Test for Stupidity, Ignorance and Greed, Not for Drugs

Going Green?

Letters to the Editor

By Pope Smith

I find it humorous how lately most of what you read about is the green movement. Everyone has been looking for materials that are environmentally friendly and renewable. Well humans had a crop that was friendly to the environment and can be used to benefit most if not all industries we currently have. It has been one of the most widely cultivated crops and we can date it back to 8000BC. It wasn't until 70 years ago that there were laws that prohibited it. This crop is hemp. It can be used for food, textiles, environmentally friendly plastics, paper, concrete (carbon negative, which is what they are looking for in the market now but can't find), insulation, fuel, medicine and the list goes on. It is less harmful than any resource we have and is stronger than most materials we are already using. It can be used to make a car body lighter than steel but yet can withstand 10 times the impact force before denting. The negative health affects if any are less than most products we are already using. It can produce any quality of paper and grows faster than trees, and 1 acre of hemp is equal to 4 acres of trees. It can put jobs back in the hands of farmers. In 1938 it was called the first crop with potential to be the first billion dollar crop. It is far less harmful for ones health than alcohol or tobacco products, and is less addictive than coffee. The damage we have done in the past 70 years since its been illegal is outstanding, and we need a change. If cars ran off hemp fuel it could create a closed cycle of emissions which means the CO2 produced from operating the car would be counteracted by the CO2 that the growing of the hemp plant would remove from the air. The question now is how long will the government wait until we can start using this crop? Will we have to use up most of our resources first? And how much more damage will occur to our environment in the mean time? There are many sites with information all over the internet if you don't believe me. Inform yourself. “No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.” P. J. O'Rourke. 

Published online in The Expositor, Brantford, Ontario, Canada, December 10, 2010