Text 15875, 57 rader
Skriven 2007-05-23 13:07:58 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DAVE DRUM
Ärende: smoking things
======================
As promised, as I find articles that present verifiable, factual
information, I'll post links.

DD> I deplore the demonisation of hemp ... and the referrals to 
DD> it as marijuana stems. It was (and is) at the core manila rope 
DD> "on the hoof" and there is little reason that it would not have 
DD> been used for many/most of the uses that cotton/linen fills 
DD> these days.

Some of the bigger reasons include cost of production, coarseness of
the fiber and the resulting fabric, and production problems that are
still being worked out.

http://www.ukcia.org/industrial/hemptextilesinbritain.html 

This link will lead to the abstract of an article, "Hemp Textiles
in Britain," published by the UK Cannabis Internet Activists, a group
actively seeking to legalize cannabis in all forms.  It is well-
researched, documented, and cited, and the balanced presentation
of pros and cons sets this article far above the usual pro-hemp
jingoism usually found on the Web.

They found some significant (though not entirely unworkable) problems
with the use of hemp for large-scale fabric production and concluded
that hemp is likely always to be a niche-market fabric. 

Their experimental program found that flax and hemp had very similar
fiber yields, with hemp at a slight advantage for long-fiber
production.  However, the fibers were so tough and coarse that major
investments would have to be made in machinery and technology in order
to begin large-scale processing.

They also concluded that the resulting fabric wouldn't be as fine
as many made from flax or cotton, but could be important for
furnishing fabrics, such as drapes, and what they termed "bottom
weights" in clothing (jeans and sportswear.)  Even at that, they
estimated that hemp's eventual market would probably only fall
between cotton's current 50% of the market and flax's 3%, with a
higher percentage going to consumers for whom organic production
is important (hemp is somewhat easier to grow organically than
cotton or flax, according to them - I'm still researching that.)

I'm finding more and more evidence as I go along that hemp is an
adequate plant for many different uses, but not a world-saving
superplant at anything at all.  As I mentioned earlier, I think
it would be an important crop in a third-world community garden
or cooperative farm, but it just isn't feasible for wide-spread
agriculture in a developed country where more specialized plants
perform the various functions better and more cheaply.

I still don't think it should be _illegal_, though.  I'd rather
see the market decide.

---
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, 
minutus carborata descendum pantorum
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)