Hemp can be used to make virtually anything that is currently made of
cotton, timber, or petroleum.

"Hemp has thousands of uses. Besides fibers for paper and textiles, it can
be used for biodegradable plastics, health food and fuel. Hemp requires
little to no pesticides, replenishes soil with nutrients and nitrogen,
controls erosion of the topsoil and produces a lot of oxygen. The downside?
Our government prohibits its use."

Hemp is among one of the most productive and useful plants known; also very
safe. The following materials can be made from hemp: paper, textiles,
building materials, food, medicine, paint, detergent, varnish, oil, ink, and
fuel. Unlike many crops, hemp can be grown in most locations and climates
with only moderate water and fertilizer requirements. Where hemp is grown,
it has become a valuable and environmentally friendly crop.

Hemp Uses:
Hemp can be used to produce a very large variety of products from clothing
to paper to building supplies to cars to fuels to food products to much,
much more. Some people have called hemp the plant of 30,000 uses because it
combines the utility of the soybean, the cotton plant and the Douglas Fir
tree into one green package. Hemp is an environmental, renewable, reusable
and recyclable resource.

Hemp fabrics.

Hemp grows well without herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides. The
production of cotton, on the other hand, consumes almost half of the
agricultural chemicals used on American crops. Hemp bast fibers are one of
the longest natural soft fibers. They are longer, stronger, more absorbent,
more mildew-resistant, and more insulative than cotton. This means that hemp
will keep you warmer in winter and cooler in summer than cotton.

Hemp is more effective at blocking the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. The
nature of hemp fibers makes them more absorbent to dyes, which coupled with
hemp's ability to better screen out ultraviolet rays, means that hemp
material is less prone to fading than cotton fabrics are. Like cotton, hemp
can be made into a variety of fabrics, including high quality linen. When
blended with materials such as cotton, linen, and silk, hemp provides a
sturdier, longer lasting product, while maintaining quality and softness.

Hemp is environmentally friendly in many ways. It can displace the use of
cotton, which requires massive amounts of chemicals harmful to people and
the environment. The production of cotton consumes 50% of the pesticides
sprayed in the entire world. Hemp has a deep root system that helps to
prevent soil erosion, removes toxins, provides a disease break, and aerates
the soil to the benefit of future crops.

Biodegradable industrial products.

Because hemp is rich in cellulose, research is being conducted into the use
of hemp for the production of biodegradable plastic products. Plant based
cellophane, recycled plastic mixed with hemp for injection-molded products,
and resins made from hemp oil could one day be manufactured. BMW in an
effort to make cars more recyclable, is using hemp materials in their
automobiles. Hemp fibers are increasingly being used in industry as a
substitute for fiberglass. The advantage of replacing fiberglass with hemp
is that hemp is lighter, as strong or stronger, is biodegradable and is
cheaper.

Biomass fuels.

Hemp is a high yield fiber crop, producing more biomass per acre than most
other crops. As a result, the hydrocarbons in hemp could be used as a
renewable, low polluting alternative to fossil fuels that is non-polluting
to our atmosphere. Hemp is excellent in producing alternative fuels such as
biodiesel and ethanol. Hemp could be processed into fuel pellets, liquid
fuels, and gas, reducing our consumption of fossil fuels and nuclear power.
Both the seed and the fiber can be used, though the process varies depending
on what you use.

Replacement for wood products.

As a replacement for wood products, hemp offers many more environmentally
friendly benefits. Hemp yields three to eight tons of fiber per acre, which
is four times the yield of the average forest. Unlike wood, hemp is low in
lignin, which means that hemp can be pulped using fewer chemicals. Many
construction products now made out of wood could be made from hemp.

Beams, studs, posts, oriented strand board, and medium density fiberboard
made from hemp would be stronger and lighter because of hemp's long fibers.
Washington State University produced hemp fiberboard that was found to be
twice as strong as wood-based fiberboard. The replacement of wood fiber by
hemp-based products can save forests for wildlife habitat, watersheds,
recreational areas, oxygen production, and carbon removal, which reduces
global warming.

Paper.

Hemp paper is of the highest quality, resists decomposition, and does not
yellow as it ages when an acid-free process is used. It is for these reasons
that hemp paper is used in Europe for bibles. A sample of hemp paper has
been found that is more than 1500 years old. Only around 1850 did paper from
wood pulp start to replace hemp. Trees were cheap, but now they are rapidly
getting depleted.

Over a period of 20 years one hectare (ha) of hemp can produce as much paper
as four hectares of forest. Japan still imports much of its wood pulp from
tropical rainforests which are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Hemp
paper can be recycled many more times than wood-based paper. Hemp's natural
creamy color eliminates the need for chlorine bleach, which prevents the
dumping of extremely toxic dioxin into streams. Instead, hemp can be
bleached using gentler hydrogen peroxide.

Body Care Products.

Hemp's antimicrobial properties make it useful for cosmetics and body care
products such as shampoos and hair conditioners, lotions, massage oils,
salves, soaps, skin crèmes, sunscreen, and lip balm. The oil from hemp
seeds has been known to cure dermatitis and other serious skin diseases.

Pet Foods.

Hemp provides a healthy protein for pets from dogs and cats to cows and
horses to all varieties of birds and chickens.

Detergents.

The oil is also being made into a laundry detergent that biodegrades
naturally in our water systems.

Art supplies.

Hemp is an excellent archival material, for use in paintings and books. Most
famous paintings are painted with hemp oil on hemp linen. In ancient China
the art of making paper from hemp and mulberry bark was guarded as a state
secret, but eventually the knowledge found its way to Japan and also to
Europe via the Arabs. In 1390 the first European mill processing hemp rags
into paper was founded.

In 1455 Gutenberg printed the first printed book in Europe on hemp paper.
Washi, a traditional Japanese paper, was made from hemp and mulberry fiber.
Nowadays hemp is virtually unavailable for this purpose though a limited
supply of hemp paper has been manufactured in Tochigi recently. Hemp and
mulberry paper are also used for ritual strips of paper decorations used at
Shinto shrines. Japan imported the recipe for paper making from China where
most paper still contains hemp today.

Food products.

A vast array of food products can be made from hemp seeds. They have
exceptional nutritional value and are second only to soybeans as a source of
complete vegetable protein. However, they are longer lasting and more
digestible than soybeans. The main protein found in hempseed is edestin.
Unlike soy, hemp doesn t have to be cooked or fermented for it to be
digestible.

VALUE OF HEMP IN FOOD PRODUCTS

Hemp seeds contain all eight essential amino acids in the correct
proportions required by humans, including Omega-6 (LA- linolenic) and Omega
3 (ALA alpha linolenic). Hemp has a balance of three parts Omega-6 to
Omega-3, very close to the body's nutritional requirements. As regulators,
the LA and ALA fatty acids provide stability and control the movement of all
substances in and out of our bodies' building blocks. Gamma Linolenic Acid
(GLA), another essential amino acid found in hemp, also stimulates the
production of eiconsanoids, which are hormone-type substances. For this
reason, many women find hemp oil in their diets helps relieve pre-menstrual
syndrome and extreme symptoms of menopause.

Some of the other benefits of having all these Essential Fatty Acids in the
diet include an increased metabolism, lower cholesterol, better digestion,
general vigor, improved skin and hair condition, and a boosted immune
system.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. Ben Franklin owned a
mill that made hemp paper. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of
Independence on hemp paper. Until 1883, more than 75% of the world's paper
was made with hemp fiber.
In 1937 Popular Science magazine called hemp "The New Billion Dollar Crop."
Then the big money people struck out to protect their interests. Newspaper
publisher William Randolph Hearst led the crusade to ban hemp. Hearst owned
millions of acres of prime timber land and a machine that simplified the
process of making paper from hemp had just been invented. Hearst used his
power as a publisher to create public panic about the evils of hemp and
marijuana. Another big money player Pierre DuPont held patent rights to the
sulfuric acid wood pulp paper process. In 1937 DuPont patented nylon rope
made from synthetic petrochemicals. Along with Duponts backer Treasury
Secretary Andrew Mellon the big money people prevailed and near the end of
1937 Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act. By placing a prohibitively high
tax on hemp production it destroyed the industry. This was done to protect
these big money interests of the timber, petrochemical, and cotton
industries. Hemp was briefly re-legalized during W.W.II. The U.S. government
produced the movie Hemp for Victory to encourage farmers to grow hemp. Even
4H clubs were asked to grow hemp to help their country in wartime. The
parachute that saved George Bush's life in World War II was made of hemp
fiber.

Henry Ford dreamed that someday automobiles would be grown from the soil. In
1941 the Ford motor company produced an experimental automobile with a
plastic body composed of 70% cellulose fibers from hemp. The car body could
absorb blows 10 times as great as steel without denting. The car was
designed to run on hemp fuel. Because of the ban on both hemp and alcohol
the car was never mass produced.
Industrial hemp can replace cotton. Cotton is typically grown with large
amounts of chemicals that are harmful to people, wildlife and the entire
environment. Close to 50% of all the world's pesticides are sprayed on
cotton. Hemp grows well in a wide variety of climates and soils. It requires
far less fertilizer and pesticides than most commercial crops.