The
United States is a country where depleting natural
resources is customary. Big business and over production
have taught Americans to be wasteful. The fact is,
most of the United States' natural forests are gone
due to logging, the farming of cotton contributes
to large amounts of pesticides in our water and air,
and we use oil and other fossil fuels as if there
were an endless supply. As a country ruled by industry,
we have to ask why we keep big businesses that destroy
our natural resources. There are other options. Hemp
is a fast growing, renewable, resource that the United
States should legalize for industrial use. America
should embrace hemp and the benefits of its use.
Hemp
can replace cotton and reduce pesticide use. It has
been recorded that hemp can easily out produce cotton
two to one. The size of a U.S. county can produce
enough fiber in one year to make one hundred million
pair of jeans (Wilt 1). Not only is growing hemp faster
but Wilt goes on to explain, "Cotton grows only in
warm climates and requires enormous amounts of water.
Hemp requires little water and grows in all 50 states"
(Wilt 1). Hemp fiber is also ten times stronger than
cotton. One article from the Hemp Industries Association
declares, "Hemp Stalk is not psychoactive. Hemp fiber
is longer, stronger, and more absorbent and more insulative
than cotton fiber" ("Hemp Facts" 1). A transition
to hemp would reduce pesticide use. Numbers show that
fifty percent of all pesticides used in the United
States are used on cotton (Wilt 1). The reduction
of cotton production would drastically reduce the
amount of pesticides in our water. Right now china
is the largest exporter of hemp fabric and the United
States is missing a great opportunity.
Hemp can serve as a new source of energy and petrochemical
replacement. It would reduce use of fossil fuels and
nuclear power. "Hemp produces more biomass than any
plant that can be grown in the U.S. This biomass can
be converted to fuel in the form of clean-burning
alcohol, or no-sulfur man made coal" (Wilt 2). "Hemp
Facts" report that: "According to the Department of
Energy, hemp as a biomass fuel producer requires the
least specialized growing and processing procedures
of all hemp products"(1). "Hemp Facts" goes on to
list a number of biomass energy products that can
be made from hemp, including fuel pellets, liquid
fuels, and gas. This development of bio fuels can
significantly reduce the use of our depleting supply
of fossil fuels. It is also estimated that if grown,
hemp could supply one hundred percent of U.S. energy
needs.
History has shown that Trees are not a necessity to
make paper. "Hemp's record goes back 10,000 years,
when paper made from it was used for Chinese documents"
(Wilke 1). Until 1883, the majority of the world's
publishing was made from hemp. In fact, the original
editions of the Gutenberg Bible, the King James Bible,
Thomas Paine's Rights of Man and Common Sense, were
printed on hemp fiber paper. The first and second
drafts of the Declaration of Independence were also
inscribed on hemp paper ("Hemp Paper…"1). History
is recorded so that it may be reflected on and learned
from. The use of hemp paper on these documents demonstrates
that tree pulp is not required to make a long lasting
paper.
Logging is destructive. Hemp can save America's dwindling
forests and the wildlife habitats that are destroyed
along with them. Hemp produces more pulp than trees
and grows faster. According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture,
one acre of hemp can produce four times more paper
than one acre of trees. Trees must grow for 20 to
50 years after planting before they can be harvested
for commercial use. Within four months after being
planted, hemp is already ready for harvesting (Wilt
1). The growth rate of hemp can force the logging
industry out of the paper business and save forests.
Hemp paper manufacturing can not only out produce
trees, but also reduces wastewater contamination.
"Hemp Facts" clarifies that, "Hemp's low lignin content
in reduces the need for acids used in pulping, and
it's creamy color lends itself to environmentally
friendly bleaching instead of harsh chlorine compounds.
Less bleaching results in less dioxin and fewer chemical
byproducts" (2). Hemp paper can be recycled more times,
has a slower rate of decomposition, and the elimination
of tree use would not only allow the wildlife population
to increase but would also eliminate erosion of top
soil due to logging.
There
is a misconception that hemp is marijuana. This is
not true. There are distinct biological differences
in the two plants that are demonstrated by their contrasting
levels of THC. One journalist, Kane, in an article
on legalizing industrial hemp, makes clear that "The
biological difference between them is demonstrated
by their respective levels of tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), the plant's psychoactive ingredient. For industrial
hemp, the generally accepted THC level is one percent
or less; for recreational marijuana, the THC level
is at least three percent" (1). The contrasting levels
of THC can be explained by genetic engineering. Hemp
seeds have been genetically developed and are incapable
of producing a "high" effect no matter how much is
smoked. In fact, marijuana can have THC levels as
high as twenty percent (Wilke 3). These numbers make
clear that no person wanting to get "high" would smoke
hemp to do so.
Due
to the similarities in the two plants, experts have
argued that marijuana can be hidden in a hemp field.
This belief is not as realistic as it sounds. The
two plants have a different physical appearance. Hemp
grows lean and tall with a flowering canopy; marijuana
has wide branches with resinous buds (Kane 1). The
growing of the two plants in the same field is proven
unrealistic by Kane, who describes, "The process by
which industrial hemp plants shed pollen means that
any nearby marijuana plant would loose quality. Theoretically,
fields of industrial hemp could be the best marijuana
eradication device ever conceived" (2). These are
facts that the general public normally does not hear
and thus the misconception is made that the production
of hemp would increase the drug problem.
George
Washington once said in a letter to his farm manager,
"Make the most you can of the Indian hemp seed. Sow
it everywhere" (qtd. in Kane 1). It is time for Americans
to take his advice. A transition from the wasteful
cotton, logging, and petrochemical industries to hemp
substitutes can drastically change the environment
and the economy that is dependant on these destructive
industries.
Works
Cited
“Environmental
and Economic Benefits of Hemp (Marijuana).”
www.berniewilt.com.
11 April 2004.
http://www.berniewilt.com/hotsites/outdoors/hempbenefits.html.
“Hemp
Facts” www.thehia.org.
Hemp Industries Association. 12 April 2004.
http://www.thehia.org/hempfacts.html.
“Hemp
Paper Available in US” Earth Island Journal
8.2 (Spring 1993):19
Academic Search Premier.
Houston Community College Library, Alief, TX. 11 April
2004.
http://0-web15.epnet.com/librus.hccs.edu.
Kane,
Mari. “The Movement to Legalize Industrial Hemp.”
Contemporary Issues Companion Series (2002): Opposing
Viewpoints.
Houston Community College Library, Alief, TX. 11 April
2004.
http://0-galenet.galegroup.com/librus.hccs.edu.
Wilke,
Anne. “Rethinking Hemp” E 7.4 (Aug. 1996):
48+ Opposing Viewpoints.
Houston Community College Library, Alief, TX. 11 April
2004.
http://0-galenet.galegroup.com/librus.hccs.edu.
