Hemp Exposed

  With this story I am not advocating drug use of any kind, but making the point that things aren't always what they seem. Why is one of the most useful plants in the world illegal? The plant is hemp, it can be grown in virtually any soil, requires no pesticides, needs minimal supervision and could replace many environmentally harmful products on the market. The reason its illegal, like many things in life comes down to money and politics. If you've ever heard of hemp chances are you believe hemp and marijuana are the same thing, most people do. The truth is there are differences between the two. They are both a different variety of the same plant. "Hemp" is a commonly used term for the tall growing Cannabis plant. Hemp is broken down into fiber, oil and seeds, its uses are virtually endless. Hemp is refined into rope, paper, wax, oil, cloth, and fuel. Despite its usefulness and THC level being too low to abuse, hemp is still heavily regulated to outright illegal in most countries. "Marijuana" on the other hand is a commonly used term to describe the herb Cannabis Sativa. This variant of the same plant is typically lower hanging and contains more THC. For centuries marijuana had been used as food, clothing, and medication, at one point it was prescribed by physicians for more than 100 separate illnesses and diseases. So why did everything change? How did hemp and marijuana both become such a problem, and why are they illegal? Let me start by saying that it is no accident that most of the public confuses the two species of plant, this is all by design. Marijuana has been demonized over the past one hundred years because it contains a mind altering substance, however that's not why it is illegal. Marijuana was made illegal because hemp was made illegal, let me explain. Up until 1883, 90% of all paper was made from hemp. The problem was that hemp was difficult to harvest in mass quantities. In the 1930's the automated harvester was developed, but by this time industries had moved in and replaced hemp. These industries had a lot of influence and deep pockets. They now had a vested interest in making hemp illegal. The United States was the first country to introduce laws to destroy hemp plants, regardless of their intended use. That law was the result of political pressure exerted by the forestry industry and the Dupont corporation, which had just patented oil and coal based plastics production. A scare campaign was whipped up and articles started to appear in magazines and news papers claiming that marijuana "distorts moral values and leads to degrading sexual excesses". It was brilliant, create a campaign that deceived the public by purposely referring to both as the same species of plant. From this point on, the public would associate hemp with drug use. It's the oldest trick in the book and it still works on us today. We will fall for anything if it is hidden in our safety. -BDB

Sources - (Google Images)
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/20329

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp

http://hempethics.weebly.com/industrial-hemp-vs-cannabis.html