its high time for hemp essays

it's high time for hemp essays The hemp plant is arguably the most useful crop in the world. There are over 25, 000 products made from hemp and it can be grown in a wide variety of climates. So how can such a useful plant be outlawed in America? Ignorance is how. People automatically connect hemp with its controversial cousin, marijuana. The truth is the differences between marijuana and hemp are very distinct. Hemp and marijuana are both variations of the cannabis plant. The quality that separates the two is the Tetra Hydro Cannabinol (THC) content. Hemp has less than 1% THC, while marijuana has 20-30%. This is because marijuana was specifically cultivated to have a high THC content. The amount of THC in hemp is so small that it would take dozens of pounds of it to even have a small affect on a person. It is humanly impossible to use hemp as a drug. One concern that many people have about the legalization of hemp is that they believe marijuana could easily be hidden in a field of hemp. This is not true for many reasons. First, the two plants are easily distinguished. Marijuana plants are short and bushy with many leaves and is harvested for its flowers and leaves. Hemp, however, is tall and straight, with leaves at the top of the plant and is harvested for its stalks before flowering even occurs. Another problem with disguising marijuana in a hemp field is that the two plants would crossbreed which eliminates nearly all of the THC content in marijuana plants. Third, in Canada, where hemp farming is legal, the farmers have to get a special license to grow and the crop is checked annually for THC content. If we enforced this in America, there would be little to no marijuana problems at hemp farms. Hemp has a great deal of history in our country also. Many well-known historical figures farmed the plant and encouraged farming of it. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln were all hemp-enthusiasts. Most of the sails and rope...