Hemp is a fantastically useful fiber. It's ten times stronger than cotton, and can even be used to make paper more cheaply (and more environmentally responsibly) than cutting down trees. Yet here in the U.S., the drug war mentality has caused hemp to remain an illegal crop -- even though hemp isn't marijuana and doesn't make you high when you smoke it. Rather, it makes you sick.
So it's no surprise that Canada is the country finding new ways to apply this extremely useful material to industry. In Canada, there is no politically-motivated drug war, and hemp isn't an illegal crop.
Car bumpers? Why not? The uses for hemp are probably only beginning to be discovered. If U.S. farmers were allowed to grow this crop, it could revolutionize U.S. farming and industry. But the cotton lobby has too much political sway to allow this to happen any time soon. They know that hemp is far stronger than cotton (makes better jeans, for one thing), and that allowing hemp to be farmed in the U.S. would seriously harm the cotton growers' profits.
As usual, it's a political play, having a whole lot to do with protecting profits and almost nothing to do with serving the public. If you want hemp clothes today, you have to buy them as imports (which I do, frequently). In an era of alarming trade deficits, it's actually illegal for U.S. farmers to grow a useful crop that's in very high demand.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher, author and award-winning journalist with a passion for sharing empowering information to help improve personal and planetary health He has authored more than 1,800 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, and he has published numerous courses on preparedness and survival, including financial preparedness, emergency food supplies, urban survival and tactical self-defense. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams created TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural living video sharing site featuring thousands of user videos on foods, fitness, green living and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a noted technology pioneer and founded a software company in 1993 that developed the HTML email newsletter software currently powering the NaturalNews subscriptions. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and martial arts training. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org
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Wednesday, October 01, 2003
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