A Plant Can Do This? Why is it illegal?
The recreational use of the cannabis plant to produce a “high” has overshadowed the myriad of industries that hemp is viable for and this is precisely how and why the plant has and continues to receive such bad press. A short documentary named The Hemp Conspiracy, looks at the benefits of cannabis outside of recreational use.The documentary maker said he created the video to explore the debate around legalizing cannabis.
The video begins with a narrator asking:
“What if there was a plant that had over 60,000 uses, a plant that had the ability to heal some of the deadliest diseases known to mankind, could replace many chemical ridden medicines prescribed for problems such as depression and insomnia? A plant that could aid in the reduction of the growing and devastating effects of deforestation across the planet, a plant that was illegal for reasons that simply do not make sense?
“That plant is cannabis.”
The documentary investigates how the illegal plant could be used in a number of helpful ways.
THOUSANDS OF BENEFITS
There are three species of cannabis Sativa indicia and Ruderalis all of which can be split. Although usually, the Sativa type into an industrial compound referred to as hemp. This is where the industrial side of cannabis comes in. Hemp has been used for thousands of years, and its usability is unlike anything else it can be used for oil for cooking and converting the fuel. The seeds which are one of the most nutritional seeds on the planet. Supply every mineral and vitamin the body needs. It can be used for clothing and only requires half the amount of water to turn into fiber than cotton. It also requires no chemicals or fertilizers. It can also be used as housing insulation fiber boards.
PAPER and PLASTIC
Two main resources that can be produced using hemp by could have a profound impact on the planet and our lives is paper and plastic. According to a study conducted in 1916, it’s believed one acre of hemp over the course of 20 years can produce four to ten times the amount of paper than trees. Although the deforestation problem we are faced with today is attributed to many things, reducing the need for tree paper by using hemp, would still reduce the damaging effects of paper production. Which sees roughly four billion trees being cut down a year for that purpose. Yet less than nor point one percent of the paper we use today is made with hemp plastic which cannot only be made to be completely biodegradable. This would reduce the enormous amount of pollution on beaches and destruction to marine life. It can also be produced with little or no chemicals which we all know makes up the majority of plastic we used today.
So how did this beneficial and non-intoxicating medicine become illegal? “It’s kind of simple,” says Martin Lee of Project CBD “It’s marijuana prohibition — that’s why it’s illegal…and it’s built on a mountain of lies.”
A GAME CHANGING MEDICINE
Scientists and researchers believe is the reason it has profound benefits in the first place so they have been able to identify 483 different chemical compounds within the plant 80 of which are called cannabinoids so far we do not know a whole lot about these 80 cannabinoids and their effects on humans.
Most researchers only been focused on a handful of them such as delta nine tetrahydrocannabinol. It is by far the most studied chemical which binds to the receptors in your central nervous system and immune system when heated causing you to get high. It is the only compound in cannabis to do so. This is the chemical that medical marijuana is most active in as it acts as a side effect free muscle relaxant anti-inflammatory antidepressant and current studies are showing that it could be used as a treatment for anxiety the side effects of chemotherapy cancer growth reduction Crohn’s disease chronic pain insomnia and multiple sclerosis just to name a few.
The next one is tetrahydrocannabinol acid which is the same chemical as the one just talked about but in its unheated form which means it’s a non psychoactive compound this is administered by juicing cannabis as you would wheatgrass or any other plant. It contains medical properties that are lost when heated this chemical is in its early stages of research but is thought to be an effective treatment as an anti-inflammatory and a variety of illnesses without any significant side effects and also will not give patients the feeling of a high cannabidiol is similar and has been linked as an effective aid for anxiety nausea acne schizophrenia and many neurodegenerative diseases. However truth be told, these studies have not gone on long enough for us to know the full benefits cannabis. There’s a reason for that because it’s been illegal in any every country since the early 1900s.
Why is it illegal?
We have established that cannabis has thousands of industrial uses and many of these can be produced with a less of an impact on the environment than conventional products and that cannabis may have more medical benefits than any other natural untouched products in the world so why would something with all of these uses and benefits be illegal?
