The Industrial Benefits of the Cannabis Plant

The industrial and agricultural benefits of the 'hemp' variety of the cannabis plant are almost unreal. There are over 25,000 industrial uses of the cannabis plant.

--Green Fuel (Pun intended): A bio diesel fuel made from the hemp plant emits 80% less CO2 than fossil fuels, which generates less greenhouse gases and does not cause acid rain thus slowing global warming. Hemp fuel is found to be 10x less toxic than salt, and is as biodegradable as sugar.

--Land Saving: 1 acre of usable hemp fiber is equal to the usable fiber of 4 acres of trees or 2 acres of cotton. Not only can hemp yield four times that of an average forest, but a hemp crop can be harvested in only 90 days compared to an average of 25 years for a forest. Deforestation would almost completely cease, and we would no longer need to wait 25 years for a forest to grow back just so we can cut it back down again.

--Hemp Paper = No Pollution: Hemp fiber can be processed to make paper and cloth, and this production does not require chlorine which produces diotoxins as it does with wood or cotton fiber. The paper industry, which mainly uses wood pulp, is currently the world's 3rd largest polluter, so making the switch to hemp fiber would drastically cut back on pollution.

--Sustainable Agriculture: The hemp plant can be grown without fertilizer, compared to 50% of the worlds chemical pesticides being used on cotton fields. It also replenishes the soil with nitrogen and other nutrients. On top of that, it increases the topsoil in the area, and restores the health and fertility of the soil because of its long, firm roots. Due to the hemp plants fast growth, it can be used to absorb carbon from the air and store it back in the earth, a process known as carbon sequestration. The hemp variety of the cannabis plant also cleans up toxins from the ground, a process called phytomerediation.

--Easily recyclable: The fibers produced by the hemp plant are stronger than those of almost any other plant in the world, and those fibers can be recycled many more times than other products.

--Healthy Food: Hemp oil is the worlds richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids, which help to control our cholesterol, artery blockage, and strengthen the immune system. The munchies caused by one variety of the cannabis plant can be cured by the food produced by another variety.

--Clothing: Fabrics and clothing can be made from hemp, which do not contain any residual chemicals compared to many if not all current clothing materials. Hemp based fabrics can also effectively block UV rays, even with fabrics containing only 50% hemp fiber.

--Other Products: Rope and canvas can be made from hemp which is unmatched by any other material in its strength and absorbency. A much cleaner and renewable source of plastic compared to petroleum based plastics can also be produced. Automobiles could be made from hemp based products; in 1941 Ford produced an automobile with a plastic body composed of 70% hemp fibers, and this cars body could absorb blows 10x as great as steel without denting. Countless lives could have been saved if automobiles were made from this instead of steel. Hemp can basically be used as an environmentally safer alternative for any product currently made from cotton, timber, or petroleum.

These industrial uses will unfortunately not be utilized anytime soon, because a harmless plant is illegal. The hemp plant cannot get a person high, as it contains such a small amount of THC. Attempting to get high from the hemp plant is analogous to trying to get drunk from non-alcoholic beer. The real messed up thing is that even though it cannot get a person high, 99% of the cannabis plants being eradicated by the federal government at taxpayer expense are of the hemp variety.

There are huge benifits to the environment in legalization.
The syndicate growers would leave the forests and take their water diversions, pesticides and fertilizers with them.
People would not need to grow indoors greatly reducing the amount of energy being wasted by folks growing indoors just to hide it.
The smugglers would not be using fuel to bring marijuana across the border.
These are just a few of the benifits I can think of in addition to the myriad displayed above.

Time to end the prohibition.

Ending cannabis prohibition is going to take a loooong time, because lots of people do not want it to happen and will pay to make sure it doesn't happen. Primarily the pharmaceutical industry, how can they make money off of a medicine which can be grown in sick people's backyards? They can't profit from it, so once it becomes available to the public they will lose tons of money. Same with the alcohol industry, IMO they will lose quite a bit of money too once a harmless alternative is made legal. The timber industry will be replaced by the hemp industry, because who needs to pollute the environment with wood pulp based paper when we can use the much cleaner alternative? The plastic industry will be hit hard as well as steel, since they can also be replaced by a cleaner, cheaper, and stronger alternative.

People are slowly waking up though, and eventually no matter how much money is spent by all of those industries attempting to keep cannabis illegal, almost nobody will want it to be illegal so things will change. Not too many politicians have the balls to push for legalization/decriminalization, they're all pussies. They care too much about their image and reputation, what's beneficial for the country is not important to them, but instead what pleases the people and those who fund their campaigns. Either that, or they were raised in an ignorant brainwashed society that listened to whatever stupid propaganda was out there, such as 'Reefer Madness'. Being told "MARIJUANA IS BAD" since birth, then seeing an alcohol or tobacco advertisement right afterwords really fucked their mentality up.