Skaidra Smith-Heisters of the Reason Foundation released a new study yesterday on industrial hemp, which finds that the plant is a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly substitute for many other fibers. According to Smith-Heisters:
There are numerous environmental advantages to hemp. Hemp often requires less energy to manufacture into products. It is less toxic to process. And it is easier to recycle and more biodegradable than most competing crops and products. Unfortunately, we won't realize the full economic and environmental benefits of hemp until the crop is legal in the United States.
Hemp fiber uses six times less energy in manufacturing than polyester fiber, less water and pesticide than cotton, and it can be to make paper, fiberglass, cement, and cellulosic biofuel. But thanks to our absurd "war on drugs," the United States continues to ban even plants that are merely relatives of the smokable variety. Not only that, but the government heavily subsidizes plants that the Reason study notes are "environmentally inferior":
Corn farmers received $51 billion in subsidies between 1995 and 2005; wheat farmers were given $21 billion; cotton farmers fleeced taxpayers for $15 billion; and tobacco farmers were handed $530 million in taxpayer-funded subsidies.
But of course legalizing industrial hemp would inevitably commence the nation's downward spiral.
--Kate Sheppard
