Benefits of Hemp

Would it be possible to produce from the same source any types of paper, healthy soap, durable houses, omega-3 rich ice cream, stylish clothes, and bio-diesel? Would it be possible to do it organically and sustainability, with no pesticides and considerably less water? Well, yes, it’s very possible, just not here in the United States.

Hemp is the answer to these possibilities. Here in Santa Cruz, a town well educated in marijuana, seemingly little is known about hemp. While hemp and marijuana are both plants of the Cannabis genus, hemp can’t be smoked like marijuana. Most hemp contains zero percent Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana. Some contain at most, 0.3 percent THC, while marijuana contains anywhere between six percent to over 20 percent THC. So rest assured that marijuana smokers will, in fact, not be setting hemp t-shirts and soaps ablaze in their backyards in hopes of getting high.

The first annual, Hemp History Week, hopes to clarify these and other misconceptions about hemp and educate the public about the various beneficial and ecological uses of hemp. Between May 17 to May 23, Hemp History Week will host over fifty events nationwide, including a few here in Santa Cruz.

On Wednesday, May 19, Melissa Collins, owner of Livity Outernational and Elaine Berke, owner of Eco Goods, will be co-hosting an event in honor of Hemp History Week. From 3:00 to 6:00 pm at Eco Goods, there will be various samples of hemp products, educational talks about hemp, fun quizzes every 15 minutes with hemp prizes, and a showing of Hemp for Victory, a short film made by the U.S. government in the 1940’s to encourage farmers to grow hemp. Collins and Berke are most excited about their fashion sho...

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...s of acres of timber forests and numerous paper mills, was threatened by hemp, which could not only produce four times the amount of paper per acre, but also could be regrown yearly. “It’s ridiculous,” says Collins. “We don’t ever need to cut down another tree.”

As it stands, today in 2010, hemp is still confused with marijuana. With the exception of the United States, hemp, a $360 billion industry, is grown in every industrialized country including China, which has tougher laws against marijuana than the United States. At all the Hemp History Week events, visitors are encouraged to sign postcards to the president to lift the ban on hemp. “If we allowed our farmers to grow this, rather than importing foreign grow hemp, it could help our economy vastly,” says Berge. “It could be so beneficial to us, it could provide jobs and so many more opportunities.”