American history might have been very different if this natural plant had been allowed to follow its evolving course. Take a look at the logical trends that have been disrupted and form your own conclusion.
5By the 1930s, hemp was about to take the lead in production and export over cotton. This did not bode well with some large corporations (DuPont, to be exact). Dupont had discovered a way to use cotton oil in their new plastic fiber and hemp was becoming a deterrent to his plans of marketing. These corporations went to work in Washington D.C. to suffocate the production of hemp, and in 1938, succeeded. The reason stated was the threat of drug abuse under the Opium and Narcotics Act.
4Hemp has a carbohydrate that can be used in the same way that hydrocarbon (fossil fuel) is used. Anything that petroleum-based products are used in, hemp could replace. Jeans, canvas, paints, varnishes and more recently, fuels and plastics, would no longer need to extract oil as a byproduct of many everyday items.
3According to the Department of Energy, hemp as a biomass fuel producer is simple and cost effective to produce. Gas and liquid fuels that require fossil fuels could be reduced significantly by using hemp products as a biomass additive.
2Hemp does not decompose. It is also recyclable. Paper would not deteriorate and fiber boards would not break down from moisture as quickly. By using an acid wash, there would be no yellowing of paper either. Hemp has also proven to have higher insulation values than cotton.
1Being an eco-friendly product, processing hemp leads to less air contamination and toxins released into rivers. Hemp grows faster than timber and grows well without herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides.
The stalk of hemp is not psychoactive and it is stronger and more absorbent than cotton that requires petroleum products in manufacturing. Can you imagine a country with less pollution, less fuel, less illness from petroleum-based products and being sufficient enough to export throughout the world? Regulations would be reduced, self-sufficiency would be increased and small business could thrive with the many uses yet to be discovered of hemp.
It has taken 78 years for our government to realize that a mistake might have been made that changed the course of history. 27 states have recently introduced legislation to remove the barriers of industrial hemp growing and processing. Who is to say that leaving hemp to evolve could have reversed a lot of the problems in our nation today? But, it certainly would have been nice to have given it a chance.
http://www.mit.edu/~thistle/v13/2/history.html
