WHY NOT HEMP 

George Washington grew it. Thomas Jefferson wrote the draft of the Declaration of Independence on paper made of it. Henry Ford raised it and ran a Model T on its oil. He also built the side panels of the car from its fibers. Prior to 1945 it was one of the largest cash crops in the U.S. It was used in the manufacture of paper, cardboard, some building supplies, some clothings, plastics and other products. Then, as the price of petroleum oil decreased, it became an unprofitable crop and it largely disappeared from U.S. soil. The federal government then banned its growth. Today every country in the world grows this crop with the exception of the U.S. China grows 40% of the world’s production. The U.S. imports quantities of its oil and plant, but it is illegal to grow it.

The crop is industrial hemp, Cannabis sativa L. subsp. sativa var. sativa, not the variety commonly referred to as marijuana. The primary difference between the two is the amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient of Cannabis, in the former it is minute, while it is high in marijuana. Fears that marijuana could be grown in the same field as industrial hemp are unfounded. In order to produce quality marijuana only the unfertilized female plant is desired. Once fertilized the potency decreases and the plant becomes woody and full of seeds. A marijuana plant mixed in with a field of industrial hemp will certainly be come fertilized and of little use in the narcotics trade.

Industrial hemp has myriad commercial uses ranging from paper to textiles, from plastics to health food to fuel.  It is one of the fastest growing plants around, with maturity for harvest at an average of 13 weeks after sowing, so two crops a year are possible over most of the U.S. It requires little or no pesticides, replenishes the soil with nitrogen and other nutrients, controls erosion, produces large amounts of oxygen and absorbs great quantities of carbon dioxide. It can be used to replace many products, including some tree paper, synthetic oils in cosmetics, and plastics that don’t decompose.

Hemp oil can be used in bio-diesel engines without further refining.  It has many advantages over fossil fuels.  Using pyrolysis to convert the biomass to fuel, results in a product with a heating value of 5000-8000 BTU/lb. Ethanol, methanol, methane gas and gasoline can be derived from the biomass at a fraction of the cost of coal, oil or nuclear energy. One acre of hemp can yield about 1000 gallons of methanol. When growing, it takes carbon dioxide from the air. When burned it releases an equal amount back into the atmosphere, creating a balanced system. Its use as a fuel would end acid rain since it releases no other pollutant.

It has been estimated that use of 6% of the present croplands in the U.S. would provide all the energy requirements for the entire country, including cars, heating of homes, electricity and industry. At the present time farmers have 6% (about 90 million acres) of the tillable land lying fallow in the CRP program while another 500 million acres lies fallow in marginal lands that could grow hemp.

Right now, the most compelling argument for industrial hemp is its use to produce fuel. It would provide us a renewable source of energy and free us from dependency of foreign governments for our fuel. Hemp seed oil has been used historically as a lamp oil. It lit the lamps of Lincoln and Abraham the prophet. Anything made from fossil fuels can be made from hemp. Hemp oil can be made into anything with an oil base. Most paints and varnishes were made with hemp oil until the 1930’s.  The list goes on and on.

We need to pressure our congress to change the rules and allow the farming of industrial hemp. It poses no threat and can yield a world of good, including more income to the farmer, an increase in new jobs across the country, and best of all, remove the U.S. from its dependency on oil imports from places like Venezuela and Iran.