The hemp plant is the oldest cultivated fiber plant known, with a history of use in textiles and fabrics dating back as far as 8000 BC. The hemp plant produces the strongest natural fiber known. It is three times stronger than cotton fabric of the same weight. It is also warmer, more absorbent, and longer wearing. A crop of hemp requires no application of herbicides. With a density of 200 - 300 plants per square meter, there is no available room or light for weeds to grow. The hemp plant has no need of pesticides. It has no known insect enemies and is also highly resistant to disease.
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Hemp Products
Over 25,000 practical products can be produced from hemp--anything from "dynamite to Cellophane", according to an article in the February 1938 issue of Popular Mechanics. In fact, nearly all petroleum-based products, including plastics, could be made as hemp-based products, and with less impact on the enviroment. Cellulose fiber obtained from hemp plants can be used to produce paint, PVC pipe, and many durable building materials. It can also be used to make paper. One acre of hemp yields an amount of cellulose, available for processing into paper, equal to the yield of 4.1 acres of trees. The hemp seed contains one of the most complete and 'readily available' vegetable proteins known, and hemp seed oil is lower in saturated fats than any other vegetable oil including soybean and canola. Fabrics made of at least one-half hemp block the sun's UV rays more effectively than other fabrics.
Background
Hemp was grown commercially (with increasing governmental interference) in the United States until the 1950s. It was doomed by the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which placed an extremely high tax on marijuana and made it effectively impossible to grow industrial hemp. While Congress expressly expected the continued production of industrial hemp, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics lumped industrial hemp with marijuana, as it's successor the US Drug Enforcement Administration, does to this day. Over 30 industrialized democracies do distinguish hemp from marijuana. International treaties regarding marijuana make an exception for industrial hemp.
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