How Marijuana Legalisation Could Save Our Planet
The planet’s resources are, for the most part, finite. Some studies have suggested that oil will run out within our lifetime, possibly as soon as the next forty years. The logging industry is choking the planet, destroying our oxygen supply. World hunger and famine are prevalent.
These problems could all be solved, or at the very least eased, by making marijuana legal.
Marijuana is known as ‘weed’ for a reason. It is a weed; it grows fast and as there are varieties that can adapt to any climate, it grows anywhere.
Hemp seeds are rich in nutrition, and like the rest of the plant, can have many uses. The seeds can be ground to make flour, pressed to make oil or simply toasted and eaten as a healthy snack. They contain large amounts of oil that is almost entirely unsaturated, and are composed of the essential fatty acids needed by the human body in the exact proportions needed. This wonder food grows easier and is cheaper to produce than other tradition food aid such as simple grains and rice, and is also of a higher nutritional value. In struggling third world countries it could very easily help play a large role in helping sufferers of malnutrition, and help make villages more self sustaining. The crop has the ability to withstand the harshest of environmental conditions and should therefore be used to as a standby to help villagers survive the worst dry seasons. This would have a two-fold benefit. Through proper management, hemp can actually improve soil quality and prevent soil erosion, meaning that land previously used to grow hemp could be used to grow more diverse crops.
As previously mentioned, the logging industry is choking the planet. We are cutting down the forests at an alarming rate, destroying natural habitats for much of the planet’s wildlife and removing our main source of oxygen producing trees. Mostly this logging is for the paper industry. However hemp can be used to produce much cheaper and higher quality paper. One study suggests that, weight for weight in raw materials, hemp will produce 3-4 times more paper than traditional methods using trees. There are also fewer chemicals needed in the production of hemp paper as opposed to wood.
Hemp can also be used as an incredible energy source. Methanol can be produced from hemp, which can be used as a cheap and clean fuel for cars. Indeed, Henry Ford’s first ever automobile ran on hemp methanol, for a fraction of the price of regular petrol and making much less of an impact of the environment. Whilst it still produces CO2, the actual growing of the plant uses so much CO2 and produces oxygen, that the carbon footprint of using hemp as a fuel source is practically zero. It is also an incredibly productive fuel source. One acre of hemp grown could produce as much as 1,000 gallons of methanol. That’s a lot of fuel!
Greed on the part of the oil barons and logging industries keeps marijuana illegal. Reform is needed to make sure his wonder plant can save our planet and our modern way of life.
