Nikolas Kozloff
Though Obama has frequently spoken of the need for more "green jobs," he has failed to acknowledge the inherent environmental advantages associated with a curious plant called hemp. One of the earliest domesticated crops, hemp is incredibly versatile and can be utilized for everything from food, clothing, rope, paper and plastic to even car parts. In an era of high unemployment, hemp could provide welcome relief to the states and help to spur the transition from antiquated and polluting manufacturing jobs to the new green economy. What is more, in lieu of our warming world and climate change, the need for environmentally sustainable industries like hemp has never been greater. Given all of these benefits, why have Obama and the political establishment chosen to remain silent?
The explanation has to do with retrograde and backward beliefs which have been hindering environmental progress for a generation. A biological cousin of marijuana, hemp contains minute amounts of THC or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive chemical. Even though advocates say one would have to smoke huge amounts of hemp to get high, the plant occupies a highly dubious legal status in the U.S. During the 1970s, Congress declared hemp a "Schedule I" drug under the Controlled Substances Act, ridiculously lopping the plant in the same category as heroin. Though the authorities allow farmers to petition the federal government to grow hemp, the Drug Enforcement Administration or D.E.A. has proven incredibly resistant to such licenses and for all intents and purposes the crop has remained illegal (ironically enough, however, the U.S. imports many hemp-related products from abroad).
Tide Beginning to Turn
On the other hand, tectonic political and cultural change may provide some reason for optimism. Last fall, Washington state and Colorado legalized marijuana which has in turn exerted pressure on the Obama Administration. As I discuss in a recent article, surprisingly diverse social constituencies supported the ballot initiatives, which suggests that the political tides may be turning (in Latin America, too, public sentiment seems to have soured on Washington's unpopular drug war).
In moving to legalize marijuana, Colorado also passed hemp legalization though the D.E.A. must still grant permission to farm the crop. Colorado joins a growing number of states which are moving on hemp legislation, though such measures are hardly uniform. Some states have authorized the study of industrial hemp as an industry, while others have simply asked the Feds to relax draconian drug laws. Some, however, have legalized hemp production just like Colorado.
This in turn raises the question of whether the Obama Administration might actually conduct raids on local farms in an effort to crack down on the crop. Perhaps, such a scenario will never come to pass since change has even come to Capitol Hill: recently, a bipartisan group ranging from liberal Democrat to right-wing Republican reintroduced legislation which would require the federal government to respect state laws allowing for the cultivation of hemp.
Creating New Green Jobs in the American Heartland?
Could hemp help to bring back sorely needed employment in the American heartland? That is the hope in Kentucky, which had a booming hemp industry as recently as World War II. Somewhat outlandishly, Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell no less has remarked "the utilization of hemp to produce everything from clothing to paper is real, and if there is a capacity to center a new domestic industry in Kentucky that will create jobs in these difficult economic times, that sounds like a good thing to me."
In Colorado meanwhile, hemp boosters are hoping that the once taboo crop could help the local economy. Indeed, hemp production might provide the state with new jobs and tax revenue. Colorado farmers believe that their state could lead the way in this new, innovative field and some even hope to turn their crop into edible oil. Trendy food markets in Boulder are already carrying a number of products made out of hemp ranging from soaps to lotions and even protein powders. Perhaps, Colorado farmers will one day turn out "Hemp Hearts," a new product made out of the partially shelled seed of the plant. Boosters say Hemp Hearts, which don't have an overly assertive taste, can be spread over cereal or yogurt.
Not to be outdone, manufacturers in Oregon hope that hemp will help to revive flagging industry. Oregon has been hard hit by the economic downturn, and hemp boosters say the crop could assist in the production of everything from bio-plastics to sustainable construction materials to bio-fuels. Some envision a scenario in which hemp farmers sell their crop to bio-fuel refineries and budding green-building entrepreneurs. Just across the border in California, meanwhile, farmers hope that hemp fiber may help to spur the growth of a budding textile industry.
From New Vehicles to Masonry to Textiles and Petrochemicals
If such claims regarding hemp's transformative properties were not enough, advocates also envision nothing less than the end of the petrochemical industry as we know it. From shoes to sofas to cars and even planes, many of the common materials that we use today are derived from petrochemicals. Hemp on the other hand is a versatile fiber and could be employed in everything from the construction of tractor hoods to shields to cabs.
At one time, none other than Henry Ford produced a car whose frame was partially made of hemp and whose engine could be powered with hemp fuel. Some manufacturers claim that vehicles made out of hemp are lighter and as a result display greater fuel efficiency. In addition, agricultural fibers can be cheaper to produce than fiberglass. What is more, scientists are conducting research on how to derive biodegradable plastic products from hemp. Already, such research has borne fruit as auto companies introduce hemp into major manufacturing.
Perhaps most interestingly, hemp can also be made into most any building material including roofing, flooring, paint and even bricks. Hemp plaster is known for its high insulation qualities and can reduce the need for heating in winter and air conditioning in summer. Curiously, by simply adding water and lime to hemp one winds up with efficient and lightweight "hempcrete" which can help to construct houses. Experts say that hemp masonry exhibits exceptional fire resistant qualities and is easily recycled.
Advocates also believe that hemp can help to bring about a revolution in the textile industry. In the not-too-distant future, "eco-textiles" could become a popular buzzword as hemp replaces environmentally wasteful cotton production. Entrepreneurs say that hemp necessitates far less water to grow than cotton. Additionally, hemp rarely requires pesticides to grow and scientists are developing an innovative technique designed to turn tough hemp fiber into yarn. Early independent tests indicate that the process yields clothes which are durable and comparable to cotton in both softness and brightness.
Interestingly enough, by shifting to large-scale hemp production the U.S. might not only spur the growth of new industries but also help to clean up contaminated landfill. Recently, the Colorado State legislature passed a bill to study hemp's potential to bring about so-called "phyto-remediation," a process by which plants actually filter and clean polluted soil. If Colorado plants hemp on contaminated sites, the state would follow in the steps of Ukraine, which planted industrial hemp near Chernobyl in the late 1990s in an effort to remove harmful contaminants from the ill-fated nuclear site.
Bio-Fuels and Climate Change
As if all these potential benefits were not enough, advocates hope that hemp could also be used to create a new bio-fuel. To be sure, the planet needs to shift away from fossil fuels which exacerbate climate change, though in practice some bio-fuels fail to measure up. As I argue in my last book, No Rain in the Amazon: How South America's Climate Change Affects the Entire Planet, corn-based ethanol based in the American Midwest does not put much of a dent in our global warming problem. Though Brazil's program of sugar cane ethanol is somewhat better than corn from an environmental standpoint, the crop still eats up land and leads to deforestation in sensitive bio-diverse areas such as the cerrado. Moreover, sugar cane requires fertilizer and deprives poor peasant farmers of land which could otherwise be used to grow food.
So, how does hemp stack up when compared to corn or sugar cane? Writing in Salon, Steven Wishnia remarks that hemp oil for bio-fuel "is unlikely to be practical." At 50 gallons per acre, he explains, "even if every acre of U.S. cropland were used for hemp, it would supply current U.S. demand for oil for less than three weeks." Nevertheless, hemp biomass can be converted into many diverse fuels such as methane, methanol and gasoline. Moreover, planting hemp arguably represents a more efficient use of land and resources than corn or sugarcane. That is so because hemp can be used for fuel but also for food and, according to AlterNet, its seeds contain "roughly four times the cellulose biomass potential of corn." Best of all, hemp grows very fast and leaves the soil in good shape.
In addition to bio-fuel, could hemp also lead to other benefits --- like helping restore the earth's climate equilibrium? The short answer seems to be, yes. As hemp grows, it "sequesters" or captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Hemp is able to sequester such large amounts of carbon because it grows very tall --- between 9 and 12 feet to be exact --- within a very short span of time. Furthermore, when hemp is manufactured into masonry this acts as a carbon sink: the carbon is literally locked into the building material.
A Silver Bullet?
With so many benefits, hemp advocates believe that the plant may represent a silver bullet when it comes to solving the earth's many environmental problems. Take for example widespread deforestation which has exacerbated climate change. Though deforestation is linked to many diverse and complex causes, the timber industry has no doubt played a nefarious role. Hemp and marijuana boosters --- which often overlap --- claim that hemp might offer a way out of our deforestation dilemma. Hemp has a higher cellulose level than wood, advocates argue, and therefore the plant could be used for paper to avoid cutting down trees.
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol argues that hemp paper manufacturing may reduce waste-water contamination and the plant's low lignin content reduces the need for acids utilized in the process of pulping. Hemp can be used for every quality of paper, though it would most likely be mixed with recycled paper. Moreover, advocates say that high quality hemp paper can be recycled more times than wood-based paper. "Hemp produces more pulp per acre than timber on a sustainable basis," the group states. Not everyone, however, agrees with such rosy prognostications. According to the Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal, hemp is nowhere near as environmentally-friendly as eucalyptus and researchers say that hemp is an "annual" plant that needs to be grown from scratch year in and year out.
Whatever the case, hemp's overall environmental potential should not be underestimated. In an era of ever worsening global warming and job scarcity, this unlikely plant may represent an ecological and social boon to wider society. If the Obama Administration is serious about job creation and the next wave of green employment, it would do well to investigate hemp more seriously. To be sure, the humble crop still carries a social stigma, though such outmoded attitudes seem to be changing. Indeed, if recent political and cultural change associated with marijuana legalization is any indication, hemp production may be coming to America sooner rather than later.
Nikolas Kozloff is the author of No Rain in the Amazon: How South America's Climate Affects the Entire Planet. Follow on Twitter here.
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![The hemp plant was one of humankind's first cultivated plants and there is quite a lot to educate oneself about this greatly historical plant. With the help of the hemp plant we, as a society could eliminate smog from current fuels, create a cleaner energy source that can replace nuclear power, remove radioactive waste from the soil, and eliminate smog from our skies in more industrialized areas.
The hemp plant could assist in eliminating non-biodegradable plastics and cars by reintroducing Henry Ford's 100 year old dream of building cars made from hemp with a plastic hemp car body that can withstand a blow 10 times as great as steel without denting, weighs 1 thousand pounds less than steel, hence improving gas mileage, can run on a vegetable oil based all natural hemp fuel, and has a completely biodegradable body. Nationwide hemp production could eliminate deforestation by converting current paper to hemp paper which can be recycled up to 8 times where as our current wood pulp is only recyclable up to 3 times, and we could thrive from eating hemp seeds and feeding it to our animals and livestock.
Industrial hemp can make our future roads, highways and freeways from hemp based concrete, which lasts for centuries. Society can benefit from the hemp plant's attributes such as oxygen production, hemp's dense root structure, and hemp's nutrient and nitrogen production back into the soil. Chemicals in cannabis can be used in medicines and are estimated to treat around 250 diseases and illnesses, from which studies have shown inhibits the growth of cancer cells in rats, as well as a long list of other ailments. Finally, we could make an estimated 50,000 products ranging from building composites, cellophane, dynamite to shampoo, textiles, twine and yarn. If the US grew industrial hemp it could stop wars, save the environment, boost our economy, improve general health and well being, virtually end our reliance on any foreign entity, and save humankind from itself. But wait, wait, wait. I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning.
Studies have shown that hemp's biomass can be converted into energy and could replace nuclear power and our current fossil fuels.[Belle, Mika] Just by farming 6 percent of the US's acreage this could be achieved. "Hemp grown in biomass could fuel a trillion-dollar-per-year industry, while at the same time create more jobs, clean our air, and distribute wealth to our communities and away from centralized power monopolies." Hemp's biomass can be converted into gasoline, methanol, and methane at a fraction of the current cost of oil, coal, or nuclear energy.
An article from Montana State University states, “When burned in a diesel engine, bio-diesel replaces the exhaust odor of petroleum diesel with a smell something akin to french-fries. Bio-diesel is 11 percent oxygen by weight and contains no sulfur, so instead of creating sulfur-based smog and acid rain as by-products, it produces 11 percent oxygen instead. Bio-diesel can be made from domestically produced, renewable oilseed crops such as hemp.”
The hemp grown through government farming and regulation is called “industrialized hemp” and contains no more than 0.03 percent THC content, which is not a high enough percentage for drug use. Canada, China, and England are examples of countries who have never prohibited, but instead have responsibly grown, produced, and thrived off of industrialized hemp [Hemp].
Imagine being able to dump our nuclear waste somewhere that wouldn't have any adverse effects on the surrounding environment.
The hemp plant can help with that as well. A nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Russia had a meltdown April 1986 and experiments have shown that the hemp plant can help remove the toxicity in the soil. “There is an estimated 30,000 sites in the United States are estimated to be needing hazardous waste treatment” and the hemp plant is the answer to this terrible environmental issue.[The McGraw Hill Companies].
Henry Ford had a dream of “cars made from the soil” and created the first bio-fueled car and also, a car made from hemp. The body of the car was made out of veggie-plastics made from flax, wheat, hemp, and spruce pulp.[Davis, Richard M] As an experiment, Ford struck the door with an ax in the dead of winter and it didn't leave a dent. The material was “ten times” stronger than steel and yet one-third the weight, hence saving on gas mileage. “Popular Mechanics Magazine, Vol. 76, No. 6, December,1941. Title: Auto Body Made of Plastics Resists Denting Under Hard Blows.“[Carver, George Washington] Henry Ford's dream was saving American lives, human lives. The car was completely bio-degradable and so with that Henry Ford achieved his dream of “a car made from the soil.”[Malmo-Levine, David] Fords cars were in my definition: the poor person's car. A car you could sustain on your own, distilling your own alcohol, or hemp and creating your own fuel in your own backyard while saving your family thousands of dollars per year. Hemp oil was even used, as grease to lubricate parts within the car's engine. [Malmo-Levine, David]
Ford's dream materialized before me, as I learned how he made a car grown from the soil, a car made out of and run off of hemp, and a plastic that is scientifically documented to be ten times stronger than steel and one thousand pounds less in weight. If this were our implemented into current day driving would be like bumper cars and getting into a crash might no longer be such an intensive insurance matter. If all the cars on the road were made with hemp the injuries and deaths would become considerably less. Industrial Hemp must again become our main crop producer and be used in the making of every single car produced in America. The hemp plant could saves millions of American lives. “Car accidents involving other moving vehicles accounted for the large majority of accident deaths in California in 2004 with 1,336 deaths due to collisions with other vehicles. This accounts for about 35% of all fatal car wrecks throughout the state. Telephone poles, palm trees, street signs and other stationary objects accounted for another 1,072 auto accident deaths in 2004.” [Resource 4 Accidents]
Despite Industrial Hemp having 50,000 uses, Dupont, Rockefeller, Hearst, Mellon and their constituents cornered the industrial and medicinal market with political propaganda. Dupont created Nylon, owned General Motors and was “one of the top ten U.S. based petroleum and natural gas producers and refiners.”[DuPont] Rockefeller owned Standard Oil and was soon known as the “richest man in modern history.”[Rockefeller] But lets not get off topic, so big business and capitalistic politics thrived and outlawed the hemp plant that had sustained the United States of America, since the days of our founding fathers and all for someone else's selfish monopolistic goals.[Malmo-Levine, David] Henry Ford achieved his dream, but he was denied any true public recognition and any further industrial hemp progression. Every citizen of America was denied Henry Ford's hemp dream of a car made from the soil.
In 100 BC, hemp paper was invented in China using hemp and mulberry. Since 100 AD, when the Romans wrote a guide to farming hemp it has since been farmed all over the known world. From the Germans, Franks, Vikings, Chinese (who have never prohibited the use of hemp all-throughout history), English, Canadians, Egyptians, and even Americans all grew, produced, and thrived off of hemp. In 1150 AD, Muslims created the first paper mill and for the next 700 years hemp paper was what most civilizations wrote upon.[Schaffer, C.] Civilizations around the world and for example; during the Napaleonic Era, ship’s sails, ropes, and sailor’s clothing were made from hemp.
Hemp paper can be recycled up to eight times while the current pulp wood fiber can only be recycled three times. By farming hemp throughout the United States and even the world it could assist in reducing deforestation by 50 percent, or more.[Hemphasis] George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were two examples of historical spokespersons for growing hemp and in 1619 the Virginia Company made hemp cultivation mandatory, which increased commerce with England and helped the American economy thrive. Our Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper and our first American Flag was made out of hemp. [Schaffer, C.] These historical economical and industrial concepts and examples can easily be applied to present day.
“Hemp seeds contain beneficial omega fatty acids and amino acids, more than any other source.” The seeds can be used in a number of food dishes in baking, prepared as tea, any type of food like ice cream, and milk. Cultures all over the world have consumed hemp seeds in times of famine to prevent starvation which has saved millions of lives.[Saunders, Clare] The nutritional facts astounding, for example; hemp seeds contains 20 percent complete and highly digest-able protein.[Earth Friendly Network] Canadian Hemp seed exports surged 300 percent a few years back and China, and other eastern countries have to this day never prohibited hemps cultivation and use it extensively. [Hemp]
“Only 1 acre of hemp is said to produce more oxygen than 25 acres of current forest.” [Bryon, Alan D.] Theoretically, if our cities had greenhouses on top of all the office buildings, like in Los Angeles, filled with hemp then the massive output of oxygen would be a massive intake of carbon dioxide. This in turn should make our cities skies once again blue, healthy and smog free. Methane is one of the main producers of green house gases and one of the many major causes for dramatic global climate change. [Hopwood, Nick, and Jordan Cohen] Therefore, our farmers can grow hemp in our cow pastures, so the hemp plants can have first hand absorption of methane gases via cow farts, and burps. The cows can also eat directly from the hemp plants around them, which would eliminate the need to use hormones and steroids, due to hemp's nutritional facts.[Earth Friendly Network]
Hemp has a superior connection with the earth compared to other plants. When you plant hemp in an area that is infested with Canadian Thwack Grass, or Canadian Thistle Grass, the hemp plant's dense root structure will smother out these invasive weeds and make that land again arable.[West, D.P.] Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Congress back when the colonies were first founded that requested that the government grow hemp instead of tobacco.[Hemp] Tobacco drains all nitrogen and nutrients from the soil, which leaves the land less arable, or harder to farm upon. Hemp restores nutrients and nitrogen back into the soil. [Davis, Richard M.] Another attribute is that hemp is drought and disease resistance, which gives hemp the added advantage of being able to be grown in even the most dry to wet climates and has little-to-no need for pesticides, because the hemp plant is highly resistant to plant diseases, illnesses, and pests. Hemp's dense root structure helps prevent mudslides, erosion, and natural catastrophes. The hemp plant is one of the only plants that can be harvested year-around in states like California, or Florida for example, due to the harsh climates in those regions.[Davis, Richard M.]
In France there are bridges centuries old made out of a mixture of hemp and lime. This process is called Iso'Chanvre and is another great example of possible industrial innovations regarding the hemp plant.[Rawganique] Society could build roads and bridges that wouldn't require continuous repairs and wouldn’t require endless tax payer dollars each year. Clothes, pottery, shoes, jewelry, shampoos, pies and so much more can be made from hemp and no part of the plant would go unused. From hemp’s roots, stems, leaves, and even what might be considered waste from the hemp plant can be produced into any of the estimated 50,000 products.
Our current education doesn't teach us that Columbus sailed across the Atlantic with the rope on his ships, the caulking and rigging, and yes the sails, all were made from hemp.[Schaffer, C.] There was also no mention in our history books of the endless crates of hemp seeds Columbus and the other ships brought with them. Not only did they survive by eating the hemp seeds, but they planted the seeds in America and overtime, hemp now creates an estimated 50,000 products.[Carver, George Washington] The hemp plant's most common product is it's fiber, especially the bast fibers which are extremely strong and durable.
Hemp can also be used in building composite material such as beams, studs, fire resistant building materials, fiberboard and even such things as paint, varnish, ink and carpet. There seems to be a consensus that hemp building composite materials are stronger, more durable and flexible than our currently used wood pulp composite building material. “In 1935, two years before being outlawed, 116 million pounds of hemp seed were used in the United States to produce paint and varnish.”[Robbins Pet Care] Is there anything hemp can't be made out of? Hemp wood composite is fire durable, which would benefit those who lived in fire sensitive areas.
Regarding marijuana: You can avoid the whole problem of growing hemps psychoactive counterpart cannabis aka marijuana by growing the plants in a controlled environment and exposing the female plants to male plants. When the female plants are pollinated by the male plants their (THC) or Tetra-hydra-cannibanol level begins to drop. The longer the plants are held in these pollinating and harsh conditions, the THC level will continue to drop and you can maintain the THC percentage to stay below 0.03 percent making it impossible to use the plant as a drug.[Innvista] If other countries can responsibly produce and cultivate hemp for industrial uses then there is no reason why America cannot responsibly produce and cultivate the hemp plant too. Unless we aren't a responsible nation?
Archaeologists have found evidence linking hemp and its psychoactive counterpart marijuana back to 8,000 BC when agriculture and hemp textile industries began in Europe and Asia [Medical Cannabis]. By 3725 BC, Shen Nung Pen Ts'ao of China wrote of cannabis in the world's first medical text and Ts'ao declared cannabis as “a superior herb.”[Schaffer, C.] Cannabis sativa have been used for medicinal purposes for 4,800 years and has been prescribed for over 250 illnesses and diseases, for example: Asthma, insomnia, often used to treat pain in childbirth, migraines, used for AIDS and Cancer patients allowing them to have an appetite, glaucoma, relieves anorexia in Alzheimer's patients, mental health, it can be used as suppositories for relieving the pain of hemorrhoids, and depression are just a few examples of the many conditions that cannabis alleviates.[Medical Cannabis] Recent studies in Italy have shown that a chemical found in marijuana, inhibits the growth of cancer cells in rats. THC pills, or Marinol, synthetic THC, are made with the ingredients necessary for the specific treatment of those disease, or illness, but some patients cannot swallow these pills, due to their condition and that is when smoking the plant is applied. There are countless other examples of marijuana’s beneficial medicinal properties, but here are two final and thought provoking examples to contemplate over: Medicinal marijuana is used to treat alcohol addiction and other drugs such as heroin and is used to treat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in war veterans.
With the facts and knowledge acquired, it is apparent that hemp is humankind's savior and that hemp must be re-implemented into our countries way of life. General George Washington stated, “Grow it everywhere, hemp is greatly viable for winning the war and sustaining a future fantastic for America.”
Are we at war with nature, or perhaps is nature at war with us? Hemp is grown by almost every civilized country and hemp benefits those countries economies and their countries citizen’s health. To not take the scientific approach in making the decision to legalize and produce industrial hemp is dooming humankind to more needless sufferings and perhaps even another Ice Age. Our current dramatic, devastatingly, unpredictable weather breaks records each year and these violent weather patterns are the first signs of nature's end means. If the icebergs of the world melt, the sea level will raise by 20 feet, or more and force extinction upon millions of animal and plant species, and kill and displace millions of human beings worldwide. The Philippines, Hawaii, Florida and countless other countries, cities and homes will all be underwater if this were to occur.[Climatecrisis.net] Can you imagine watching the sunset with your child and as the low tide rolls out it reveals the rooftops of houses now underwater.
Only by the legalization of Industrial Hemp and its removal from Schedule 1 of The Controlled Substance Act, can we start working immediately towards the one thing that can save humankind from itself.[110th Congress] America would have a cleaner fuel and energy source, we would dispose of nuclear waste more efficiently, we'd create cars that could reduce traffic fatalities and are completely biodegradable, we'd have a paper product that can be recycled up to 8 times, instead of just 3 times, we'd reduce deforestation by 50 percent nationwide and eventually, worldwide, we'd have an endless supply of food products, livestock bedding, livestock feed and the benefits of the endless nutritional facts backing hemp. imagine roads, freeways and highways that wouldn't require monthly repairs and endless taxpayer dollars, preventing landslides and improving our farming industry by using hem, as a crop rotator, having an estimated 50,000 industrial bio-degradable products, and regarding medicinal marijuana, having over 250 medicinal uses that could ease the suffering of so many people who simply can’t afford the proper care, or treatment.
The facts and history of hemp show boldly how important it is to humankind that we should all support hemps production and usage for our countries economical and health related benefits. With the debate of global warming over and as I like to call it, “dramatic global climate change” fast approaching we need someone, or something to save us from humankind's destination. There are many facts and products that haven’t been discussed here and there is so much more relating to the history and benefits of the hemp plant for humankind. Only with relentless and patient education and constant communication can society overcome the propaganda and misperception surrounding the hemp plant. These fallacies have masked the history and extraordinary uses and benefits of the hemp plant. We, as a society, must continue learning and teaching others about the hemp plant and we must always network what we learn to others. If you've learned something from reading this article that you hadn't known before you can help by spreading this knowledge of hemp to anyone and everyone. Can you imagine the gold mine waiting in everyone's backyards, or empty fields, or, those thousands of acres of unused land nationwide, or along the sides of our freeways and highways?
The hemp plant is humankind's savior and the more society knows, the sooner we can put into action what we have learned and the better off our future generations will be. There are an estimated 50,000 industrial uses that can benefit every aspect of our daily lives from this one humble and misunderstood plant, and the facts can't be denied any longer. I think I see a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.
So remember to Seek the facts, Confront the truth, and Pass it on. - @[411732322204485:274:Hemp +]](https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/p75x225/1451607_667098890001159_784816935_n.jpg)
