Why educate about HEMP? Read more by Jon-Lee Campbell I was very happy when I heard the news that Legislative Bill 1001, passed 39-2, allowing the University of Nebraska and State Department of Agriculture to grow industrial hemp for research purposes. I truly believe this is a step in the right direction for our state. Hemp could save our planet. One acre of hemp can produce as much paper as 4.1 acres of trees, and it doesn’t take years for it to grow back. Hemp paper can be recycled up to eight times, while the current pulp wood fiber can only be recycled three times. The materials we can create from hemp are almost unending. From hemp, we can make clothing, rope, plastic, fuel, paper, ‘hempcrete’ (a stronger, lighter, and more environmentally friendly version of concrete) and much more. There were times in our country’s history that farmers were actually required to grow hemp. In the 1940s, Henry Ford built an entire car from hemp. He said his hemp plastic was 10 times stronger than steel and it ran off of hemp fuel. Hemp fuel burns cleaner than oil-based fuel and is cheaper to produce. Ford said, “Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the hemp fields?” Today, I ask myself that same question. It makes no sense to me. A lot of people are worried that legalizing hemp growth is the same as legalizing marijuana. This is not true. People cannot “get high” from hemp. In fact, one can’t even grow hemp near marijuana or both crops are damaged. Hemp can be grown almost everywhere in North America. According to hemphasis.net, “From 1892-1916, America used an average of 11,000 tons a year of hemp fiber, evenly divided between imports at 5,555 tons/year, and domestic production at 5,549 tons/year. This is 4 percent of the average of 254,462 tons of other imported hemps.” Our Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper; the first American Flag was made out of hemp. Our forefathers thought highly of the hemp seed. “Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere,“ said our first President George Washington. “Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth and protection of the country,“ said founding father Thomas Jefferson. I strongly urge everyone to look into the history of hemp and why it became illegal to grow in the first place. You may be surprised by what you find. As for me, I plan to continue educating people about the benefits of this miracle plant in hope of keeping our mother earth healthy for future generations.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 11:18:07 +0000
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