Industrial Hemp

Legalize Industrial Hemp General Purpose: To inform the class on why industrial hemp is illegal and the benefits of legalizing industrial hemp. Specific Purpose: To provide my audience with a better understanding of how useful industrial hemp could be for the economy. Central Idea: Due to the war on drugs, hemp production is severely limited; however, with the proper legalization and regulation of this plant the U. S. economy would prosper due to job creation and the environment would benefit by the amount of tress saved. Introduction Attention A.

Imagine if scientists discovered a new plant, a plant they say has the potential to both save money and conserve the environment. B. The plant grows quickly, is easy to cultivate, and can be used as a staple in virtually any industry. 1. Textiles, building materials, food, paper, and cosmetics, even fuel can be made from this seemingly magical crop. C. This plant is a renewable resource that ecologically benefits the environment it is planted in. D. But here’s the punch line: this plant exists, and humans have been using it for thousands of years. * II. Orientation A. I am a US consumer and a user of hemp products.

B. The legalization of Industrial Hemp would give the U. S. an opportunity to become stronger economically, strengthen national security and help heal the environment. C. Due to its high content of beneficial oils and natural emollient properties, hemp is becoming a common ingredient in lotions and many other skin, hair, and cosmetic products. 1. It is a good alternative to toxic chemicals present in many petroleum based lotions and cosmetics. Main Body * I. It is illegal to grow industrial hemp in the United States, with the exception of a few states that have passed legislation allowing the crop’s cultivation.

This is because of hemp’s unfortunate cousin, marijuana. A. The main difference between the two plants is the amount of tetrahybrocannabinol (better known as THC), the chemical in marijuana that induces psychoactive effects in users. 1. Industrial hemp and marijuana are not the same plant, and there is nothing anyone can do to turn a hemp plant into a marijuana plant. 2. Industrial hemp is less than one percent THC, while marijuana generally has a THC content between five and 20 percent. This makes it nearly impossible to get high from smoking hemp. B. To receive a standard psychoactive dose of THC from hemp, according to naihc. rg, one would have to smoke 10 to 12 hemp cigarettes in an extremely short period of time. C. The large volume and high temperature of the smoke would be almost impossible for a person to withstand. * II. Growing industrial hemp in the U. S. would be extremely beneficial environmentally. A. Industrial hemp as been used as paper as far back as 770 AD in China and drafts of the United States Constitution was written on hemp paper. 1. Hemp can yield as much as four times more pulp per acre compared to trees. 2. Hemp takes 120 days to mature, compare that to trees that take decades to mature. 3.

Countless trees would be allowed to remain standing for oxygen production and carbon sequestration, which would reduce global warming. B. Amongst it’s thousands of uses, Hemp is an eco-friendly alternative to producing food, oils, body care products, cosmetics, consumer and industrial textiles, building materials, industrial and technical products too numerous to name here. C. Hemp requires no harmful chemicals such as pesticides and fungicides, grows extremely fast in any climate and also replenishes the soil with nutrients and nitrogen which helps control erosion of topsoil, a serious agricultural problem in the U.

S. and globally. III. Growing industrial hemp in the U. S. would be highly beneficial economically. A. It would put more Americans to work and the U. S. would not have to import industrial hemp from other countries anymore. 1. Industrial hemp can create jobs in these counties where unemployment is well above the national average. 2. With a North American market that exceeds $300 million in annual retail sales and continued rising demand, industrial hemp could generate thousands of sustainable new jobs, helping America to get back on track. B. Hemp is stronger than normal fiberboard.

In France, a mixture of hemp, water and lime is used to make cement that is used in the building of 300 homes per year. C. Industrial hemp as a cash crop in the United States has a history as old as the United States itself. 1. The Founding Fathers grew hemp and it was an integral crop in the economic structure of the colonial United States. 2. Industrial hemp supported our economy during World War II. Conclusion I. Summary A. There are many uses for industrial hemp and there are many economic and environmental advantages with industrial hemp.

B. We can import it, we can sell products made from industrial hemp, but we cannot grow it. II. Clincher A. It makes no sense to ban growing a plant that has enormous economic and environmental potential, grows naturally by the millions, and is impossible to exterminate. B. There are no good reasons why the growing of industrial hemp in the United States is illegal at this time. C. Considering the benefits growing hemp, not only should it be legalized, the government should actually encourage farmers to grow it. D. U. S.

Presidents and founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, used hemp products, and were hemp advocates. 1. “Make the most of the hemp seed, sow it everywhere. ” – George Washington, first president of the U. S. and hemp advocate. * Works Cited Colwell, D. (2009, Mar. 25). AlterNet. Retrieved Nov. 01, 2012, from Hemp Is Not Pot: It’s the Economic Stimulus and Green Jobs Solution We Need http://www. alternet. org Curran, D. (2010, Nov. 16). The Massachusetts Daily Collegian . Retrieved Nov. 4, 2012, from Legailize industrial hemp. Golden, S. (1996). The Hemp Industry Source Book. Sebastopol: Mari Kane.