Hemp is cultivated virtually everywhere in the world except for the United States, and its cultivation in western countries is growing steadily. China and other eastern countries never prohibited its cultivation and use it extensively. Hemp, from Old English hænep, is the common name for plants of the family Cannabis, although the term is often used to refer only to Cannabis strains cultivated for industrial (non-drug) use.

Industrial hemp has countless potential uses, from paper and textiles to biodegradable plastics, health food, and fuel. It is one of the fastest growing biomasses on the planet, one of the earliest domesticated plants known, and is right in line with the "Green and Sustainable Future" objectives that are becoming increasingly popular. Hemp requires little to no pesticides, replenishes soil with nutrients and nitrogen, controls erosion of the topsoil, and produces lots of oxygen, considering how fast it grows. Furthermore, Hemp could be used to replace many potentially harmful products, such as tree paper (the process of which uses bleaches and other toxic chemicals, apart from contributing to deforestation), cosmetics (which often contain synthetic oils that can clog pores and provide little nutritional content for the skin), plastics (which are petroleum based and cannot decompose), and more.

Licenses for hemp cultivation are issued in the European Union and Canada. In the United Kingdom, these licenses are issued by the Home Office under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. When grown for non-drug purposes hemp is often called industrial hemp, and a common product is fiber for use in a wide variety of products. Feral hemp or ditch weed is usually a naturalized fiber or oilseed strain of Cannabis that has escaped from cultivation and is self-seeding.
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp ]

An excellent food source, hemp provides nearly complete nutrition. Eating a diet rich in EFAs, Omega 3, 6, and 9, is one way to ensure health, because these essential fatty acids help to stimulate the heart and brain, as well as the immune system.

The cannabis sativa plant produces more protein, oil and fiber than any other plant on earth. Hempseed, for example, was an essential part of our ancestors' diet and is the source of "gruel," the porridge that is referred to in countless stories and books written before this century.

The longest, strongest, most elastic, and most durable fiber in nature, Hemp yields cloth, canvas, cordage, and other textiles. Hemp can be made into biodegradable plastics, more resistant to heavy blows than steel. Hemp has the most cellulose of any plant, and plastics are made from cellulose. Currently hemp cellulose is being used as a replacement for fiberglass car parts because hemp Biocomposites are lighter and safer than other alternatives.

Hemp can make virtually any building material including caulking, cement, fiberboard, flooring, insulation, paneling, particleboard, plaster, plywood, stucco, reinforced concrete, mortar, and biodegradable plastic. Hemp hurd can be compressed into foundations which are seven times stronger than concrete, half as heavy, and three times more elastic. Even under extreme pressure hemp-reinforced buildings will bend, but are less likely to break, and actually continue to get harder and stronger after they set.

Hemp seed oil can be used as fuel to drive cars and heat homes because Hemp produces biomass, which can be converted into charcoal for electricity, ethanol, methanol and other sources of fuel. Burning biomass for energy, instead of fossil fuels, helps keep the carbon dioxide cycle in balance, and thus helps to stop global warming, instead of contributing to it as the burning of fossil fuels does.

Hemp produces more biomass than any plant practical for farming, substantially more than corn, sugarcane, or kenaf. One acre of hemp can produce 10 tons of biomass every four months of growing season. Hemp fuel is the most cost effective and environmentally friendly reusable energy source on the planet, and could potentially make the U.S. less dependent on foreign petroleum.

The most resourceful crop on earth, cannabis yields industrial hemp for canvas, oil, fiber, and paper among other things; a harmless medicine for gravely ill individuals; and a source of recreation for millions of people around the world.

An acre of hemp will produce from four to ten times as much paper pulp as will an acre of trees, over the period of time it takes pulp trees to grow to maturity, and hemp can be used to make paper more durable and environmentally friendly than wood. Changing to hemp-based paper could reduce deforestation by half. Hemp paper lasts hundreds of years longer than paper made from trees and doesn't require toxic bleaching chemicals.

The cannabis sativa plant produces more protein, oil and fiber than any other plant on earth. Hempseed, for example, was an essential part of our ancestors' diet and is the source of "gruel," the porridge that is referred to in countless stories and books written before this century. However, when new technology in the 1900's made mass processing of hemp possible, certain petrochemical, wood-based paper, and cotton-fiber industries protected themselves from competition by recasting hemp as "marijuana."

Hemp oil, with its superior Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) content deeply pentrates the skin to assist cells in rebuilding the cell membrane, making it soft and healthy.

With the Cannabis Tax Act, profits from the sale of cannabis will help create and fund an agricultural committee to promote hemp fiber, protein and oil crops and associated industries. It will provide millions of dollars a year to implement this important change.