In 1985 Jack Herer first published his book the Emperor Wears no Clothes. He wrote about how the plant was banned from being grown anywhere unless it was for the war effort. We have had prohibition of this plant for 85 years. That’s nearly 5 generations that have been prevented from using the many wonderful uses of this plant and i can report that reefer madness is alive and kicking. I have never been ejected or prevented from posting on any social media page until i started telling people how it is becoming a cure for many of my conditions.
Here is an article from the Ecological Agricuture Projects at McGill University in Canada Environmental Benefits of Hemp. The is quite a long list but it seems to me that it is a no brainer that we switch to using hemp for many things like we used to. Everything from the magna carter upto and including the Marijuana tax act 1937 was printed on hemp paper.
The Rodale Institute in Kutztown, PA, United States 5 ways Hemp can save the environment. Number one on this article is about plastics because yes you can make biodegradeable plastics out of hemp celulose. There is typically 70 – 80% celulose in hemp compared to most trees which only have 30%.
Vasse Valley in Australia has 7 Environmental Benefits of Hemp. First up on this article is about reducing carbon emmissions. Hemp starts capturing carbon alomost as oon as it has gone in the ground but certainly within the first 2 weeks of it’s life. The next quickest plant to capture carbon is Bamboo but this takes seven years to start capturing carbon. I have some bamboo in my garden which you can see on this youtube video but it is not in the ground and i have only had these plants for about 3-4 years.
Here is what Good Hemp based in North Devon UK have to say What is Hemp Used for? Of course First up on this website is food. This company produces hemp seed and grounds the seed for oil that can be used for cooking and in dressings. I use this oil all the time although it is not cheap at the moment because of the prohibition surrounding this plant. £6 for 500ml but it does seem to be the cheapest on the market i have seen prices of £12 for 250ml. This would be the cheapest oil to both produce and buy if it were not for the prohibition.
East Yorkshire Hemp also has some information on the Environmental Benefits of Hemp. This article is concerned with more environmental benefits of hemp like requireing less water than other plants like cotton, fixing arid soils and cleaning up toxic metals. However Number 7 in the list is not quite true. They used Hemp to clean the soils in Cernobyl but not Fukushima (I think this is stated in Jack Herer’s book in one of the updates. Also in Jack Herer’s bible he states that hemp seeds are a birds favourite seed. (even my cat has tasted the Hemp spread/butter that I make and would possibly eaten the lot had i given him the chance.
ITS Hemp based in India, has a lot to say about Hemp/Cannabis they even have a store where you can buy hemp foods, clothes & cosmetics.
I have left a lot for you to read here and i’m sure you could find a lot more about hemp if you would like to learn more. Since time is running out on humanity saving the planet, i think it’s clear to say that we really do need to start shouting from the rooftops, that this plant should never have been prohibited and just like the powers that be can decide to start growing this crop and even fine their farmers a lot of money and have even been known to throw them in jail in times of war, they can decide to start growing this everywhere to save the environment. But it won’t work unless we stop using fossil fuels.
This morning I received an email from The British Hemp Alliance who are a UK organisation to promote Hemp to help with the environmental issues the world faces.
BHA April Update
Dear BHA Supporters and Members
Apologies for the delay in sending out our April Update. Both Nathaniel and I have been very busy this month speaking at a number of high level Hemp events, including the Hemp Happening event in York, with keynote speakers from academia and government, and the Irish Coop’s Annual Hemp Conference, in Dublin.
Today, Rebekah will be speaking at the CBD show, in Olympia, London on The Importance of Hemp for a Net Zero Future – details below. Rebekah will also be attending the APPG for CBD Products meeting in Parliament next week.
Today the BHA is honouring Earthday, which has been celebrated on April 22nd every year since 1970.
It was a movement set up to inspire, challenge ideas, ignite passion and motivate people into action on climate change. It gave a voice to the awakening consciousness at that time, and was conceived to channel human energy into environmental issues, and forge a healthier relationship to our planet.
But fifty-two years later, we are in an even worse environmental crisis. Ignoring the science, the IPCC, and the environmentalists, we have not only continued with our over exploitation of the earth’s resources for financial gain, there is still no real political change. Our global leadership remains in denial of what is happening on Planet Earth, despite the irrefutable signs.
Stratospheric ozone depletion, degraded air and water quality, land contamination, deforestation, soil erosion, habitat loss, plastic debris, mercury poisoning, extreme climate changes, and now most worrying a rise of methane in the atmosphere, to name but a few challenges we are facing. All this has led us into what is now termed the ‘sixth mass extinction’, with over 150 species of animals and plants becoming extinct every day, according to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The latest IPCC report 2022, underlines the need to conserve 30% to 50% of the Earth’s land, freshwater and ocean areas but we’re far from that goal. Less than 15% of the world’s land, 21% of its freshwater and just 8% of oceans are under some form of protection, often with “insufficient stewardship.”
It urges governments to invest in climate action, but so far, we are not seeing the funding levels needed to invest in renewable and sustainable technology, and effective solutions. There are too many vested interests, and too much consolidated power is at the top to stop the oil addiction.
We can no longer afford to wait for billions of trees to save us, or for those in power to make real changes to our political and economic ideology. “The scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future,” said Hans-Otto Pörtner (physiologist and marine biologist and IPCC Scientist).
What we need is fast acting solutions to our crisis, and hemp is a viable tool to help us mitigate the challenges we face.
Hemp can provide the industrial quantities of biomass required to save and preserve remaining forest resources, biodiversity, and atmospheric carbon capture, while simultaneously improving food security and addressing the overtly socio-economic problems of poverty and urban migration.
It is also far less vulnerable to changes in climate compared to slow to medium growth forests and still shares many of the biochemical characteristics of hardwood. In addition, hemp is a very versatile crop, not just in terms of use value, but also in terms of how it can be managed by farmers.
It requires low-intensive management yet can effectively replace all the goods and services traditionally supplied by the now depleted forest resources including fuel, food and shelter. Growing hemp on deforested hillsides prevent landslides, run-off and also prepares land for future crops or tree planting. Several metric tons of wood can also be produced in a hectare.
Hemp is capable of addressing the interlinked challenges of climate change, soil health, nutrition, bio-fuels and sustainable sourced raw materials for major industries. It is a multi-use, highly profitable crop that uniquely needs only twelve to fifteen weeks to mature, opening up the possibility of carbon, or biomass farming, within the annual food crop rotation.
However, the cripping regulation and obstacles to growing hemp, as an ecological and agricultural crop, are stopping it being used to its full potential. At present we are the only UK hemp organisation focused solely on the environmental benefits of hemp. Please do join the BHA membership this year. The more of us there are, the stronger we become, and the more influence we have. Our Annual Membership rates are: £60 for individuals, or £240 for businesses. Please CLICK HERE to join
The British Hemp Alliance demands are simple:
- Recognise Hemp, as an agricultural crop, put it in DEFRA and remove all licensing.
- Allow the farmer to grow, harvest, process and sell the whole plant.
- Increase THC in the field to 1%+
Thank you for your continued support.
Best wishes
Nathaniel Loxley and Rebekah Shaman
Directors
CBD SHOW
22nd-23rd APRIL
Rebekah is talking today at the CBD Show from 1.10-1.40pm on the Seminar Stage, on The importance of Hemp for a Net Zero Future
Please CLICK HERE for your free ticket
COLLABORATIONS
APPG for CBD PRODUCTS
We are very proud to be part of the Secretariat Advisory Board (SAB) to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on CBD Products, which includes the UK’s and Europe’s leading CBD and hemp trade bodies and groups.
The board’s role is to provide advice to the APPG Secretariat, Tenacious Labs (tenacious-labs.com) on latest industry views, innovation and research. The Secretariat works for the APPG at the direction of the office of the Chairman, Crispin Blunt MP. It provides a singular voice for the industry, and delivers research, reports and advice on industry advances, and funding for events. The SAB gathers every two months, before the bimonthly meeting of the APPG which meets in Portcullis House, Westminster.
SAB members include the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society (MCCS), Cannabis Industry Council (CIC), Cannabis Trades Association (CTA), European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), Scottish Hemp Association (SHA), British Hemp Alliance (BHA), Cannabis Services Advisory Board (CSAB Jersey) and Charlotte’s Web.
CANNABIS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
The Cannabis Industry Council brings together organisations, businesses, and groups working in many different ways to promote the cause of Cannabis and Hemp.
Together, we influence the future of Cannabis and Hemp in the UK and learn from and network with fellow sector organisations. It is a collective voice for, and by, the sector. For more information CLICK HERE
BHA AGREES GLOBAL COMMON POSITION WITH OTHER GLOBAL ASSOCIATIONS
Eleven hemp associations from around the world have agreed to a common position on CBD, seeking normalization, they say, is implied by existing international conventions. To read more CLICK HERE
Read the Global Common Position HERE
UK HEMP MANIFESTO
The BHA have written a Hemp Manifesto for the UK – please add your support so we can show the Home Office, and the regulators that we are a strong voice that needs to be heard.
The BHA is a not-for-profit company that relies solely on Membership.
It is my hope that I can get the Green Party of England and Wales to support the British Hemp Alliance Manifesto. I am not currently a member of the BHA as I am maxed out with memberships but i do suport the work of this organisation.
I would like to thank everyone for the work they do to raise awareness of the many awesome properties of this plant. I know that we can all get burnout but working together will gain results eventually. I would also like to thank everyone who has read this very long post. I possibly should have done this over a number of posts and of course will do others as more scientific information becomes available. Maybe i do need to go and find some scientific papers now to support this post.
Philippa Fleming Activist 
Leave a Reply