By a show of hands how many of you are concerned with our environment? Now if there were something that could be used as an alternative to trees for paper would you use it, even it was related to a plant that is considered a drug? Today I’m going to tell you that there is an alternative to the use of trees for paper, and an alternative to the use of many other things. I’m here today to persuade you to the many uses of industrial hemp.

A. Industrial hemp is not a drug, it is not marijuana; it is a relative to the marijuana plant, but contains virtually no delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the mind-altering drug found in marijuana. This means that industrial hemp cannot get anyone high.

1. Though it may sound to good to be true, hemp may be the most versatile raw material in the world. There are innumerous benefits to be gained from the cultivation of industrial hemp. If only 6% of the contiguous United States were used to grow hemp, it could supply to us all of the electricity, heat, and all the fuel we need for our cars, REPEAT (www.house.gov/bernie/town_meeting/1997/luc_fillion_and_evan_paul.html). Hemp could also b

3. In 1942 14,000 acres of fiber hemp were harvested in the United States. The goal for 1943 is 300,00 acres. In the late 30’s and early 40’s hemp was big business. Farmers harvested their hemp and took it to the nearest grain store where it could be processed into they products that they needed it for.

1. The main difference between hemp and marijuana is that hemp is useful to us; some people realize that and others have not. Those who have not believe that they are one in the same. The early civilizations realized the benefits to industrial hemp. Hemp was the first cultivated fiber plant. Hemp dates back to the Romans in the years between 140 and 180. They used it in their pottery and in the making of their clothes. The Italians began the first large-scale cultivation of hemp and turned it into an haute couture, or high fashion (Man and marijuana, Merlin, Mark).

2. Many officials believe that legalizing hemp would ultimately lead to the legalization of marijuana. There is no basis whatsoever for this assumption. Industrial hemp, as I have stated is not a drug, so how do you go from legalizing harmless plants to legalizing a drug? It makes no sense to be afraid of a plant that has been grown for thousands of years around the globe.

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