohol. Unlike fossil

fuels, hemp does not contain sulfur, a major cause of acid rain. We could save

our oil reserves and reduce our trade deficit without offshore drilling, strip

mining, oil spills or nuclear radiation. By developing hemp, the most

productive energy crop for Canada’s climate, we can end our dependence both on

foreign oil and on nuclear power.

Is hemp used for fuel today? One acre of hemp will produce one thousands

gallons of methanol. Methanol makes a good automobile fuel and is often used

in professional automobile races. It has the potential to replace gasoline as a

regularly-used automobile fuel.

It would not be in the best interest of Canada to continue in the

direction we’re heading. The cost to clean up waste from fossil fuel production

and use with large tax breaks going to these archaic forms of energy, leaves

the taxpayer in jeopardy of bearing the cost. While Canadian politicians

continue to support these companies, global pollution worsens all in the name of

profit. As taxpayers learn more about the corporate welfare being doled out to

multinational energy companies, they will begin to demand that government

eliminate these handouts and invest in alternative fuels and crops like hemp.

HEMP AS A FOOD SOURCE

“Behold, I have given you every plant yeilding seed which is upon the

face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have

them for food”. Genesis 1: 29

Hemp provides us with a source of nutritious high protein, and essestial

fatty acids that can be used for human and animal consumption. 30% of the seed

is oil by volume, which can be used for cooking, and can be ground into flour,

or a type of peanut butter, with qualities as good as whale and jojoba oil. The

seeds are as nutritious as soya, but more digestible, gives higher yields and is

easier to harvest. In an era of ozone depletion it’s important to note that soy

crops can be damaged if they get too much ultraviolet sunlight. The chemicals

in the hemp plant helps it to resist untraviolet light.

Hemp protein can be processed and flavored in any way that soybean can.

Hemp oil can be used to make nutritious tofu, butter, cheese, salad oils, as

well as other foods. Hemp seeds are a complete source of vegetable protein, and

contains eight essential amino acids. Two thirds of the protein is in a ready to

digest form called ‘globulin edestine’. These proteins are the source of

‘immunoglobulin’ which are part of our immune system.

Hemp seed is one third oil by weight, which is low in saturated fats and

contains many oils which our bodies can’t make itself, but needs them to survive.

What these esssential fatty acids provide our immune system has been use to

help those suffering from cancer, cardiovascular disease, glandular atrophy,

gall stones, kidney degeneration, dry skin, immune deficiency, acne, menstrual

problems as well as AIDS.

HEMP AS A SOURCE OF FIBRE

The hemp plant produces some of the strongest natural fiber known to man.

Hemp fiber is ten times stronger than cotton and can be used to make all types

of clothing. Hemp has been worn as clothing for thousands of years to make all

types of textiles and fabrics for diapers, flags, bedsheets, towels, quilts,

rugs, draperies tents, linens, and of course canvas. Hemp is softer, warmer, and

more water absorbent than cotton. Natural organic hemp fiber holds its shape

like polyester, but Hemp “breathes” and is biodegradable. Hemp can be spun and

woven to be as smooth as silk, or as coarse as burlap, with designs as intricate

as lace.

THE CONCLUSION….AS MUCH AS THERE IS ONE

Hemp is the most valuable, renewable resource we have available in

Canada, producing over 25,000 different products yet it is illegal to grow.

Most of these products are currently derived from labour and cost intensive non-

renewable or unsustainable resources. A select group of research farms are

currently permitted to grow the plant, but licenses are difficult to find and

the plant can only be used for research.

Until we begin to find ways of shifting the paradigm, of convincing

government and society that hemp is the best, if not only alternative to the

flawed paths we’re blindly stumbling upn, we will be doomed to drudge on in

apathy, conservatism and ignorance….attributes noone wishes to have!

Canada should discard it’s past traditionalism and take the initiative

in re-establishing a thriving hemp industry. With Canada as an example to the

global community, an international hemp industry could flourish. We just need

to realize that only hemp can save us now.