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 mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams created NaturalNews.TV, a natural living video sharing site featuring thousands of user videos on foods, fitness, green living and more. He's also a noted pioneer in the email marketing software industry, having been the first to launch an HTML email newsletter technology that has grown to become a standard in the industry. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening. He's also author a large number of health books offered by Truth Publishing and is the creator of numerous reference website including NaturalPedia.com and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. His websites also include the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the innate healing ability of the human body.
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Wednesday, October 01, 2003
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