America Legalized Hemp!

The resurgence of hemp has finally begun to spread to the United States, passed in February, the 2014 farming act finally legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp. This might not seem like much, considering that industrial hemp is still illegal in most states (due to the old federal law) but many have added pro-hemp bills to their 2014 ballots already.  This is the first major step to the cultivation and implementation of hemp into modern industry!

 U.S. Farm Bill details

Hemp is 4x more efficient than wood!

Hemp paper is a superior to its wood counterpart for one main reason; it's vastly more sustainable. Hemp can be grown in some of the harshest conditions and still thrive.  Hemp will not only thrive but it vastly out grows its wood competitor. Planting 10,000 acres of hemp is the equivalent to growing 41,000 acres of trees. This is important on 2 levels: first hemp grows 4x as much material in a 6

month grow cycle and second, the forests are no longer being cut down but being given a chance to recover and regrow.

Hemp inc.

Hemp inc.

This is a great interview with Bruce Perlowin, the CEO of Hemp Inc. about the growth of his company and the expectations of the hemp and medical marijuana industry of the next few decades.

Hemp v. Wood

Hemp paper is one of the simplest things that we could do to help reduce the environmental impact that our growing world will have.  Hemp paper is a environmentally friendly option compared to the wood pulp alternative.

To grow the raw materials for paper, wood needs an average of 20-80yrs to grow to maturity. This long grow cycle makes wood ( as a source of paper) unsustainable. We currently cut down close to a billion trees per year and our forests simply can’t survive. Hemp has an incredibly rapid grow cycle of 4-6months and can be cultivated during the off season of corn and cotton and other agricultural staples.

Hemp in Colorado

Hemp in Colorado

This fantastic news clip from Colorado shows the beginning of the large hemp industry. Colorado has always been on the front line battling for not only the use of medical marijuana but also for the legalization of the drug as well. While the battle over marijuana grips the headlines, Colorado’s legislators have been hard at work creating a bill that legalized the cultivation of hemp for industrial purposes. This small bill has opened up a huge new industry in America and will create millions of jobs in the future. 

Hemp in America

Hemp, believe it or not, has had a rich history here in America. The Native Americans had long known of the wondrous hemp plant and used it for clothing and rope. This continued with the new European settlers, the colonists of Jamestown where REQUIRED to grow hemp. The use of hemp continued and its industrial applications flourished. The word canvas is actually derived from cannabis. Eventually hemp grew to become such a popular plant that in 1938  popular mechanics called it the next BILLION dollar crop. This all ended sadly in 1937 when reefer madness began to set in and the marijuana tax was created. This new tax effectively ended hemp and cannabis cultivation and by 1968  the united states government outlawed it completely.

Why is Hemp illegal?

Hemp is a plant with over 50,000 known uses: industrial, food and medical. this plant however is considered a schedule 1 Drug by the United States government; this means that is on of the most dangerous drugs in the entire spectrum of illicit drugs. This might be true for Hemp's close family member marijuana however, hemp is a completely separate plant. Marijuana is best defined by its THC content and averages over 10% with high quality marijuana topping 30% - the average hemp plant has less then 1% THC. THC is the main psychoactive compound in the plant that causes the high associated with marijuana.

Hemp History

Hemp is one of the most important plants ever to be cultivated on this planet; hemp has played an important role to nearly every culture and has had a major role in the creation of writing and the development of clothing. The Chinese have been using hemp since the Neolithic age!

 Hemp has been grown in America from the very first settlement, settlers in Jamestown where required to grow hemp as one of their annual crops. This early hemp cultivation was used in every aspect of the settlers lives, they used the fibers to craft everything from rope to sails. The word canvas is derived from cannabis.

Today, hemp has over 50,000 known uses, yet only 30 countries allow the cultivation of hemp.

About the blog

With global warming and other environmental issues becoming much more apparent, the world looks for ways to decrease pollution and the best way to improve each industry. This blog is focused on hemp, more specifically hemp paper and why America needs to transition from a wood-based paper industry to a hemp-based industry.