[WillowTheWhisp]

This thread is a tangent from the "aaargh it's drugs!/ oh no it isn't" subject elsewhere which has now been done to death.

Somebody mentioned hemp seeds being on sale on Accy market and there's the misconception that hemp=cannabis=drugs. I didn't know what the druggy ingredient in the drug was until someone mentioned it and so I started to do a bit of a Google of hemp in general and discovered some interesting things.

For instance in 1971 growing hemp of any variety in this country became illegal, even if the hemp you grew couldn't be used as a drug. That's a bit like banning the growing of all poppies in gardens because some poppies contain opium.

The ban wasn't lifted until 1993. In those 22 years thousands of trees have been chopped down to make paper when hemp could have been used instead and it is a fast growing easily renewable crop unlike trees. Those trees could have been combatting the greenhouse gasses which have led to global warming! So a knee-jerk reaction to the misuse of one strain of a crop could have doomed the planet! (Ok, I know I'm exaggerating. )

Hemp can also be used to produce material from which we can make clothing and other household items. It can also be used to make insulating materials in the building industry and doesn't have polution problems associated with it.

That's before you even get to the obvious things like canvas bags and rope.

Then there is hemp oil which can be used in cosmetics and soaps/shampoos etc. I have a tin with a hemp leaf logo on it which came from The Body Shop and contained a lovely dark green soap and some body lotion. Maybe somebody should complain that the Body Shop sells drug related items! - OK, I won't go there!

I found it quite amazing that for 22 years farmers could be criminalised for growing such a useful crop which poses no danger at all to anyone.