Facts about Industrial Hemp

LOTUS ECO ELISE


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Prototype Lotus Elise



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ALL the parts of this prototype car (except the solar roof panels) were made using iHemp!!!
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The Eco Elise , released at the British Motor Show in 2008, uses a host of sustainable materials to make up the body and trim, including hemp, "eco wool," sisal and a new high-tech, water-based paint. 
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WOW! Hemp is the miracle plant of our time, breathing in 4x the carbon dioxide (CO2) of trees during it's quick 12-14 week growing cycle. Trees take 20 years to mature vs 4 months for Industrial Hemp! Our forests are being cut down 3x faster than they can grow! One acre of hemp produces as much cellulose fiber pulp as 4.1 acres of trees!!! (Dewey & Merrill. Bulletin #404. U.S. Dept. of Age. 1916) 


1807: Napoleon signs Treaty with Russia to cut off all legal Russian Hemp trade with Britain. but the Czar refuses to enforce the treaty and turns a blind eye Britain’s illegal Hemp trade.

June 24th, 1812 Napoleon invades Russia to try and put an end to Britain’s main supply of Russian Hemp but by the end of the year the Russian winter had decimated most of Napoleon’s forces. Did you know that the Royal Navy relied on Russian Hemp to stay afloat during their war with the U.S.? (the War of 1812)


Henry Ford
View this video of Henry Ford's first Model-T was built to run on hemp gasoline and the CAR ITSELF WAS CONSTRUCTED FROM HEMP! On his large estate, Ford was photographed among his hemp fields. The car, 'grown from the soil,' had plastic panels made from a mixture of 70% cellulose fibers from hemp whose impact strength was 10 times stronger than steel at 2/3 rd's the weight for better economy (Popular Mechanics, 1941) Alcohol prohibition prevented Mr. Ford from powering his fleet with "plant-power".

Why is it still illegal to grow hemp in the United States of America when many other industrialized nations have embraced the many economic uses & benefits of industrial, non-cannabis hemp? It's only a matter of time before hemp becomes a mainstay of our economy & helps to clean up our environment.


* Hemp sails & rope carried Columbus to the Americas in 1485. Columbus boat carried hemp seed for use in case of shipwreck to grow crops for raw materials & as a source of nutrition.

* George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers GREW HEMP; (Washington and Jefferson Diaries). Jefferson smuggled hemp seeds from China to France then to America. Hemp was in such demand in the colonies that taxes could be paid in hemp & fines were levied against farmers who did not grow hemp! 

* Benjamin Franklin owned one of the first paper mills in America and it processed hemp. Also, the War of 1812 was fought over hemp. Napoleon wanted to cut off Moscow's export to England (Emperor Wears No Clothes, Jack Herer).

* For thousands of years, 90% of all ships' sails and rope were made from hemp. The word 'canvas' is Dutch for cannabis; (Webster's New World Dictionary).

* 80% of all textiles, fabrics, clothes, linen, drapes, bed sheets, etc. were made from hemp until the 1820s with the introduction of the cotton gin.

* Until 1883 more than 3/4 of the world's paper was made from hemp fiber.  Hemp crops produce nearly 4 times as much raw fiber than equivalent tree plantations! Hemp paper is finer, stronger & lasts longer than wood-based papers. Bank notes & archival papers are made from hemp paper.

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The first Bibles, maps, charts, Betsy Ross's flag, the first drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were made from hemp (U.S. Government Archives).


* The first crop grown in many states was hemp. 1850 was a peak year for Kentucky producing 40,000 tons. Hemp was the largest cash crop until the 20th Century; (State Archives).

* Oldest known records of hemp farming go back 5000 years in China. For more than 1000 years before the time of Christ until 1883 AD Cannabis Sativa was our planet's most important industry for thousands of products & enterprises producing the overall majority of the earth's fiber, fabric, lighting oil, incense, fiberglass replacement, lightweight sandwich boards, composite woods, kitty litter, potting mix, nappies, feminine care products, fuel, medicines & paper, as well as a primary source of protein for humans & animals.

* Rembrandts, Gainsboroughs, Van Goghs as well as most early canvas paintings were principally painted on hemp linen.

* In 1916, the U.S. Government predicted that by the 1940s all paper would come from hemp and that no more trees need to be cut down. Government studies report that 1 acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of trees. Plans were in the works to implement such programs (Department of Agriculture).

* Quality paints and varnishes were made from hemp seed oil until 1937. 58,000 tons of hemp seeds were used in America for paint products in 1935; (Sherwin-Williams Paint Co. testimony before Congress against the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act).
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The 1937 Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 placed a tax on the sale of Cannabis. The Act was drafted by Henry Anslinger and introduced by Rep. Robert L. Doughton (D) of North Carolina on April 14, 1937.


* Hemp called 'Billion Dollar Crop.' It was the first time a cash crop had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars (Popular Mechanics, Feb., 1938). http://www.votehemp.com/new_billion_dollar_crop.html

* Mechanical Engineering Magazine (Feb. 1938) published an article entitled 'The Most Profitable and Desirable Crop that Can be Grown.' It stated that if hemp was cultivated using 20th Century technology, it would be the single largest agricultural crop in the U.S. and the rest of the world.

* Hemp is fully international: "Canamo" in Spanish, "Chanvre" in French, "Konoplya" in Russian, "Hanf" in German, "Kender" in Hungarian, "Tai Ma" in Chinese, "Cinepa" in Romanian.

*  The Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Reactor 4 in the Ukraine caused severe radioactive contamination in April 1986. Industrial Hemp has been used to remove contaminants from the soils, called phytoremediation.

Download here the many uses of Industrial Hemp

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Hemp cultivation and production do not harm the environment. The USDA Bulletin #404 concluded that hemp produces 4 times as much pulp with at least 4 to 7 times less pollution. (Popular Mechanics, Feb. 1938).


        Consider a few more facts about hemp:
• Hemp does not require herbicides or pesticides.
• Hemp can be grown in a wide range of latitudes and altitudes.
• Hemp replenishes soil with nutrients and nitrogen, making it  an excellent rotational crop.
• Hemp controls erosion of the topsoil.
• Hemp converts CO2 to oxygen better than trees.
• Hemp produces more oil than any other crop, which can be  used for food, fuel, lubricants, soaps, etc.
• Hemp nut is a very healthy food, being the highest   protein  crop (after soybean) and high in omega oils.
• Hemp can be used for making plastics, including car parts.
• Hemp makes paper more efficiently and ecologically than  wood, requiring no chemical glues.
• Hemp can be used to make fiberboard.
• Hemp can be used to make paint.
• Hemp can produce bio-fuel and ethanol (better than corn).
• Hemp can be grown more than once per year.
• Hemp fibers can make very strong rope and textiles.

you can also read the whole chronology of Industrial Hemp at Hemphasis

Another interesting read is this article written by Earnest
Small & David Marcus: http://www.hort.purdue.edu