Hemp :: essays research papers

marijuanaPREAMBLE     As we enter a new millennium, we find ourselves reevaluating the pathsweve elect and the decisions weve made. Have we made the best with whatweve got or are we stumbling in the downcast? How many gaps riddle the blanket ofour knowledge?     The problem lies in how we conciliate sense of where were heading. Do wechoose the path of economics and progress or do we choose the path ofenvironmentalism and sustainability? Is there a median unattached for us to takewhere the greens of economy and environment are match or are we doomed toblindly continue the path of short gain and comfort . . . living out aflawed figure of speech?     Canada is a prime example of a country that is continually advisement itspower and influence on the natural and manmade worlds. Weve found ourselvessitting on the global fence between our magliomaniacal brother to the south andour staunch hidebound motherland to the east. From this division of powersand alliances we find ourselves locked into a self-induced ignorance andstifling conservatism. Its ironic that we arrive the opportunity to solve mostof Canadas critical environmental issues in one fell swoop . . . with onesimple appoint. It is ignorance and the maintenance of the status quo that hasblind and crippled our ability to realize this resource.INTRODUCTION     A plant exists that is so strong that it shag be grown without requiringchemicals in almost every part of the world. Many have touted this plant as a practical way in which to wean society from its dependence on fogey fuels forenergy and the need to log forests for pulp, paper and wood. It is even saidthat this plant could adequately clothe and feed the world more efficiently and inexpensively than we can do now     Why is this miracle plant not utilise if all evidence points to itsversatility? The answer is bogged down in a hundred of law, s ociology, thecorporate agenda and conspiracy theories.      Since the early part of thecentury, hemp has been considered a drug, though it has no euphoric attributes.Hemp the wonder plant and thinkable solution to the bulk of our problems isillegal only because it is seen as guilty by its association with marijuana.     Hemp is a herbaceous plant called "cannabis sativa", which meaning useful(sativa) hemp (cannabis). Fiber is the best known product, and the word hempcan also mean the rope or twine which is made from the plant, as well as justthe stalk of the plant which produced it.     History has proven its acceptance of hemp both the U.