Hemp, also known as cannabis sativa L, is an annual plant grown from seed. The earliest known usage of the hemp plant originates in ancient China some 10,000 years ago. Modern-day drug task force officials consider any form of the hemp plant to be an illegal substance and prohibits its cultivation in the United States. Is the United States missing out on the benefits of this potentially misunderstood plant?
Illegal Hemp—Amazing Possibilities
For centuries the hemp plant has been grown and used for many different things ranging from food to concrete. It has edible seeds that are rich in omega fatty acids, making them a healthy ingredient in natural food products. Hemp stalks have been used to manufacture rope, paper, and even paper money. Automobiles can run on hemp seed oil instead of traditional petroleum products, which would make the United States much less dependent on foreign oil. Other uses for industrial hemp are listed below.
- Clothing
- Plastics
- Paper
- Cosmetics
- Body oils
- Detergents
- People and pet food
- Art paint and art canvases
- Shoes
- Jewelry
With the wide range of environmentally friendly uses hemp has to offer, it is difficult to understand why the United States has laws in place prohibiting the growing of industrial hemp plants.
Why Growing Hemp is Illegal in the United States
The United States prohibits the growth of hemp crops, deeming them dangerous and potentially addicting. THC, the chemical found in some hemp plants, produces a high that a drug user craves. Sources explain that there are actually several species of hemp. The species needed to produce industrial hemp does not contain enough THC, less than 1%, for it to be possible to get high from smoking it, so it is useless to drug users. While the different species of hemp are related, the industrial hemp desired for textile producing crops, is not technically the same as a marijuana producing hemp plant.
Law makers as well as law enforcers believe that a crop of industrial hemp could be used to hide marijuana plants; however this would be unlikely due to natural cross pollination between the two species of plants. After cross pollination the resulting THC levels would be rendered virtually non-existent and useless as a drug.
Industrial Hemp — Benefits Verses Fear
With the environmentally friendly and naturally healthy uses for hemp it would seem to suggest it is time to reevaluate the laws prohibiting its use in the U.S. In time perhaps the government and law enforcement officials will set aside the unfounded fear of drug abuse, and see the potential in this versatile plant.
Sources:
David P. West, Ph.D., February 27, 1998, naihc.org
Hemp, 2010, Drug Policy Alliance, drugpolicy.org
Kelly Dupree - My love of animals, especially cats, and my interest in science has led to a serious passion to write well researched articles.
