hemp

hemp (hèmp) noun
1.Cannabis.
2.The tough, coarse fiber of the cannabis plant, used to make cordage.
3.a. Any of various plants similar to cannabis, especially one yielding a similar fiber. b. The fiber of such a plant.

[Middle English, from Old English hænep.]

Hemp

Hemp, common name for an Asian herb, and also for its fibers. This species is often called true hemp or Indian hemp. It is cultivated in Eurasia, the United States, and Chile. Hemp stems are hollow and have a fibrous inner bark. The fibers from this bark are used to make a great variety of textile products, including coarse fabrics, ropes, sailcloth, and packing cloth. The seed of hemp is commonly used as birdseed. Hempseed also yields an oil that is used in the manufacture of soap and oil paints. Flowers and leaves of hemp are used to produce the narcotics bhang, hashish, and marijuana.
Scientific classification: Hemp belongs to the family Moraceae. It is classified as Cannabis sativa.

George Bush was in an aircraft that was shot down by the enemy.  He parachuted to safety, and later on became president of the U.S..  he continued the "war on drugs" - a fake war to replace Russia to justify military spending and the prison-industrial complex.  little did he know that the parachute that saved his life in World War II (a real, legitimate war with a legitimate threat) was made of hemp. 

Less than a century ago, there was a very useful plant, called "hemp".

it made very strong rope, excellent paper, very strong cloth (the word canvas comes from cannabis), the seeds were a good protein source, and the flowers of the female plant had medicinal and psychotropic qualities.

a few thinngs happened then (not in chronological order...)

the civil war in the US freed the slaves a synthetic fiber was made in Dupont labs in New York and London, called nylon.

jazz music (black music) started to spread across america due to one a particularly strong liberal phase in america's social cycle, the was a particularly strong reactionary backlash (much like reagan after the 60's and carter 70's) and several other factors too.

this led to a desire on the part of some to ban hemp, because of the psychotropic qualities of the plant.

but no doctor would say hemp was unhealthy, because everyone knew better. everyone knew hemp was a vitally important crop.

so they needed another name

one that would scare the "average" fearful middle american. something foreign, and dangerous,and sleazy well. mexicans were not much loved in america at the time (yes even worse than now) and they had a reputation for violence, and danger at the time, mexican street gangs who smoked hemp, had a slang word for hemp, especially for the flowers of the female plant - mary jane...

marijuana

here was something vaguely scary foreign and dangerous

nothing like that useful hemp......

WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST, the newspaper and magazine tycoon.

The expected rebirth of cannabis hemp as a less expensive source of pulp for paper meant his millions of acres of prime timberland, and investment in wood pulp papermaking equipment, would soon be worth much less. In the 1920s, about the same time as the equipment was developed to economically mass-produce raw hemp into pulp and fiber for paper, he began the "Reefer Madness" hoax in his newspaper and magazine publications.

ANDREW MELLON, founder of the Gulf Oil Corporation.

He knew that cannabis hemp was an alternative industrial raw material for the production of thousands of products, including fuel and plastics,  which, if allowed to compete in the free-market, would threaten the future profits of the oil companies. As Secretary of the Treasury he created the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and appointed his own future nephew-in-law, Harry Anslinger, as director. Anslinger would later use the sensational, and totally fabricated, articles published by Hearst, to push the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 through Congress, which successfully destroyed the rebirth of the cannabis hemp industry. A prominent member of one Congressional subcommittee who voted in favor of this bill was Joseph Guffey of Pennsylvania, an oil tycoon and former business partner of Andrew Mellon in the Spindletop oil fields in Texas.

THE DU PONT CHEMICAL CORPORATION, which owned the patents on synthetic petrochemicals and industrial processes that promised billions of dollars in future profits from the sale of wood pulp paper, lead additives for gasoline, synthetic fibers and plastics, if hemp could be suppressed. At the time, du Pont family influence in both government and the private sector was unmatched, according to historians and journalists.

The Simpsons:

_Bart's Dog Gets An F_  [Aired March 7, 1991] Season 2/Episode 14

•  Marge's quilt has a hemp plant on it.

• Thomas Jefferson, as well as George Washington, grew hemp and smoked cannabis
• Queen Victoria used marijuana, to help relieve menstrual cramp pain.
• 1980 - Paul McCartney (The Beatles) spends ten days in prison in Japan for possession of cannabis.
• Woody Harrelson - hemp activist, vegan
• spoken word track _Grow More Pot_ MP3 by Jello Biafra
• for the first time in American history the U.S. Government utilized its own military against U.S. Citizens by raiding hemp farmers in Humboldt County.
• before hemp prohibition, the weed provided the needs of all the world's paper w/o cutting down trees.
• American flags used to be made of hemp
• Levi's jeans used to be made of hemp
• Declaration Of Independence & U.S. Constitution were written on hemp paper
• Gutenberg's bibles were printed on hemp paper
• hemp-methanol can power cars
• reggae track _Legalize It_ MP3 by Peter Tosh off of _Legalize It_ 12" (1976)
• lecture _Unfolding The Leaf #006 KPFK_ MP3 (48k) - (15:22) by Terence McKenna
• ambient track _Hempire_ MP3 (192k) by FFWD off of s/t CD Inter-Modo/Discipline #001 (1994)
  • FFWD was a collaboration between Robert Fripp & The Orb
• ambient techno track _Eat It Weave It & Wear It_ MP3 (256k) by Manna off of s/t 12"x2 on Apollo (1995)

• Anomalog:
  • Cannabis Timeline
  • The Same Wallop As Zucchini
  • Reefer Madness - The Musical
    
• Researchers at the Daimler-Benz car company in Germany have found that hemp can replace glass fiber to strengthen the composition of plastics in vehicles.

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