Hemp For Food
Hempseed is an incredible food source which has the ability to feed many of the earth's starving masses. It has been used in Russia and China for generations. Hempseed is a complete vegetable protein, it contains all the essential amino and fatty acids to maintain human life. According to research by Lynn Osbourn, "No other single source provides complete protein in such an easily digestible form. No other plant has the oils essential to life in as perfect a ratio for human health and vitality." Hempseed is 25% protein, a handful provides the minimum daily requirement. The Hempseed Cookbook, by Carol Miller and Don Wirtshafter, states: "A baggie full of Hempseed can provide all the essential protein, oil and dietary fiber necessary for human survival for two weeks."
Hempseed can be pressed for its vegetable oil leaving a very high-protein seedcake as a by-product. The fat and protein from the hemp seedcake can provide domestic animals, farm animals and poultry with a nearly complete diet. The seedcake by-product was one of the world's leading animal foods until this century. The oil can be used on salads, potatoes, vegetables etc. It should be refrigerated, used quickly and never heated. It can be frozen to increase shelf-life. Hemp can also be sprouted and used like any other seed in salads, sandwiches, breads, stirfry, etc. It can be ground into meal for cooked cereal or added to baked goods. Hempseed can be further ground into a paste similar to peanut butter with a mild nutty flavor and much higher nutritional value.
Although soy bean contains slightly more protein, hempseed is more digestible. Like soy, hempseed extracts can be made into vegetable milk, texturized vegetable protein (TVP), or a tofu-like curd. Due to the depletion of the ozone layer, worldwide soy bean production is threatened and could be reduced as much as 30% to 50%. Hemp on the other hand, not only withstands damage caused by increased ultra-violet radiation, it thrives in it by producing more cannabinoids which provide protection from the ultra-violet light.
Botanist, Luther Burbank, criticized the fact that in the U.S. hemp was grown primarily for fiber saying, "The hemp seed is prized in other countries for its oil, and its neglect here illustrates the wasteful use of our agricultural resources." I feel that I must carry this criticism further. What is wrong with our "representative" government officials? Who do they think they work for? If ignorance is the reason they haven't re-legalized hemp, it's inexcusable. But if avarice and self-serving interests are the reasons hemp isn't improving our economy, lives and environment, it's absolutely criminal.
Hemp For Health
"All your children are poor unfortunate victims of lies you believe. A plague upon your ignorance which keeps the young from the truth they deserve." (Frank Zappa,1967).
Cannabis Sativa has the potential to treat hundreds of health conditions. It has been used as a medicinal plant for over 3,500 years in China, India, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Prior to the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, hemp was America's prime treatment for many diseases and illnesses. When Cannabis is re-legalized it will replace many prescription drugs. Herbal Cannabis and its derivatives are used as topical salves, herbal packs, eaten, smoked and drank in teas. Some of the known medical uses of hemp include treating nausea, back pain, asthma, cramps, muscle spasms, insomnia, neuralgia, earache, herpes, arthritis, rheumatism migraine, stress, depression, anorexia and glaucoma. It is an antibiotic, a pain reliever, an expectorant, used in muscle ointments and taken internally. Hundreds of other therapeutic uses are likely.
For chemotherapy and AIDS patients cannabis reduces pain and nausea while stimulating appetites. Marinol, a synthesized THC, is a pill available by prescription. Chemo and AIDS patients say it isn't as effective as the herb. When a patient has extreme nausea, pills (costing approximately $8 each) are easily vomited. Benefit is almost instantaneous when the herb is smoked. Patients experience stimulated appetites and nausea relief which can help combat excess weight loss (wasting syndrome).
Cannabis has the potential of benefiting most victims of glaucoma, the nation's leading cause of blindness. It lowers pressure inside the eyeball or Inner Ocular Pressure (IOP). Glaucoma interferes with the eye's normal pressure release abilities and raises IOP. Cannabis is two to three times as effective as currently prescribed legal medicines for reducing eye pressure, without the toxic side effects of currently used Glaucoma drugs.
I can continue for pages with studies and documentation of the medical benefits of hemp. It is a miracle plant that could relieve the needless suffering of millions of people, restoring their quality of life. The "Reefer Madness" mentality has taken this once common remedy from the people's use.
Cannabis was listed as a Class 1 Substance (with no medical value) by the Nixon administration in 1970, despite all the evidence to the contrary. In 1988, DEA administrative Judge, Francis Young, stated that Cannabis should be moved out of Class 1 and be made available for medical use, but it was kept Class 1 by the Bush regime in 1989. Gov. Wilson vetoed a Bill in Sept. 1994 that would have allowed the use of hemp for medical purposes. One month later, the Federal Government decided not to reconsider its ban.
Why haven't the drug companies tried to get approval for it? Simple, they can't make any money. When a drug company invents a new drug, it invests millions of dollars in research and development. In return it gets an exclusive patent for 17 years. How can they possibly do this with cannabis when people can grow their own medicine?
Cannabis won't be profitable for pharmaceutical companies and it will take the place of some of their most profitable drugs. Hemp and its derivatives will be able to replace more than half of the Valium, Librium, Thorazine, and Stellazine and partially replace Halicon and Darvon and on and on. So what can the poor multi-million dollar pharmaceutical industry do to protect its interests? Just what they have been doing; lobbying and supporting pseudo-scientific studies.
Cannabis Sativa can provide us with fiber, plastics, construction materials, fuels, solvents, foods and medicines. Why does our government persist in keeping this incredible plant illegal? Well, who holds the purse strings and really runs this country? Not we the people. Big business interests, i.e., Timber, Petrochemical, Alcohol, Pharmaceutical and the Law Enforcement industries all stand to lose big bucks if Cannabis is re-legalized. Our government would have to admit that it is wrong about hemp and that it has suppressed and destroyed information about its benefits. Government agencies determined to convince the public that hemp is useless and dangerous are concerned that studies demonstrating the benefits of cannabis might be misinterpreted, especially by teenagers and that a garbled message (like the truth) will get out to the public.
Well friends, the big lie is unfolding. You can help get out the truth by writing to your government representatives, and educating yourselves, and your children. Perhaps the ultimate act of civil disobedience is to heed the advice of George Washington, "Make the most of the Indian Hemp Seed and sow it everywhere." Keep the Hope of Hemp alive.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1995