I’m going to come out and say it right now – I love this plant! I love everything it can do for this world and our bodies. I’m a through and through Cannabis girl. What excites me even more is that I can be apart of the new cannabis world. Hemp is apart of our history, and it is fascinating. The uses of this plant is mind blowing. Prohibition made hemp seem like the devil’s plant. When, in fact, it is better for our environment. Fun fact, the original Levi’s jeans were made with hemp cloth.
Why Did We Ban Hemp?
Money controls, well, EVERYTHING. Between the war on drugs and other large, up and coming companies – hemp was in the crossfire. At one point in our history, it was mandatory for you to grow hemp as a tax.
According to The Thistle, “..in September 1937, the United States government, under the influence of the lobbying of synthetic textile companies (like DuPont) and several other powerful groups who saw hemp as a big threat to their businesses, proposed prohibitive tax laws, and levied an occupational excise tax upon hemp dealers. Later that year hemp production was banned altogether.”
For just over 80 years, hemp has been illegal. Money brought hemp back to light at the end of 2018. Things will slowly progress forward and hopefully make our country better. Can a plant heal a country? I think so!
Benefits of Hemp
Many reasons to choose hemp over other plants. Hemp uses 50% less water, is stronger and uses land than cotton. It feels good on your skin whether you are sleeping on it, wearing it, or applying it. Hemp can reduce soil loss and erosion. After harvest, hemp stalks contain nitrogen to leave the soil healthy. Thousands of years ago, it has been recorded that hemp has medicinal benefits. Textiles to biofuel, hemp has many uses. We could replace plastics with biodegradable hemp made plastics. The future is bright for our county, now that hemp is legal. We can bring revenue back to our country but utilizing this plant. Not only is it healthy for our environment, it is also better for our bodies. The benefits to adding hemp to our diet reduce risk for heart disease, promote healthy weight loss, and improves skin and hair health.
We need to educate more people on what hemp can actually do for us! Let’s bring the fascinating history of hemp to light. With the passing of the Farm Bill legalizing hemp on a federal level, we are going to see hemp make a huge impact in our country.
Source: The Thistle Volume 13, Number 2: Sept./Oct., 2000.
[…] On my social media platforms, I have dedicated myself to presenting facts over stigma a few times a week. I want to spread my knowledge and normalize cannabis as it once was 80 years ago. As of today, we have legal dispensaries in 33 states that have legalized cannabis either medicinally or recreationally. The history of this plant is extremely important, as is what it can do for our bodies and earth. You can check out a previous blog “Fascinating Truth About Hemp.” […]