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Positive arguments for the legalization of Hemp in
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Dear Fellow Concerned Citizen;
The following information was compiled from literature that I received
at the July 4, 1993 Pro-Hemp rally in Milwaukee, WI. The rally was sponsored
by the Milwaukee Chapter of NORML - The National Organization for the Reform
of Marijuana Laws. I personally have not smoked marijuana in many years, but
feel the repeal of marijuana prohibition will have a positive socio-economic
impact on our country, in addition to reducing the strain on our dwindling
natural resources.
Please take a few minutes to read this, and if you find our position
to be valid, I urge you to write your senators and congressmen expressing your
views. Your opinion DOES matter, but it won't be heard in Washington unless
you send a letter. Elected officials are obligated to act in accordance with
their constituent's wishes, but very few voters ever write to Congress. This
means that your single letter is speaking for thousands, if not millions of
your fellow citizens. Exercise your rights as an American, and exercise them
often, or somebody else will speak for you. If you have any comments or
questions, please contact your local NORML chapter. Thank you for your time.
Todd Mailandt
5379 Eastway, Apt. 2
Greendale, WI 53129
(414) 423-1740
For More Information:
NORML
P.O. Box 92251
Milwaukee, WI 53202
(414) 273-HEMP
HEMP & THE ECONOMY
(Compiled by the Business Alliance for Commerce in Hemp - BACH)
Hemp's Role in Economic History
Hemp is regarded as probably being the first crop cultivated by
humans, as early as 8,000 B.C. in the Middle East. It provided the sails for
ships that allowed commerce and made Columbus' trip to America possible (other
fibers would have decayed somewhere in mid-Atlantic). Hemp replaced papyrus as
the source of paper that fostered the spread of written knowledge. Hemp was
the largest cash crop in the world until the late 19th century, when new
technology began to replace it. But marijuana is again the largest cash crop
in America; it generates almost four times as much revenue ($41.6 billion/yr)
as does it's closest competitor, corn ($13.37 billion), according to the
federal Drug Enforcement Administration. But this is only a small fraction of
the potential revenue that will be generated when hemp again takes it's
rightful place in the agricultural, textile, food, fuel, cordage, fabrication,
pharmaceutical, paper and other affected businesses. Currently, enforcement of
the prohibition and eradication programs cost taxpayers hundreds of millions
of dollars, has created a non-taxed black market of tens of billions of
dollars and has increased the domestic marijuana crop, according to the DEA.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimated that there were 29
million regular users of marijuana and hashish in 1985 and 21 million in 1988.
Most sources regard these federal figures as being low. However, even based on
the low figures, it is clear that there is a lucrative market in smoking
paraphernalia worth billions of dollars that is suppressed.
Hemp Saves Farms
Hemp was the major cash crop of the U.S., including most of the areas
suffering from family farm foreclosures, until just before the Great
Depression. But the "cash crop of tomorrow" cannot legally be used to end the
farm crisis of today.
Hemp For Clothing
Fabrics made from hemp are warmer, softer, stronger, more water
absorbent and last 26 times longer than cotton. This amazing plant fiber holds
it's shape as well as polyester, but "breathes" and is biodegradable because
it is organic. It has been valued for it's durability since before recorded
history. It can be woven as smooth as silk or as intricately as lace. The
canvas sails on generations of ships and the original Levi jeans were made of
hemp. The quality of this fiber has yet to be surpassed.
Hemp For Paper
Paper made from hemp lasts many times longer than that made of wood
pulp, without yellowing or otherwise deteriorating. It does not require
dangerous chemicals like wood, and has been called the "archivist's perfect
paper". The Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were both
originally drafted on hemp, the basis of our free press. The Gutenberg Bibles
were made of it, as were illuminated manuscripts of the middle ages. It
replaced papyrus as a source of paper. But prohibition laws have led to the
destruction of 70% of America's forests since 1937. Help us restore hemp to
it's rightful place in history.
Hemp Could Save S&L's
The Savings & Loan industry could recoup many of it's losses by
allowing debtors (i.e., real estate) to invest in hemp. By way of comparison,
the federal cost overrun of the S&L bailout program submitted by President
Bush in August, 1989, is $50 billion, and money from marijuana sales for 1988
was 41.6 billion, meaning that the money generated by sales of relaxational
hemp alone could pay 80% or more of the difference. Estimates of the total
legitimate revenues that would be generated by legal commerce in hemp range
from 10 to 100 times that amount. But hemp is held hostage by protectionist
laws. Help restore competition & security to the American economy.
HEMP FOR FUEL
(Excerpted from Energy Farming in America, by Lynn Osburn)
Biomass conversion to fuel has proven economically feasible, first in
laboratory tests and by continuous operation of pilot plants in field tests
since 1973. When the energy crop is growing, it takes in CO2 from the air, so
when it is burned, the CO2 is released, creating a balanced system. Biomass is
the term used to describe all biologically produced matter. World production
of biomass is estimated at 146 billion metric tons per year, mostly wild plant
growth. Some farm crops and trees can produce up to 20 metric tons per acre of
biomass a year. Types of algae and grasses may produce 50 metric tons per
year. This biomass has a heating value of 5000-8000 BTU/lb, with virtually no
ash or sulfur produced during combustion. About 6% of contiguous United States
land area put into cultivation for biomass could supply all current demands
for oil and gas. The foundation upon which this will be achieved is the
emerging concept of "energy farming", wherein farmers grow and harvest crops
for biomass conversion to fuels.
Pyrolysis is the technique of applying high heat to organic matter
(lignocellulosic materials) in the absence of air or or in reduced air. The
process can produce charcoal, condensable organic liquids (pyrolitic fuel
oil), non-condensable gases, acetic acid, acetone and methanol. The process
can be adjusted to favor charcoal, pyrolitic oil, gas, or methanol production
with a 95.5% fuel-to-feed efficiency. Pyrolysis has been used since the dawn
of civilization. Ancient Egyptians practiced wood distillation by collecting
the tars and pyroligneous acid for use in their embalming industry.
Methanol-powered automobiles and reduced emissions from coal-fired power
plants can be accomplished by biomass conversion to fuel utilizing pyrolysis
technology, and at the same time save the American family farm while turning
the American heartland into a prosperous source of clean energy production.
Pyrolysis has the advantage of using the same technology now used to process
crude fossil fuel oil and coal. Coal and oil conversion is more efficient in
terms of fuel-to-feed ratio, but biomass conversion by pyrolysis has many
environmental and economic advantages over coal and oil. Pyrolysis facilities
will run three shifts a day. Some 68% of the energy of the raw biomass will be
contained in the charcoal and fuel oils made at the facility. This charcoal
has nearly the same heating value in BTU as coal, with virtually no sulfur.
Pyrolytic fuel oil has similar properties to No. 2 and No. 6 fuel oil. The
charcoal can be transported economically by rail to all urban area power
plants generating electricity. The fuel oil can be transported economically by
trucking creating more jobs for Americans. When these plants use charcoal
instead of coal, the problems of acid rain will begin to disappear. When this
energy system is on line producing a steady supply of fuel for electrical
power plants, it will be more feasible to build the complex gasifying systems
to produce methanol from the cubed biomass, or make synthetic gasoline from
the methanol by the addition of the Mobil Co. process equipment to the
gasifier.
Farmers must be allowed to grow an energy crop capable of producing 10
tons per acre in 90-120 days. This crop must be woody in nature and high in
lignocellulose. It must be able to grow in all climactic zones in America. And
it should not compete with food crops for the most productive land, but be
grown in rotation with food crops or on marginal land where food crop
production isn't profitable. When farmers can make a profit growing energy, it
will not take long to get 6% of continental American land mass into
cultivation of biomass fuel -- enough to replace our economy's dependence on
fossil fuels. We will no longer be increasing the CO2 burden in the
atmosphere. The threat of global greenhouse warming and adverse climactic
change will diminish. To keep costs down, pyrolysis reactors need to be
located within a 50 mile radius of the energy farms. This necessity will bring
life back to our small towns by providing jobs locally.
Hemp is the number one biomass producer on planet earth: 10 tons per
acre in approximately four months. It is a woody plant containing 77%
cellulose. Wood produces 60% cellulose. This energy crop can be harvested with
equipment readily available. It can be "cubed" by modifying hay cubing
equipment. This method condenses the bulk, reducing trucking costs from the
field to the pyrolysis reactor. And the biomass cubes are ready for conversion
with no further treatment. Hemp is drought resistant, making it an ideal crop
in the dry western regions of the country. Hemp is the only biomass resource
capable of making America energy independent. And our government outlawed it
in 1938. Remember, in 10 years, by the year 2000, America will have exhausted
80% of her petroleum reserves. Will we then go to war with the Arabs for the
privilege of driving our cars; will we stripmine our land for coal, and poison
our air so we can drive our automobiles an extra 100 years; will we raze our
forests for our energy needs? During World War II, our supply of hemp was cut
off by the Japanese. The federal government responded to the emergency by
suspending marijuana prohibition. Patriotic American farmers were encouraged
to apply for a license to cultivate hemp and responded enthusiastically.
Hundreds of thousands of acres of hemp were grown. The argument against hemp
production does not hold up to scrutiny: hemp grown for biomass makes very
poor grade marijuana. The 20 to 40 million Americans who smoke marijuana would
loath to smoke hemp grown for biomass, so a farmer's hemp biomass crop is
worthless as marijuana. It is time the government once again respond to our
economic emergency as they did in WWII to permit our farmers to grow American
hemp so this mighty nation can once again become energy independent and smog
free.
NORML
YOU DON'T HAVE TO SMOKE MARIJUANA
TO JOIN NORML
By Don Fiedler, National Director
When Keith Stroup founded the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws in October of 1970, he defined NORML as the marijuana
consumer's lobby. In an interview in Gallery magazine in August, 1978, the
first National Director estimated that there were "15 million regular users of
marijuana". Stroup went on to say, "Can you imagine? If you can get 15
million people that cared enough about reforming marijuana laws...?" Can you
imagine? Can you imagine if each marijuana consumer would have sent NORML just
one dollar a year since Keith made that statement more than a decade ago?
There was, and is, a political sleeping giant snoozing away with our natural
constituency. If there ever was a time for an awakening, it is now; and a rude
awakening it will be.
The Drug War:
The plan serves up the casual user of marijuana as one of the main
courses, with recipes of zero tolerance, user accountability and demand
reduction that threaten the marijuana consumer's liberty, assets and job
security. The sobering fact is that, even if our natural constituency becomes
activated, it is going to require another important ingredient to stop the
marijuana prohibition pendulum's repressive swing backward. Simply put, the
issue was, is and always will be one of choice. The nation's citizens should
have the right to make responsible decisions regarding how they control their
bodies, especially when intoxicants like alcohol and tobacco are legal and
pose a far greater harm than marijuana. You do not have to be a woman or have
an abortion to be Pro-Choice; you do not have to use marijuana to support
NORML. There can be a strong case made for non-marijuana users to join NORML.
The current marijuana laws are draconian enough. After the National Drug
Control Strategy is implemented by Congress, enforcement of the new laws will
present the next major step in the creation of the police state/martial law
mentality which is so pervasive in the country today.
True Justice:
In the age of Pericles, some 2,500 years ago, a famed Athenian jurist
named Solon said, "True justice will exist only when those not affected by a
law are as indignant as those who are." There are millions of indignant
non-marijuana users who are fearful of what America is becoming in the name of
a drug-free society. When the prohibition becomes worse than the drug itself,
it is time to end the prohibition. You do not have to use marijuana to share
these thoughts.
Constructive Use of Tax Revenue:
The over-burdened taxpayer understands the hypocrisy of alcohol and
tobacco being legal and taxed, while marijuana is neither legal nor taxed. The
difference between enforcement costs to continue the prohibition and the tax
yield with regulation is conservatively estimated at $50 billion - another
fact which supports the proposition that NORML is not just for the marijuana
consumer. With the $50 billion tax revenue, NORML offers the best solution to
the drug problem. Solutions which can answer the question the politicians
can't: How do you take an inner-city youth (which, as Jesse Jackson says, is a
code word for "Black or Hispanic"), and motivate him or her to get a job
working at Burger King for $3.50 an hour, when that youngster can go out on
the streets and earn $350 an hour selling crack? And it's not just a financial
question. The minority viewpoint - and a justifiable one - is that they can
count on their buddies or fellow gang members more than they can expect any
help or hope from the government. The increased tax base from legalized
marijuana offers funding which could go for educational and occupational
programs that are meaningful, and to an alternative way of living that offers
hope. No one in America is more willing to pay the cost of solving the
problems which go to the very roots of drug abuse than the marijuana smoker.
That fact alone should motivate non-smokers to join NORML.
Marijuana as Medicine:
Marijuana prohibition prevents doctors from treating their patients
with the plant's therapeutic powers. Marijuana spells "relief" to those
unfortunate fellow citizens in the throes of nausea from cancer chemotherapy.
Marijuana has a stabilizing effect on intra-ocular pressure of the eye, which
is a primary symptom of glaucoma. Marijuana can be used effectively in
conjunction with other medicines to reduce the frequency and severity of
epileptic seizures. Marijuana literally has given such relief to victims of
multiple sclerosis that they are able to get out of their wheelchairs. Use of
marijuana as a folk medicine for headaches, depression, stress and menstrual
cramps is documented throughout recorded history. The friends and families of
loved ones as well as the patients themselves who are denied the therapeutic
aspects of marijuana do not have to smoke marijuana to support NORML.
Industrial Hemp:
Of course, marijuana's potential as a cash crop should motivate
farmers to grow legally a crop that is more valuable than oil, a crop that is
not used just for recreational purposes. Virtually every part of the hemp
plant, which produces marijuana, has some major use in the marketplace,
whether it be cloth, paper, particle board or methanol.
Marijuana and the Environment:
Hemp is a big industry in China, Korea, Italy, France and the Soviet
Union. Hemp offers environmentalists positive solutions for acid rain, the
ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, and as an alternative energy source. All
of these uses go undeveloped in America because of marijuana prohibition - all
more compelling reasons why it is not necessary to smoke marijuana to support
NORML.
Sign Up a New Member:
To accomplish our goals, we need your generous donations, energy,
wisdom and moral support. However, we must broaden our membership base. Let
this be a call to action for every person to recruit one more supporter in
this membership drive - not necessarily a marijuana smoker. NORML has evolved,
from a marijuana consumer's lobby into an organization that has a much broader
constituency. You should know this; other marijuana smokers who are not
members of NORML should know it. But most important of all, the non-smoking
public should know: YOU DON'T HAVE TO SMOKE MARIJUANA TO SUPPORT NORML.
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