Escherichia coli (abbreviated as E. coli) are a large and diverse group of bacteria. Although most strains of E. coli are harmless, others can make one extremely sick sometimes causing death. The bacteria is spread by ingesting invisible amounts of human or animal feces in one's mouth; you know, eating DoDo. The E. co-li(es) we are fed by those talking DoDo are as insidious as the spread of E. coli and pretty difficult to swallow; invisible, frightening, and prone to attack the weak. The focus here is the lies told regarding the properties of hemp, the real reasons for banning of hemp agriculture and real science.
Industrial grade hemp is not marijuana. Hemp is another word for the plant Cannabis sativa L. Marijuana comes from the same plant genus, as well as broccoli and cauliflower. The strains of hemp used in industrial and consumer products contain only a negligible level of the intoxicating substance delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Recently when a very open-minded, intelligent, modern person was shown this patent, one inventor was shocked at the immediate response . . . "Oh, you're just trying to get marijuana legalized." The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has classified this patent process as a detergent under the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); it has nothing to do with a controlled substance regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The ancient, eco-friendly fiber hemp has been used for textiles, paper, building materials, fuel, food and personal care products for over five-thousand years. Hemp was the first plant known to have been domestically cultivated. The oldest relic of human history is hemp fabric dated to 8000 BC. The American history of hemp is rich. In the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Dutch explorers find 'wilde hempe' in North America and achieve a Golden Age through hemp commerce. In 1619 the Virginia colony makes hemp cultivation mandatory, followed by most other colonies; Europe pays hemp bounties. In 1631 hemp is used as money throughout the American colonies. 1791 has President George Washington setting duties on hemp to encourage domestic industry. Thomas Jefferson calls hemp "a necessity," and urges farmers to grow hemp instead of tobacco. As every school child knows, the Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper in 1776.
Fast forward to the 1930's when new machines were invented to break hemp, process the fiber, and convert pulp or hurds into paper, plastics, etc. In 1937 the Marijuana Tax Act forbids hemp farming in the United States; coincidentally, Dupont files a patent for nylon. In the early Forties Henry Ford makes a car fabricated and fueled by hemp. As a result of a dangerous shortage of fiber for the war effort, in 1942, the U.S. government performed a convenient about-face on the hemp issue. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) produced and distributed a motion picture called "Hemp for Victory" in which the federal government not only promoted the many uses of cannabis hemp, but also detailed the most efficient cultivation and harvesting methods. Hemp farming was again banned in 1955.
The onset of changed thinking regarding hemp cultivation occurs in the latter part of the Twentieth Century globally. In 1961 the Canadian Narcotics Control Act (CNCA) allowes Cannabis to be grown, at the discretion of the Health Ministry, for research purposes only. The Nineties bring Australia licensing hemp farming, England easing restrictions on hemp farming with its news media declaring hemp clothes and the cannabis leaf logo the hottest new fashion. In 1994 Under the CNCA, one license was granted to a Canadian company, Hempline Inc., to grow hemp experimentally in Canada under the strict supervision of the authorities and in 1996 the Canadian federal government passes Bill C8 stating that mature hemp stalks are exempt from the list of controlled substances. In February 1996 the Canadian government legalizes the commercial growth of industrial hemp.
