it take 1.5 acres of hemp to make that same paper products as 4.7 acres of trees

and guess what makes are o2 poeple turnes out we need trees to survive on this planet wow lets keep cutting them down

is that true ccr? where di you get that fact

Wow, with all the benefits of the cannabis plant, kinda makes you wonder why it is illegal...

"It's not a war on drugs, it's a war on personal freedom" - don't know who said this, but I heard it in a sample in the song "Third Eye" by Tool.

Hmmmm....

lol....f lawmakers

The Constitution was originally written on hemp paper.

The first American flag was made of hemp fibres.

In 1941 Henry Ford made a car almost entirely out of hemp and ran on hemp seed oil.

All plumbers use hemp to keep the joints water-tight

Marihuana is just a "victim" in the energy monopoly scam run by the worlds goverments.

Yes, the "hemp" plant has many wonderous qualities, but unfortunately the government knows full well that the percentage of legitimate hemp farmers to illegal/commercial growers is minute. There not worried about the people who are growing hemp for its many uses, because it contains next to no THC, so as an intoxicant it gives basically no "hit". This means that whoever is growing it would have a huge amount of trouble in selling any of it privately. This means they are unable to get large amounts of money tax-free, because the only people they could sell it to is the government. This doesnt bother the government. What bothers them is all the people that are growing Cannabis purely for its use as a drug. Recreational or not, the government cannot keep an effective tax on Cannabis because it can be grown by anyone almost anywhere. This allows people to make fortunes without having anything to do with the government, and if there is something they cant tax, chances are they'll make it illegal.

us went to buying nylon & rayon over hemp.

its not legal because hemp would smash all the billionires companys that take pride in killing the world for the sake of keeping there familys in power the world would be a much better place if herb was legal. leaders of the world need to sit down and smoke a joint and think what the hell there doing to us and what the world will be like in 20 years if they dont stop now

AUSTRALIAN HEMP HISTORY

From author John Jiggen's book: "True Hemp in Australia",
and other sources.

Before Federation:

1778: Sir Joseph Banks, "the Father of Australia", the man who sent hemp seeds on the First Fleet and devised the scheme for a convict and hemp colony, must be claimed as hemp's Australian Godfather.

181897: At the Federal Convention, Adelaide, March 1897, the drafting of the Australian Constitution was entrusted to three lawyers shown here: Edmund Barton (standing), John Downer (left) and Richard O’Connor. Edmund Barton went on to become Australia’s first Prime Minister. O’Connor and Barton were appointed to the High Court in 1903.


Act No 17 of 1897 (Qld) forbade sale of opium to Aborigines. Sale of alcohol to Aborigines carried a £50 penalty, opium a £100 penalty.



1802 : NSW's governor wrote Banks that he had sown 10 acres of "Indian hemp seeds" that grew "with utmost luxuriance, generally from six to ten feet in height." The governor and Banks did not seem to know that Cannabis Indica was any different from European hemp.

1808 - 1814: Shortage of hemp in Britain due to Napoleon's blockade. Colonies encouraged to produce hemp.

1822:Archibald Bell's views on developing the colony: "The present mode of farming here seems not to deserve the name of a system. Wheat and maize are indeed almost the only crops raised, this arises in the market for any other produce
...first, public encouragement should be given to the growth of flax and hemp, the rich land on the banks of the Hawksebury and Napean are capable of producing as we know by experience, the most luxuriant crops, the manufacture of which would afford fit employment for female convicts and lame men.
...the propriety of cultivating hemp and flax seems strongly pointed out to notice, as in curing and preparing of so many hands would be required, and would thus ensure for female convicts, (and also lame and infirm old men now a burthen to the crown) a consideration as it respects the female particular of no small importance to the well being of morality."
Archibald Bell's views were echoed by Provost Marshall John Cambell in a letter to the new Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane on February 12th 1822.


(Archibald Bell, who presented the argument for New South Wales as a hemp colony to Bigge, was the chief police magistrate in the Windsor area where he was the first paid magistrate and occupied a government house valued at one thousand pounds. A member of the New South Wales Corp, Bell had been in charge of the guard at Government House in 1808 when Bligh was arrested. After Bligh's arrest, he served as military commandant at the Hawkesbury, and received a grant of a town allotment and 500 acres at Richmond, and a larger grant of 1000 acres. He was one of those "with the largest property and highest respectability" consulted by Bigge, and he was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1832.)


00: As per Royal instruction, the early Governors of New South Wales - Phillip, Hunter and I1880 - 1890: The use of now prohibited or restricted drugs was widespread and tolerated to an extent that would cause outcry today. For example laudanum, a household painkiller available without a prescription, was a mixture of opium and alcohol and was used for infants with teething problems. Cigares De Joy, marijuana cigarettes were available in Australia and, to name just two of the numerous drug-laced patent medicines available, Bonnington’s Irish Moss contained opium alkaloids and Ayre’s Sarsaparilla Mixtures contained opium. In the 1890s, morphine lozenges did not come under the existing poisons legislation. Opium was seen as a valuable commodity and was exported in vast quantities from India into China to balance the British Empire’s tea trade. The Opium Wars of 1839-42 and 1856-58 broke out as the Chinese tried to resist the importation of the drug.


1891-1895: Some early opium bills failed. For example, opium growing farmers of Bacchus Marsh defeated the passage of a bill ‘to restrict and regulate the sale and use of opium’. The Sale and Use of Opium Act 1891 (Qld) controlled opium distribution, essentially to protect Aborigines from being paid in opium. The growing awareness of addiction meant growing opposition to free availability.

Opium Act 1895 was applied to South Australia and the Northern Territory, making it an offence to sell or give to ‘any Aboriginal native of Australia’.

an McLaren has described Marcus Clarke as "essentially the journalist. He was able to sense a story; he was aggressive and combative, ready to translate his thoughts into arresting words that caught the imagination of the public, or aroused antagonism to his views expressed so forthrightly"

. He was kept busy by the Argus and Australasian, writing leaders and literary articles and reviewing books and theatre. A series of articles, 'Lower Bohemia', about Melbourne low life appeared in the Australasian and were particularly successful, being "strong pieces of investigative journalism".



King - did their best to encourage the hemp industry. By 1800, cloth manufacture had begun.
1846: Francis Campbell publishes the first edition of the only Australian text on hemp. "A Treatise on the Culture of Flax and Hemp". This collection of essays was originally serialised in the Australasian. There were two subsequent editions of this book in Campbells lifetime. the third edition being published in 1864. The book was re-published by Wild and Woolley in 1977, along with a marijuana growing guide. Interestingly, the copy of the book in the Mitchell Library in Sydney was donated by John Fairfax MLA, the founder of the Fairfax dynasty.

1856: Victoria imposes duty on opium: 21,890 kg imported in that year, earning £56,979 in duty. The goldrushes and the opium smoking Chinese population they attracted made imposts on opium a good source of revenue.

1859: Demand for hemp in Australia is high, but most seems to be imported. The Sands Directory of New South Wales lists two rope manufacturers in that year. After 1867 the industry grew and expanded. Between 1859 and 1890 about 39 rope businesses were listed. Only eight were in existence by 1890 as business life expectancy was apparently low.

1860:The production of New Zealand flax fibre on a large scale did not commence until the late 1860s, when a machine was invented to beat the green leaf between a revolving metal drum and a fixed metal bar. Metal beaters on the surface of the drum struck the leaf at great speed, stripping away the non-fibrous material and releasing the strands of fibre. This machine (which became known as a ”stripper”) produced a much coarser fibre than the Maori hand-dressing process, but one machine could produce about 250 kilograms (a quarter of a tonne) of fibre per day, whereas one Maori worker (using a mussel shell) could produce only one kilogram of fibre in the same time. By 1910 the stripper had been improved to the point where it was capable of producing 1.27 tonnes of fibre per day.

1868: Colonial Monthly publishes the story "Cannabis Indica" written by Marcus Clarke as an experiment while under the influence of cannabis. He is out to thrill his readership rather than scientifically record. "Cannabis Indica" is Australia's first recorded drug writing.

Post Federation

1900:Federation of the Australian states into a new country. We are Australia.

1901: States give up power to levy customs duties although they retained some Commonwealth duties for some time.

Customs Act 1901 prohibits import of non medicinal opium to stop recreational use spreading beyond Chinese community. Collector of Customs grants licences to doctors and pharmacists.

1905: Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905 (Cth) - controlled packaging, marking and marketing of patent medicines (medicinal opium, morphine, heroin, cannabis and others).

Premiers Conference – decision made to take action against non-medicinal use of opium under pressure from feminist and church groups, as more Europeans were believed to be smoking opium.

Opium Amendment Act 1905 (SA) – risk of fine and imprisonment if non-medicinal opium sold, bartered or given to any race, ‘Asiatics’ risk deportation.

Opium Smoking Prohibition Act 1905 (Vic) - campaign supported by Chinese merchants but focuses on Chinese opium smokers.

1907: Royal Commission in Secret Drugs, Cures and Foods presented to Commonwealth gives first warning of dangers of heroin, used as cough mixture. Commission noted heroin in medicine not controlled.

1908: Police Offences Act (NSW) – offence to sell, smoke or possess preparations of opium for smoking. The Labor leader, W A Holman protested at the use of opium being made an offence at law, when used ‘by an adult man who knows what he is doing and is master of his own actions’.


1910: Joint Commonwealth State Conference - drugs for therapeutic purposes; dispensing and labelling of medicines.

Customs Act s 233B(1) - non medicinal opium wide-ranging offences.

Shanghai International Opium Conference was held at the insistence of USA, supported by European powers, China, Japan, Siam and Persia.

1912: Hague International Convention on Narcotics - control production and distribution of raw and prepared opium (morphine and cocaine); required parties to Convention to ‘examine possibility of making it a penal offence to be in illegal possession of’ drugs covered by the treaty.


1914: Dangerous Drugs Act (UK) - adopts terms of Hague Convention re control of drugs in treaty. Western powers more in touch with opium producing countries.


1920: Australia implements Hague Convention


1925: Geneva Convention adds cannabis to Hague Convention narcotic list, and sets up a permanent Central Opium Board to supervise international trade in controlled drugs.

1926: Australian Opium Proclamation prohibiting Coca leaves and Indian hemp. (This is eleven years before America prohibits hemp.)

1931: Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods (New York) - signatories to give estimates of legitimate controlled drug needs. Embargoes against signatories exceeding estimates.


1953: Ban on medicinal use of heroin. Overprescription/unnecessary prescription by medical profession prohibited.


1961: Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961 (New York) - schedules of drugs adopted at conference of 71 nations:

Schedule I – opiate narcotics, cocaine and cannabis for medical and scientific purposes.

Schedule IV – cannabis, cannabis resin and heroin ‘particularly dangerous’, requiring more stringent controls. Signatories to Convention to adopt whatever methods necessary. Article 36(1) requires signatories to make production, possession, importation and other activities serious offences to be punishable by imprisonment (when committed intentionally).

1964:Cannabis found growing wild in the Hunter Valley, survivors from early Australian crops. Enormous newspaper publicity arouses public interest. Eradication program begun.

1967: Appendix to Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 adopted Single Convention. Domestic manufacturers of narcotic drugs licenced.

1970: American soldiers on R&R from Vietnam buy local pot and introduce more potent strains. Kings Cross becomes a known centre for R&R drug trade.

1971: Convention on Psychotropic Substances extended beyond narcotic drugs to cover drugs not listed in Single Convention Schedules. Dealings to be controlled for medical purposes; more flexibility than Single Convention.


1972: Protocol to Single Convention - treatment or rehabilitation as alternative to conviction or punishment.
1973: Aquarius Festival at Nimbin. Australian Union of Student's and Peter Stuyvesants put on a festival that begat communes and cannabis and publicity.

1976: Psychotropic Substances Act 1976 incorporated 1971 Convention.

August 12th NSW Police conduct a pre dawn raid on Tuntable Falls Co-operative, rounding up 42 people at gunpoint, loading them into a mixture of vehicles, including a cattle truck. There was a shortage of pot at the time and only a pregnant mothers stash tin and a Sunshine Milk tin containing twelve ounces was found on the entire property. The Police said they would divide it among us to charge us all.

August 29th The Cedar Bay commune is raided by Queensland Police. Using a helicopter, a naval patrol boat and four wheel drives they rounded up the members of the isolated community. Finding only a small quantity of marijuana, the police discharged firearms into water tanks and burned down the hippie's houses before they left. ZZZ radio broke what would become an international story at the time.

All cannabis charges made in the course of the Tuntable Falls raid were dismissed.

Queensland was the same, with compensation sought and gained by some of the defendants.

1984: South Australia decriminalised minor cannabis offences with a fine in expiation of a charge for cannabis use, referral for assessment with option of treatment and rehabilitation as alternative to prosecution.

1985: NSW comprehensive schedule of drugs prohibited except on prescription.

1992: ACT - small amounts cannabis police discretion re fine (NT follows in 1995).

First Nimbin MardiGrass Law Reform Rally held after years of bi-annual helicopter raids that find little to justify them, unless you believe the bizarrely optimistic $2000.00 a seedling formula the police employ?

1997: In September Police use helicopters to raid the Wytaliba community, between Grafton and Glen Innes in the Mann River valley. Despite being videotaped they abused their powers by refusing to produce a search warrant or identification, and using excessive force. Charges were dismissed and the NSW police force sued.

1999-2000: NSW small amounts of cannabis - police to direct offender’s attention to harms and treatment - police cautioning system.

NSW trial of supervised heroin injecting rooms, modifying prohibition.

2000: The 100 or so alternative lifestylers living at Wytaliba were in the mood to celebrate hard. They'd just been awarded $1.3 million following an unlawful search by police that happened to be captured on video - including one policeman saying "we got no warrant".

2004: Medical Cannabis flagged by Carr, but nothing happens. Howard can block it.

South Australian expiation notice scheme now only applies to only a single outdoor plant.

In Western Australia from 22 March 2004 police have the discretion to issue a Cannabis Infringement Notice to you if you are aged 18 years and over, and found to be:
- in possession of or using no more than 30 grams of cannabis;
- in possession of pipes or implements for use in smoking cannabis on which there are detectable traces of cannabis;
- growing no more than two outdoor cannabis plants at your principal place of residence, provided that no other person is growing other cannabis plants on the same premises.

Federally the Conservatives consolidated at election time. The size of the mortgage ruled the voters choice. Federally it is still "zero tolerance".

Raids continue while the drugs of the twenty first century whistle through our village, stimulants that provoke violence and vandalism amongst some of the young. The cannabis smokers are still the same peaceful lot they allways were, still protesting against unfair laws, still putting on the MardiGrass every year, still working to make the world a better place.

CREDIT:

Some of the information and points of view in this Table are taken from John Lonie, A Social History of Drug Control in Australia, Research Paper 8, Royal Commission into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs South Australia, 1979 (The Sackville Commission)

Just a few facts I found at a hemp oil website. Remember they sell hemp oil, so take it how you want.Pretty interesting though.I did find that it was the wonderful boys at Du Pont that discovered nylon in 1938, a very powerful name in America.

*Until 1883, more than three quarters of the world's paper was made from Hemp fibre;
*In Elizabethan times, farmers were fined for not growing Hemp;
*A Hemp crop produces nearly four times as much raw fibre as an equivalent-sized tree plantation;
*Trees take approximately 20 years to mature. Hemp takes 4 months;
*Hemp fibre needs no pesticides;
*Hemp needs no herbicides because it grows too quickly for any weed to compete;
*Hemp paper does not need chlorine bleach, which pollutes rivers near wood-pulp paper mills;
*Hemp paper is stronger, finer and longer-lasting than wood-based papers;
*Hemp paper is used for bank notes and archival papers;
*The earliest-known woven fabric was apparently of Hemp, which began to be worked approximately 8,000-7,000 BC
*For more than a thousand years before the time of Christ until 1883 AD, Cannabis/Hemp was our planet's largest agricultural crop and most important industry for thousands of products and enterprises, producing the overall majority of the earth's fibre, fabric, lighting oil, paper, incense and medicines, as well as being a primary source of protein for humans and animals alike;
*The war between America and Great Britain in 1812 was mainly about access to Russian Hemp;
*Napoleon's principle reason for tragically invading Russia in 1812 was also due to Russian Hemp supplies!
*The word 'linen', until the early 1800s meant any fine fabrics made from Hemp or flax;
*Cannabis oil was mentioned by name in the Bible. Apparently, etymologists at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, confirmed that 'kineboisin' (also spelled 'kannabosm") referred to cannabis used in a holy ointment. N.B. King James mistranslated the word as 'calamus' in his version;
*Hempseed oil is said to burn the brightest of all lamp oils, and has been used since the days of Abraham. Scythians used to purify and cleanse themselves with Hemp oil, which made their skin "shining and clean";
*Our forests, what is left of them, are being cut down 3 times as fast as they can grow.;
*Japan is targeting that 10% of paper must be from non-wood fibres by 2005;
*Further, hemp fibre has been found to be a lighter, stronger alternative to fibreglass;
*Hemp offers a valuable and sustainable fuel of the future, "growing oil wells". Hemp has an output equivalent to around 1000 gallons of methanol per acre year (10 tons Biomass/acre, each yielding 100 gal. methanol/ton). Methanol used today is mainly made from natural gas, a fossil fuel. Methanol is currently being studied as a primary fuel for automobiles.
*Henry Ford dreamed that someday automobiles would be grown from the soil. The Ford motor company, after years of research produced an automobile with a plastic body. Its tough body used a mixture of 70% cellulose fibres from Hemp. The plastic withstood blows 10 times as great as steel could without denting! Its weight was also 2/3 that of a regular car, producing better economy. Henry Ford was forced to use petroleum due to Hemp prohibition. His plans to fuel his fleet of automotive vehicles with plant-power also failed due to Alcohol prohibition;
*Hemp grain does not contain the anti-nutrient trypsin inhibitors as found in soy milk.;
*Hanf in German, Canamo in Spanish, Chanvre in French, Konoplya in Russian, Kender in Hungarian, Tal Ma in Chinese

A few more from the news show 'Frontline'

1600-1890s

Domestic production of hemp encouraged

American production of hemp was encouraged by the government in the 17th century for the production of rope, sails, and clothing. (Marijuana is the mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves that comes from the hemp plant.)

In 1619 the Virginia Assembly passed legislation requiring every farmer to grow hemp. Hemp was allowed to be exchanged as legal tender in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.

Domestic production flourished until after the Civil War, when imports and other domestic materials replaced hemp for many purposes. In the late nineteenth century, marijuana became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was sold openly in public pharmacies.

During the 19th century, hashish use became a fad in France and also, to some extent, in the U.S.



1906

Pure Food and Drug Act

Required labeling of any cannabis contained in over-the-counter remedies.



1900 - 20s

Mexican immigrants introduce recreational use of marijuana leaf

After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Mexican immigrants flooded into the U.S., introducing to American culture the recreational use of marijuana. The drug became associated with the immigrants, and the fear and prejudice about the Spanish-speaking newcomers became associated with marijuana. Anti-drug campaigners warned against the encroaching "Marijuana Menace," and terrible crimes were attributed to marijuana and the Mexicans who used it.



1930s

Fear of marijuana

During the Great Depression, massive unemployment increased public resentment and fear of Mexican immigrants, escalating public and governmental concern about the problem of marijuana. This instigated a flurry of research which linked the use of marijuana with violence, crime and other socially deviant behaviors, primarily committed by "racially inferior" or underclass communities. By 1931, 29 states had outlawed marijuana.



1930

Creation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN)

Harry J. Anslinger was the first Commissioner of the FBN and remained in that post until 1962.



1932

Uniform State Narcotic Act

Concern about the rising use of marijuana and research linking its use with crime and other social problems created pressure on the federal government to take action. Rather than promoting federal legislation, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics strongly encouraged state governments to accept responsibility for control of the problem by adopting the Uniform State Narcotic Act.



1936

"Reefer Madness"

Propaganda film "Reefer Madness" was produced by the French director, Louis Gasnier.

The Motion Pictures Association of America, composed of the major Hollywood studios, banned the showing of any narcotics in films.



1937

Marijuana Tax Act

After a lurid national propaganda campaign against the "evil weed," Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act. The statute effectively criminalized marijuana, restricting possession of the drug to individuals who paid an excise tax for certain authorized medical and industrial uses.



1944

La Guardia Report finds marijuana less dangerous

New York Academy of Medicine issued an extensively researched report declaring that, contrary to earlier research and popular belief, use of marijuana did not induce violence, insanity or sex crimes, or lead to addiction or other drug use.



1940s

"Hemp for Victory"

During World War II, imports of hemp and other materials crucial for producing marine cordage, parachutes, and other military necessities became scarce. In response the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched its "Hemp for Victory" program, encouraging farmers to plant hemp by giving out seeds and granting draft deferments to those who would stay home and grow hemp. By 1943 American farmers registered in the program harvested 375,000 acres of hemp.



1951-56

Stricter Sentencing Laws

Enactment of federal laws (Boggs Act, 1952; Narcotics Control Act, 1956) which set mandatory sentences for drug-related offenses, including marijuana.

A first-offense marijuana possession carried a minimum sentence of 2-10 years with a fine of up to $20,000.




1960s

Marijuana use popular in counterculture

A changing political and cultural climate was reflected in more lenient attitudes towards marijuana. Use of the drug became widespread in the white upper middle class. Reports commissioned by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson found that marijuana use did not induce violence nor lead to use of heavier drugs. Policy towards marijuana began to involve considerations of treatment as well as criminal penalties.



1968

Creation of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs

This was a merger of FBN and the Bureau of Dangerous Drugs of the Food and Drug Administration.



1970

Repeal of most mandatory minimum sentences

Congress repealed most of the mandatory penalties for drug-related offenses. It was widely acknowledged that the mandatory minimum sentences of the 1950s had done nothing to eliminate the drug culture that embraced marijuana use throughout the 60s, and that the minimum sentences imposed were often unduly harsh.

Marijuana differentiated from other drugs

The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act categorized marijuana separately from other narcotics and eliminated mandatory federal sentences for possession of small amounts.

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) founded



1972

Shafer Commission

The bipartisan Shafer Commission, appointed by President Nixon at the direction of Congress, considered laws regarding marijuana and determined that personal use of marijuana should be decriminalized. Nixon rejected the recommendation, but over the course of the 1970s, eleven states decriminalized marijuana and most others reduced their penalties.



1973

Creation of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

Merger of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNND) and the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE).



1974

High Times founded



1976

Beginning of parents' movement against marijuana

A nationwide movement emerged of conservative parents' groups lobbying for stricter regulation of marijuana and the prevention of drug use by teenagers. Some of these groups became quite powerful and, with the support of the DEA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), were instrumental in affecting public attitudes which led to the 1980s War on Drugs.



1986

Anti-Drug Abuse Act - Mandatory Sentences

President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, instituting mandatory sentences for drug-related crimes. In conjunction with the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, the new law raised federal penalties for marijuana possession and dealing, basing the penalties on the amount of the drug involved. Possession of 100 marijuana plants received the same penalty as possession of 100 grams of heroin. A later amendment to the Anti-Drug Abuse Act established a "three strikes and you're out" policy, requiring life sentences for repeat drug offenders, and providing for the death penalty for "drug kingpins."



1989

Bush's War on Drugs

President George Bush declares a new War on Drugs in a nationally televised speech.



1996

Medical Use Legalized in California

California voters passed Proposition 215 allowing for the sale and medical use of marijuana for patients with AIDS, cancer, and other serious and painful diseases. This law stands in tension with federal laws prohibiting possession of marijuana.