Let's Change the H word
by on 09. 2.04
From what I hear, hemp has some terrific, sustainable qualities. If it was easier to grow then there would be more of it around, the price would drop and there could be major environmental benefits. Problem is that Hemp has a major problem...it's name! It's associated with hippies, deadheads and potheads. (none of which I have a problem with).
Most of the time you have heard about it it's been from some very non-suit type who is enthusiastically pushing to get it legalized "because it can save trees, replace cotton bla bla bla". This may all be true but you sense that the real reason they are pushing for it is simply to get pot legalized. And this duplicity makes it a much less compelling argument.
Hey, I think pot's great! (Never inhaled of course) but let's separate the issues that we are fighting for and consider how best to influence the people who can make this happen. We live in a shallow world and appearances unfortunately matter. If the hippies were the CEOs and leading politicians, fine. But they're not.
So, here's my proposal: Let's rebrand (rename!) Hemp in order to lose the connotations that harm its struggle to hit the mainstream. You've heard of Canola? What about Rape Seed? Same thing. Rape Seed clearly had some negative connotations so they up and changed the name. Why not Hemp? And while we're at it, how about dressing a little more "like the enemy" for those rallies, huh?
So, by your logic, all "hippies" just want to see hemp "legalized" (which it already is, but anything even remotely related to this plant is awash in bureaucratic nonsense) due to the intoxicating effects? I disagree. These kinds of blanket statements do nothing to help progress the state of affairs on this planet. Why is it, that the planet's premier natural resource (the fastest growing plant on the planet - with no need of fertilizers, or pesticides) is no longer being utilized?
Hemp's red-herring argument that it is because of its intoxicating effects - that is what is keep it illegal - is more of the prohibitionists' propaganda. Hemp is not illegal because it has medicinal effects, and that it intoxicates some - it's illegal because it's a threat to the dominating geo/political forces of the pharmaceutical, petroleum, and fiber/timber industries. Admittedly, due to it's medicinal properties, it's rather convenient to have its "abuse potential" and "no established medicinal value" established by the same people who's jobs depend on keeping this plant illegal (utilizing gutter science).
The only way to get to the suits you're seemingly so keen on impressing with this natural resource, is to show them a profit motive, and potential. This, sadly, will not come about until the price of their current energy source (oil/petrol) outpaces what we'll pay for it, and ingenuity will once again have to be tapped to 'rediscover' this natural resource. Rudolph Diesel invented his engine to run on hempseed and peanut oil based fuels, petroleum was synthesized later to mimic the plant-based fuels. Rather ironic.
There's nothing wrong with the word hemp - nor cannabis sativa. One could make the argument against the slang term "marijuana" which was co-opted by the prohibitionists in the 1930s in order to frighten the American public into adopting foolhardy policies which continue to bear their sour fruit. Hey, that sounds rather familiar.
"hippies, deadheads and potheads"
->aren't these one in the same?
Jazy,
I agree that there are other forces at work but I believe that words are powerful and that, as you say, the profit motive is a huge force in making things happen.
Changing hemp´s name would help increase consumer demand (i firmly believe it turns off a huge market), which will help more companies invest in the fiber.
Your example of the term marijuana, is a good one but unless I am misunderstanding, it supports my proposal and not yours. The term was used by the prohibitionists to accomplish their aims. If our aim is to bring hemp mainstream, shouldn´t we consider how its naming affects our goals?
Thanks for the comments. Let me know your thoughts.
Graham
ps i don´t think that all hippies want pot legalized, nor that every hemp advocate is
really primarily thinking about pot legalization.
I do think that it is important to be aware of
blanket statements (stereotypes) and how they affect our world. I think one surrounds hemp and it´s not helping it go mainstream.
Most of you are confusing true hemp with cannabis sativa, of which the indica strains are primarily smoked. Quick research yields this:
Hemp and Marijuana look alike except for the way they're grown. Hemp is planted 300 seeds per square yard to maximize the number and thickness of stalks. Marijuana growers do the opposite they plant one or two seeds per square yard and maximize branches, leaves, and flowers where most THC resides. Hemp's THC content is too low to produce a high. Of the 1.54 billion cannabis plants destroyed by U.S. drug agents from 1993 to 1997, only 14 million plants were marijuana. The other 99.1% were low THC hemp that grows wild.
USA TODAY 10/7/98 section 13A
Most of the psychoactive properties of marijuana can be attributed to its content of a cannabinoid (Fig. 1a) named delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In some literature, it is designated as delta-1-tetrahydrocannabinol due merely to a conflict between two methods of naming chemicals, but it is the very same molecule. Modern hemp varieties are nearly devoid of THC and, therefore, cannot be practically diverted into the drug trade. Hemp has been heavily selected for high fiber content, high stalk yield, high seed yield, and low (
Yes, hemp is not psychoactive in humans (unlike cannabis sativa or indica). Hemp plants look nothing like the well known sativa and indica cannabis species. Most people wouldn't even recognize it, if they were to drive past a field of hemp.
If most american's weren't so ignorant, you wouldn't have to change the name of the plant to increase it's marketability.
Hemp was being used for food and textiles (and cannabis sativa/indica was being use as a medicine) long before the american government lied to it's citizens about this "devil weed". Ever watch the old gov. film "Hemp for Victory"?
Premise seems rather pointless; in my experience most people don't associate Hemp with Cannabis/Marijuana, believing it to be a totally different plant!
After reading your post I randomly asked (non hippy, potheads - naturally!)friends, work colleagues, did they know what hemp was? The large majority reply - 'rope used to made from hemp', some knew about sailcloth/sacking. Virtually no-one mentioned smoking it!
Hemp seems a perfectly fine word to me!
Well, we don't really have any statistical evidence to prove either way. Right it is my word against your word. Regardless of who is right, what damage would be caused by rebranding hemp.
I subscribe to Graham Hill and zac's posts. Jazy just sounds like a freakin' megalomaniac. I'm sorry that I don't live in the hipped-out bubble of getting high everyday and thinking "the corporations" want to enslave us. True it would help if government required the textile industry to be more environmentally responsible and sustainably conscious, but in the short term unregulated economy of Busg, divorce hemp from its potentially (because again it's my personal anecdotes against your personal anecdotes) harmful connotations.
Hey whatever it takes to make the world sustainable.
You do need to change the scientific name of this plant to be able to show it in writing in a bill made to make it legal to grow.Anyone that trys to legalize POT and Industrial hemp at the same time are bullshit.Comments like that is what makes the DEA look at it that the POTHEADS just want to legalize their POT,not Industrial hemp or whatever you want to call it. They are 2 different distinct plants that have 2 very different uses.
Change the scientific name and then you have a chance that congress can write a bill to support growing Industrial HEMP. NOT POT....
It's all in the wording and even the DEA said so,They have to enforce the laws on the books. They both have the same name,so they enforce the drug laws on both of them even though States like North Dakota know they are different plants and wrote a bill to allow Industrial Hemp to be grown.It is the Federal Laws that are keeping it from being grow,not State or local laws..
If you want to try to Legalize POT,try that after you have a new name for Industrial Hemp that the Federal Government recognizes as not a DRUG PLANT.
Industrial Hemp grows like bamboo upto 20 feet tall and has different leaves,Weed or POT grows alot shorter...If you can not recognize the difference,then you are definately blind,ignorent or both. OIL and Food prices are now high enough to see this plant as a great addition or alternative to foreign fuel and foods.