By EDWARD BOYER
Source: pennlive.com
The use of hemp in the United States is legal, but growing it is not. This is not marijuana, but industrial hemp. Neither industrial hemp seeds nor stalks are psychoactive and they cannot be used as a drug. It has very low levels of THC and is grown for its seeds, fibers and oil unlike marijuana, which is cultivated for its high levels of THC, flowering tops and leaves.
According to the European Industrial Hemp Association, hemp is used for many things, like food, paper products, textiles, medicines, construction, molded plastics and livestock uses, and was once grown legally here in the past. In fact, President George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both farmed and grew hemp. Hemp produces more pulp per acre than timber on a sustainable basis and can be used for every quality of paper. In fact the Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.
Hemp is the oldest industry in the world, and fabric has been found dating back to 8,000 B.C. Hemp fiber is longer, stronger, more absorbent and more isolative than the cotton fibers. It can be grown organically, without herbicides, fungicides or pesticides, which are harmful to the plants animals around them. Hemp is also a natural weed suppressor due to the fast growth of the canopy and only eight out of a hundred known pests cause a problem to the hemp crop.
This all makes it an easy and cheap crop. Bringing more jobs back and saving money on importing hemp products are two benefits. In return, it will boost our economy and put money back in our pockets instead of those of our competitors.
EDWARD BOYER, Lower Paxton Twp.
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