Stimulate the US Economy by Legalizing Industrial Hemp

If the bureaucrats in Washington DC really wanted to Stimulate the Economy and create jobs here in the US, they’d get off their fat asses, quit prostituting themselves to the banksters, lobbyists, and corporate heads of the oil and war-for-profit industries, and they’d legalize Industrial Hemp.  H.R. 1831, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011, seemingly cannot gain the approval of enough of the people’s “representatives”, who we know actually only represent the interests of corporate America, so the bill is most likely doomed.

Back in the ‘30s, William Randolph Hearst and Pierre DuPont used their money and influence to buy politicians into lumping hemp in with marijuana ( a distant cousin in the cannabis family of plants) as the government had set out to prohibit marijuana.  One might ask:  Why would they do that?  The same reason big business doesn’t want it legalized today – $ MONEY $.  The prohibition on hemp was to protect the big money interests of the timber, petrochemical and cotton industries.  With big money pushing legislation, The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 literally killed the hemp industry in this country.

Hearst  not only owned millions of acres of timberland but, also owned paper mills in addition to his publishing empire.  And, Hemp could replace trees as the source for ALL of the paper manufactured in the world.  DuPont had patented the processes for making plastics and nylon rope so, why not eliminate the competition of hemp as the source for rope production.  (Rope has been made from hemp for 10,000 years.)  So, these guys used their connections in Washington and Hearst used his magazines to spew out propaganda against hemp and marijuana.  The cotton industry, which consumes over half of all of the pesticides used in the US even today, jumped on the bandwagon to eliminate the competition, too.  After all, hemp cloth is much more durable – stronger and longer lasting – and cheaper to produce, than cotton cloth.

Interestingly, the editors of Popular Science magazine were unaware of the hemp ban when, in February of 1938, their cover story touted hemp as the next “billion dollar crop”.  That’s right, in 1938, Popular Science estimated that hemp could be used to make over 25,000 different products, and would create jobs by the thousands.  One of the least expensive crops that a farmer could grow, hemp requires very little fertilizer (none if crops are rotated properly), no pesticides (oops, what would Monsanto do?), has a short growing season (it could even be planted after some grain crops were harvested), and can grow in every state in the country.  Government studies from the ‘30s estimated that 10,000 acres devoted to hemp would produce as much paper as 40,000 acres of pulp land – and it grows a hell of a lot faster than trees…

Hemp was briefly “re-legalized” during WWII, after the Japanese had cut off the Navy’s supply of hemp from the Philippines.  This country needed to grow hemp to make rope for the Navy so, the government produced a movie, “Hemp For Victory”, that was distributed to movie theatres throughout the country.  Farmers and 4H clubs across the country were growing hemp, if only for a few years.   After the war, the prohibition of hemp was set back in place.  Today, patches of hemp are still found growing wild in fields throughout the country, many generations removed from that effort to support the war, that attract teenagers and DEA agents alike, thinking they’ve stumbled upon some marijuana field, only to find out that no one could possibly get ‘high’ from smoking it.

Canada, England and several other countries had followed the lead of the US in banning hemp but, today, most of those countries have repealed their outdated laws and their farmers are growing hemp – and making money – again.  Canada, China, England, France, Spain, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Russia, as well as many other countries, recognize the value and potential of hemp, many of which export hemp products to the US.  Following the lead of Henry Ford, who in 1941 built a car with a plastic body made out of hemp, which also ran on fuel made from hemp, a new hemp-composite car, the Kestrel, will be hitting the streets in 2012.  Also, the Lotus Eco Elise, a high performance sports car, has hemp composite body panels, spoiler, seats and door panels.  Lightweight and durable, the hemp panels withstand impacts better than steel.

There’s far too many Industrial hemp products to list here but, with just a little research, anyone with some intelligence, and the ability to compare facts, will recognize the potential impact the legalization of hemp would have.  Imagine:  End deforestation – not another tree would EVER have to be cut down to make any kind of paper or wood building materials;  Bio-degradable plastics;  Bio-fuel (hemp produces more biomass than any other plant);  Hemp-crete ( used in construction, it’s ‘breathable’, light-weight, strong as concrete, and is highly insulative);  and other products in almost every category from clothes to food, medicines, and soaps, make industrial hemp the most versatile and complete plant on the planet.

Write, or call, your representatives in Washington and urge them to take action on the legalization of Industrial Hemp.  It would do this country well.  While you’re at it, tell them to quit fighting in these stupid wars that are all about money, too.  The corruption and greed rampant within government and the money system will most probably prevent either from happening.  After all, it makes common sense to do so and, our leaders haven’t demonstrated any common sense in a long time.

When this current system fails, as it is destined to, and the masses of the world insist on a new system that will guarantee a dignified life for all, where every person’s vote will actually count, such as the Equal Money System proposed by Desteni, common sense decisions based on what’s Best for All will be the only decisions made.  In the Equal Money System, no decision will be based on greed or self-interest so, decisions will be made that provide the products that mankind needs to survive, while living in harmony with nature.  Nature has provided us with hemp, a magnificent plant with thousands of uses and very little environmental impact so, it most probably will be highly utilized within the Equal Money System.

Desteni Universe

Equal Money Website