Thursday, November 12, 2009

Reform Conference

Today was my first day of my first Drug Policy Conference

Monday, October 26, 2009

Tomorrow morning I'm going to go even harder! (redux)

Well,

This week could be one of the best weeks of my life. This could be the busiest week of my life. Well, maybe not the ABSOLUTE busiest.

Back when there were finals with due dates, everything set with timelines already made, (whether or not I chose to accept it).
I would never have meetings with important people. They were professors, who, like friends, did not carry the same weight of institutional authority. I would go late to class, would do assignments at the last minute, get 4 hours of sleep every night, work the 4am shift every week... It was hard work!
I would find myself completely 'overbooked', nearly all the time, yet I somehow also went out, a lot. I was only a head of the game a few times- usually the first two weeks of a semester. I would do all the readings, and then see how far I got until I started lagging behind. I don't think I ever lasted more than a month.
Reading
In Elementary school I read everything that was assigned to me by the School standards, which was 25 books per year, as logged. Then, in Middle school, the 25 book standard still existed, but I substituted all text books as "recreational" reading, so ended up making the cut by shaving any book that I could write a short book report about.
In High School, my advanced English classes required lots of reading, most of which I did not do. For better or for worse, I have completely stopped reading books. I never considered myself a reader, nor did I ever read more books than anyone else I knew.
In highschool, I got addicted to the internet. I had gotten a computer with my bar-mitzvah money, and when I got it, was absolutely addicted.
For example, long before Wikipedia ever existed (although not before the idea was conceived) I had the three disk Microsoft Encarta. I used to spend hours and hours, engaging in wiki 1.0.
I also edited a couple skateboard videos.
Anyways, I stopped reading books and started reading things on the screen.



Or, it could be like a wee

Sunday, October 25, 2009

New Job

Last Friday, I found out that I will only be able to work part time as a lobbyist. At first I was very disappointed that I know longer have a full time job. But, when I thought about it, it was just what I wanted. Now, I have more time to do other things, like make money.

My freelance photography will certainly come in handy. I shot an event last week, and am currently in the process of setting something up with a freelance model and a T-shirt/apparel company. Hopefully I'll start making bank for photos.

But last Friday, there was an interesting twist to it all.

I am now a Sales Rep for at least two different companies.

Livity Outernational makes some PIMP shit like fedoras and "jah-sport" backpacks. Very trendy, very cool, very hemp.

Jungmaven makes the softest hemp clothes on the market. Hemp viscose is like a natural microfiber, and you will be speechless when you feel one of these 100% Hemp shirts. Blank shirts or printed Ts are the specialty, but, there are also lots of accessories and other goodies.

Check out the sites, send me an email. If I place your order, I'll give you 15% off of retail price.

Monday, September 28, 2009

New Years Party!

So today was Yom Kippur, the most important Jewish holiday of the year. It's a time when we are supposed to reflect on the mistakes we've made over the year and create a new self for the coming year. And we're not allowed to eat.

Since my biggest flaw is being [more] lazy and unproductive [than I should be], I decided to wake up at 8 am and start sending emails. By 10 am I was already hungry, and by 11 I wondered how much longer I could go.

So I walked to Shul (a yiddish word for synagogue), to go to services. Save for a 10 minute sermon, I had trouble really repenting on a year's worth of wrongs.

After the service, I saw a friend that essentially preached to me for a half hour, the importance of yom kippor, observance, and repentance. She stressed that today, I needed to take the rest of the day off and reflect, rather than act on anything.

What she did not know is that this is inherently my fatal flaw; in the time to act, I am busy reflecting. My regrets from the year stem primarily from reflecting when I should have been acting. To right this wrong, I had to act.

The second I left synagogue I checked my email from my phone and realized that I had, while 'praying' received a few emails that I could reply to immediately. I read and replied as I walked to Rite Aid, where I bought office supplies (labeled as school supplies) for 75% off. I was breaking several religious mores simultaneously.

I went back to the office and tried to repent. It's really hard to repent. Instead, I sent emails and G-chatted.

I came back to my house and watched an episode of Mad Men and took a nap. I woke up SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Hungry. Why, of all days, would today be my busy day?

I got ready to go out. I was planning on going to breakfast at Moishe House and from there, straight to 9:30 club to shoot an event for BYT.

All went as planned. I got a nice Jewish girl's phone number, took a bus to the show, and watched "The Big Lebowski" on the big screen. I met up with (and had a free ticket for) my friend Robyn, a freelance journalist and awesome person. She had gotten to the club via Moped.

Afterwards, we had a few drinks at another bar, I met a few people who I'm sure are very cool but all I really know about them were their names" John (head of Bocce DC) Sigmund, and Kim, and Carter.

The clincher of the story.... is how I got home. I convinced Robyn to take me home on the back of her moped. Sure, it was designed for one. She had never tried it with two.

I held on to her tight as we sped down the streets. I leaned with her turns. I was exhilarated and daring. Despite the wind, our proximinity allowed us to talk to one another. Tears streaked across my cheeks as the cold air released pure adrenaline.

IT WAS AWESOME.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Getting Awesome

Since no one actually reads this, I figure I can get personal.
In place of an unwritten entry, I'll just talk briefly about how I randomly spend two days in Baltimore. I missed my train, went to the ladies night, stayed up till 4am, and hung out the next day with MAD homies. It was awesome and I love charm city.

But yesterday made me love DC.

I'm at the office, sending emails and wondering what else I should do. Then I get a draft of the Vote Hemp weekly update, which happens to be practically entirely about me. I was flattered, then nervous, so I started drafting an email asking to not actually have a personal bio about me. My parents explained to me that having a bio written is a actually a good thing, and I should not avoid it.

Then, while I'm talking to my Mom, Dakota calls me. He reminds me about the Rattler show at the Rock and Roll Hotel.




The show was AWESOME to say the least.

Plus, I got the most EPIC photos EVER. Here's a couple, in case you don't believe me.




Rattler is a good old fashioned rock band. They drink copious amounts of beer on stage (3 cases actually, I asked the groupie in a miniskirt) and make sure there is a healthy sized mosh pit going, being fueled by the copious amounts of beer that they pour right in the middle of it. Their songs deal with themes of the rock and roll experience- doing nothing and drinking beer, and having sex with many women in an exploitative manner. They asked, "who's shitfaced tonight?!" to cheers, followed by "who's getting laid tonight?!" to just as many cheers but, I doubt everyone that cheered actually followed through on their 'Yay'.

After the show, I was astounded that I had taken such amazing pictures. Naturally, I used my fresh pictures as a networking tool to meet people and not seem awkward since Libby and Svetlana had already left.
I met a girl named Maggie that works in the local music scene, and her friend Erin Aiken who I bought the rest of her beer from for $3.25. Both thought they were VERY cool, as Maggie said, "I'm no joke". My crave to network was far from satisfied.
I randomly took a picture of a guy with cool glasses and an attractive woman laughing. They turned out to be a couple and he just so happened to be a professional fashion photographer. I chatted with Toni and Maya, ultimately trying to get a job with Toni. Whether that pans out or not, I made sealed a good impression when I showed Toni my lens case- a beer cozy.

I decided that I should start impressing the ladies with my pictures. The girl who before was grabbing my dick was now making out with someone else, so I decided just to walk up to people and ask for a lighter (which I actually did use. bad idea though, WAY to many cigarettes). The band came with a group of groupies whereing miniskirts, who it was assumed, submitted themselves to band gangbangs that many other girls in the concert were jealous of. I started talking to one of them, and showed her some pictures. I guess she thought I was cool, but, I would say that she was out of my league considering she had probably fucked the lead singer of the band right before they went on. She did pseudo-invite me to an 'afterparty' at velvet lounge, but my insatiable craving to meet more people held me back. As a cocky networker, I go up to the lead singer of the band, and show him the pictures. Not having heard of him before that night probably made it easier for me to shake his hand, as some people in the crowd would have probably eaten a beer bottle to do the same.

I decide to go upstairs and order a beer, and there is a legitimate dance party going on.
The bartender refuses to give me free drinks, but a band member has drink tickets. I tell him I'm a photographer and show him some of my pictures. He offers to buy me a drink, but I awkwardly don't know what he's doing and I actually already paid for two.

I bought a beer, but realized that a hot girl next to me was doing shots, so, I bought a shot to do with her. Our ephemeral friendship for the night was cemented, and I later met her friends and danced with her. We tried to go to an afterparty together, but by 3:30 am, there was no afterparty to attend. We loitered outside a church talking about what we might do, maybe go back to the one guy's house in VA. We are still flirting and agree that we are attracted to each other.
Due to my systematic avoidance of sexual encounter, decide that I have better things to do, like walk the dog or clean my room. So, instead of continuing the adventure, I agree to buy a girl Joanna (pronounced Yo-Hannah) a jumbo slice for a ride to AdMo.
Oops, I did it again! I made you believe... that we would hook-up... oh baby baby. Oops I fucked up again... I had such a chance, and then squandered it.
I'm sorry to the hot girl that I should have hooked up with. For the future hot girl who thinks I'm cool - prepare yourself for a great night.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Last Weekend

Last Weekend was Ridiculously eventful.

I rented a car and hit three cities in three days.
I started in DC, where I shot the last BYT pool party. I drove straight from the pool to Philadelphia, where I went to see my brother on his last day in the States. He was left for Israel the next day. Fortunately and coincidentally, it was also his girlfriend's birthday, so we all got to spend time with him in his last few hours.
When I said my final goodbye, I drove straight to Baltimore to see my alma-mater and my old friends.


I got to see so many friends, the Athenaeum, Fall Into Goucher day, more friends, my old room Freshman year, ..... I went on a good weekend because the next evening my friend had a cocktail party that ended up being a pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately, I drank too much too fast, and had to stay about 4 hours later than I had planned on. I drove home tired and hungry, so I pulled over three separate times to get fast food. When I finally got home, I crashed. I had a big week ahead of me.

Obama and the Pittsburgh Penguins


I got a press pass. I went to the White House. I met Mario Lemieux. I was there. Live.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Youtube

Now that I am not obligated to only talk about hemp on my blog, I figure I can talk about blogging. or video blogging.

As a college student (Sophomore? Junior?) I took a call entitled "Pop Culture". The professor was a cult favorite, and I learned why in his class. Assignments for class were both easy and encouraged creativity. The readings were bestsellers that you pick up and read a chapter of whenevner you loiter in Barnes and Noble.

For my final project which required a 15 page paper and a 15 minute presentation, I decided to be a little ambitious by strongly incorporating it into my life at the time.

At the time, I was clinically addicted to Youtube. I would browse videos for hours, going from video to video and clicking "add to favorites" on whichever ones I liked (youtube came before I was familiar with Digg, Stumbleupon, or del.ic.ious.) Before youtube, I had already seen many of the sites that led up to it (miscellaneous websites that have funny pictures or videos). Now, all of the sites were in one place and under one interface, and I never even had to open a window to browse, litterally, the best videos ever. I could watch skateboarding, police chases, America's Funniest, or homemade greats, all in one place.

I did my entire research project on youtube videos. My research was watching videos that had lots of views, and analyzing and trying to explain, why these videos had so many views. Mind you, this was back in the early days of youtube, when 100,000 views was actually a whole lot of views. I can't think of a single video that had more than 2,543,643 views at the time.

This was the glory days of Video Blogging. Blogs had been a "new thing" for the past two years, but were being pushed out by the new technologies like, podcasts and youtube. Now, Vlogers could simply film themselves instead of having to painstakingly edit individual blogs (why am I doing this right now?)

Youtube, which did not yet know how to operate, was full of mediocre videos of American's filming their own monologues. Ones that stuck out were Geriatric 27, Lonelygirl 15, and any attractive girl dancing. There whis was also the golden era for complilation videos, already popular for quite some time. I predict that this was the predecesor to the modern "FAIL".

Anyways, ( I see why bloggers talk so much), I did a whole lot of 'research', ie, watching youtube videos. Then, I made a video about youtube videos. I posted it as "Red Tube, Blue Tube, iTube, YouTube". I was making a reference to the new applications in politics; the Hilary Clinton 1984 commercial, AKA Vote Different, had just been released.

Little did I know at the time that Red Tube is also the name of a porn site.

Whether the video was actually great, or internet users love porn, (most likely a combination of the two but I'm leaning towards the latter) the video ended up with over.......... One Million views.
(Dr. Evil pinky in the mouth, followed by evil laugh)

Then, Youtube took it down because of copyright infringement on the Red Hot Chili Pepper's song, "Tell Me Baby"(bastards). This was before they made whatever deal they made that they run now.

Well, I reposted it on Vimeo. More on Vimeo later.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Hemp House Has Moved

the Hemp House blog has moved to
igrewhemp.blogspot.com

Same posts, new URL.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hemp Seizure in Capitol Underscores Confusion Over Cannabis
Hemp Industry Seeks Beer Summit with Capitol Police

WASHINGTON, DC — Vote Hemp legislative assistant Ben Droz was shocked when Capitol Police seized his samples of industrial hemp fiber that he needed for a scheduled presentation to congressional staffers. Police refused to release the fiber after the search, while saying they knew it had no drug value and was "just hemp." The group of officers decided they needed to confiscate all the hemp seeds because no food was allowed, but the hemp fiber was also seized even though it is not food. "I just want to throw this out," said one officer, who ultimately did

Mr. Droz explained to police that the items were being used to illustrate the environmental properties of hemp. "This is just another example of the confusion between Industrial Hemp, an important crop for farmers across the country, and marijuana, a distant cousin also from the Cannabis family." The United States is the only developed country that does not recognize the distinction between the two varieties. Mr. Droz admits, "I gave up the hemp to police, fearing arrest at the time, and now feel compelled to raise this issue so it does happen again because I carry hemp every time I visit the U.S. Capitol."

"The fact that this level of confusion among law enforcement still exists today is exactly why federal policy on hemp needs to change," says Vote Hemp President Eric Steenstra. "We hope for the return of Vote Hemp's property, an apology, and perhaps, a Capitol Hill beer summit or Congressional hearings to discuss our differences with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)."

Hemp products have been subject to confusion in the past. In 2002, the DEA attempted to ban imports on hemp foods, despite the growing recognition of its value to farmers and consumers. Vote Hemp, the Hemp Industries Association, and several U.S. and Canadian companies, successfully challenged the DEA in a lawsuit calling the ban unwarranted and illegal. Since this ban was lifted, the hemp industry has grown substantially every year. Last year alone, grocery store sales of hemp food products grew over 40%.

Since 2005, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act (H.R. 1866) and its predecessors have waiting for a hearing in the House, but it's been tabled the entire time. The bill has a dozen bi-partisan cosponsors, and allows states like Oregon (as of Jan. 2010), Maine, Vermont, North Dakota, Montana (and many others) to grow hemp based on State laws. Sixteen states have already passed legislation, and many, like the ones listed above, are simply waiting for the federal ban to be lifted once again. Mr. Droz has been working with Vote Hemp in order to raise congressional awareness about this marginalized issue.

The growing market proves the case of hemp. Food sales have grown every year since the ban was lifted. Other parts of the hemp plant, such as those confiscated from Droz, can be used to make any number of consumer products, while all jobs generate from the industry could be as green collar jobs.

Despite a growing global industry, U.S. farmers are still unable to grow hemp. All hemp in the U.S. must be imported from other countries to be either processed or sold here.

"It's ironic that the very items I was using to clear up confusion, became the subject of contraband and were confiscated," Mr. Droz comments after the incident.

# # #

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Email 2- Hemp in Hawaii

It was great to talk with you yesterday. You had lots of great questions and kept the meeting interesting.

I'm sorry that I didn't have the documents I should have. I didn't really know that I was going to get to sit down with you for so long. Thankfully, everything is online, so here are several links:

First of all, as far as growing trends go, new reports are coming out everyday.
Just earlier this week, on August 4th, an Oregon based hemp company (that conducts research in Vancouver) signed a deal with Hanes apparel.
About two weeks ago, BBC released a mini-documentary of a eco-car made of hemp.

I wanted to make sure to show you how instrumental Hawai'i has been throughout the years.

Here is the Dear Colleague Letter written by your boss Rep. Neil Abercrombie and former Hawai'i Rep. Patsy Mink. Hawai'i was the only state to have two Representatives come together for the State. Their letter was sent alongside another letter with 21 signatures.

Legisation:
Since 1999, four pieces of legislation have been passed. Hemp farming bills have been introduced several times as well. For links to all of these, please visit the Hawai'i section of our site.
Currently, there is a farming bill on the table, HB 305
Whether or not this passes, it shows that support for hemp is still thriving, if not growing.

Hawai'i is one of the only places where industrial hemp has actually been planted. A study was conducted for over two years before it had to be terminated, when administrative delays on the part of the DEA became too costly. The final report can be found here. By the end of the report, Dr. David West proved that it is certainly possible to breed a strain of hemp that can thrive in tropical environments.

Hawaii has had so much support for hemp.
In 2001, six bi-partisan state legislators wrote a letter to former president George W. Bush asking for support to grow hemp.
If you really have the time, here is a report prepared for State Representative Cynthia Thielen, democratic floor leader who became a major proponent for industrial hemp. The report, while written in 1996, is very insightful and well researched.

Hawai'i was one of the earliest hemp supporters, and throughout the years, has definitely been one of the strongest. I hope that Rep. Abercrombie sees some of this support during his recess, and reconsiders it as an issue worthy of attention.

Thank you so much for your interest in this topic. Let me know what you think about this, and certainly if you have any other questions. I would love to be in touch as I try to gain support from other Hawai'i delegates as well.

Thanks again,

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

First Attempt at Posting an email as a Blog Post

This is my first attempt at an idea I just had. I apparently am too busy to keep a blog. But, I always wanted to have a blog that I updated, that ideal site that entertained random people around the world. You could say that what I do on Facebook is, for all purposes, blogging (micro-blogging, actually). And true, with over 1,500 friends, I'm sure I get a few random views.

Well, I usually am too busy writing emails as a hemp lobbyist, or going out as a freelance photographer, to write blogs or keep a photo blog. Some of my photography can be viewed at the social blog Brightest Young Things. More on that later. See, I have so much to blog about!

Well, here's my email that I wrote on Monday. I had a meeting the next day with the office of Michael Michaud from Maine.
And, since that already happened, I can say the meeting went quite well.

The email is to a grassroots organization to get them to somehow get us more support. (I figured, why not try?)

.....

Industrial Hemp is a sustainable agricultural crop that is actually good for the soil. It does not require chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides to grow, and does not require much other inputs such as water irrigation. It is a rotational crop that helps curb topsoil runoff and is a nitrogen fixer as well. It grows so fast and puts so much oxygen in the air that some applications and studies have measured a negative carbon footprint. One such example is in Hemcrete, a type of concrete made with just pure hemp and powdered lime. The footprint is negative because the carbon is actually sequestered right inside the cinderblocks. Hemp is also a great source of plant protein, grown in a much more sustainable manner than soy. Hemp is one of the fastest growing sectors of the natural products industry; here is a video from CNBC about the commercial aspects.

The State of Maine passed a bill, LD 1159, which would allow the state to license hemp farmers. However, there is still a federal ban on growing hemp. That is why we are working to gain support for HR 1866.

This Tuesday, I have a meeting with the Office of Michael Michaud of Maine. It would be great if we could get some extra calls or letters from his district. We sent out a capwiz action alert with quick links to prewritten letters and talking points for calls. http://votehemp.com/alerts/me_us_action_alert_20090722.html.

Hemp is a "convenient solution" to take care of our problems with our economy and environmental crises. If the federal ban were to be lifted, carbon emissions would go down while research into green technologies would go up. Why hemp rather than other alternatives? Hemp produces more oxygen per acre than any plant; (algae is a different story)

I hope that with your help, we can get more letters to support this important issue.

Thank you,


FOR READING TO THE BOTTOM

PEACE

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Biggest day ever?

So, today was one of my biggest days ever.
Yesterday I had a meeting on the hill with the agricultural legislative assistant (LA) for Zack Space of Ohio. The meeting went as well as I could have expected. The staffer said that Zack Space would not be supporting HR 1866, mostly because the farmers had not already come to her to fight for hemp themselves.
Today, I talked on the phone with the director of the Ohio Farmers Union, and followed up with an email to see if we can change that.

So, after my meeting on the Hill, I started walking around. I made calls to certain offices while sitting at a bench outside the Rayburn building, telling them I would be in later that day. After a few calls, I went in for lunch in the Longworth Cafeteria.

I ran into my friend from college, Charlie Herron, who happened to place second in the national debate competition in Chicago that I attended with him. While I could have easily taken the people's choice award (which did not exist) I did not actually place. I said to him as we ate, "Who's the lobbyist now?!" in a sarcastically aggressive tone.

After lunch, I started going around to different offices. I stopped at many (but not all) of the offices I had just called. I would just go into an office that was particularly inviting (mostly based on State or if I knew the person's name), introduce myself, and give them my card to forward to the agriculture LA. I did this to about 20 different offices.

I came home, changed, took a nap, walked the dog, put on my 'party clothes', and went out. After participating in a psychological study (and walking away with $40 cash), I went out with some friends to the 'Froggy Bottom', a bar with great drink specials right by the 'Foggy Bottom' metro stop. I met a very nice girl from Arkansas who was enjoying the last few days of her four week 'out of Arkansas' internship. Today was actually her 22nd birthday. She is living it up right now, I can party imagine and partly say from experience.

Today I emailed a bunch of people, canceled two meetings on the Hill, and booked another meeting with a lobbyist to talk about strategy. I talked to my boss, the president of both Vote Hemp as well as the Hemp Industries Association, for a long time on the phone. I took a ceramics class for the first time in about four years. Best of all, I got to hang out with my pseudo-supervisor, Adam Eidinger. He DJed new age house music while I sent emails to lobbyists and staff members from the Tennessee Farmer Bureau. It was such a good time that I even made a video on my phone.

This week has been so much better than my last. I can only hope that my overall enjoyment of Washington DC follows that ubiquotous exponential graph that was popularized by Al Gore.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Research, Research, Research: Getting the Ducks in Line

I can't believe that I'm almost through my second week already.
Oh wait. I meant to say, I can't believe I'm almost through with my third week.
I can't believe that I didn't know the difference.

I can say that next week, I already have two meetings for Tuesday.

For the past 2 and a half weeks now, I have been preparing for meetings. I have been building lists of congresspeople, and doing research to add to the lists. Using a spreadsheet, in an unfortunately yet unavoidable confusing manner that even I can barely understand, are the following thing:
-Lists of congress people by State, by committee, and by voting record
- Choose Relevant States- Maine, Montana, Oregon, North Dakota, Vermont, New Mexico, Kentucky, Missouri,
-Congress person's political leaning, State (I usually just guess the two letter abbreviation), and phone number
- Appropriate committees and subcommittees. Notables include:
-Judiciary committee
-Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security (HR 1866 referred)
-Committee on Energy and Commerce (HR 1866 referred)
-Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
- Agriculture
-Horticulture and Organic Agriculture
-Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research
- Small Business: Rural Development, Entrepreneurship, and Trade
- Science and Technology: Energy and the Environment
- Nutrition & Forestry
- Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming
- Natural Resources
-Finally, important notes. This include if I've met with them, what they did for a living, what they support, etc. This includes any laws the congressperson's state; as well as business and amount of constituency.

Wow. That's a lot. See, that's why it's been taking me so long. It's also why I don't really know what day it is.
Now, I just need to make sure I have it all memorized.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Back In Washington

I thought that it was time to revisit my blog after about a year of latency.
I'm back in DC and working again for Vote Hemp. The goal is to get federal recognition of industrial hemp. This is no easy task and has never been done before.

Grassroots support for hemp is notable and significant. To date, 14 states allow hemp farming, and Oregon will be the 15th state within two weeks. (SB 676 has already passed committee and is on the senate floor today). While individual states show enormous support with both constituencies and legislature, this hardly translates to the federal level.

My job is to get support for HR 1866, the third reintroduction of Ron Paul's "Industrial Hemp Farming Act". I have nothing against Ron Paul, but apparently, this is not the case for most politicians. Most politicians would support hemp if it were politically viable; unfortunately, at the moment, it is not.

I'll try to keep you updated this summer. If you read this far, shoot me an email bendroz@gmail.com so that I know to keep writing....

-Ben

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Hemp Facts

Hemp: the real problem is miseducation. Did you know that…

1) Hemp is among the oldest industries on the planet, going back more than 10,000 years to the beginnings of pottery. In fact, one of the oldest relics of human industry is the pattern of hemp fabric in ceramic shards dating back to approximately 8,000 BC.

2) "Make the most of the hemp seed and sow it everywhere."- George Washington. Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. Americans were legally bound to grow hemp during the Colonial Era and Early Republic. The federal government subsidized hemp during the Second World War and US farmers grew about a million acres of hemp as part of that program.

3) Nutrition- Hemp Seed is far more nutritious than even soybean, contains more essential fatty acids than any other source, is second only to soybeans in complete protein (but is more digestible by humans), is high in B-vitamins, and is 35% dietary fiber. Hemp seed is not psychoactive and cannot be used as a drug. See TestPledge.com

4) Fiber- The bark of the hemp stalk contains bast fibers which are among the Earth's longest natural soft fibers and are also rich in cellulose; the cellulose and hemi-cellulose in its inner woody core are called hurds. Hemp stalk is not psychoactive. Hemp fiber is longer, stronger, more absorbent and more insulative than cotton fiber.

5)Energy- According to the Department of Energy, hemp as a biomass fuel producer requires the least specialized growing and processing procedures of all hemp products. Hemp can be processed into a wide range of biomass energy sources, from fuel pellets to ethanol to biodiesel. Development of biofuels is undoubtedly a step towards greener energy.

6) Easy to Grow- Hemp grows well without herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides. Nearly one third of the agricultural chemicals used on US crops are applied to cotton.

7) Paper Production- Hemp produces roughly four times more pulp per acre than timber on a sustainable basis, and can be used for every quality of paper. Hemp paper manufacturing can actually reduce wastewater contamination. Hemp's low lignin content reduces the need for acids used in pulping, and its creamy color lends itself to environmentally friendly bleaching instead of harsh chlorine compounds. Less bleaching results in less dioxins and fewer chemical byproducts. It also means that hemp can recycled many times before the fibers break down entirely.

9) Green Building- Hemp makes for great construction material. A company called Hemcrete uses a modernized form of an age old technique to create a concrete like material, several times lighter and stronger, (as well as sustainable) than actual concrete. Hemp fiberboard produced by Washington State University was found to be twice as strong as wood-based fiberboard.

10) Plastics- Hemp can replace most toxic petrochemical products. A company called Wheatware makes disposable plastic, yet biodegradable, eating utensils out of corn and other biomass. Hemp (along with other natural fibers) is combined with resins to create lightweight and very strong composite materials, used in millions of cars and even airplanes.