Skip to content

Category: Ministry of Hemp

Donald Trump’s Budget, The Disappearance Of ‘Hemp For Victory’ (Black Tower Radio Interview)
A wild hemp plant growing at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. (Wikimedia Commons / US Fish & Wildlife Service, public domain)
June 7, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Donald Trump’s Budget, The Disappearance Of ‘Hemp For Victory’ (Black Tower Radio Interview)

Posted in Audio, Journalism, Lee Camp, and Ministry of Hemp

On the first Wednesday of every month, I appear on Black Tower Radio to discuss my latest journalism.

Donald Trump’s proposed budget would hurt the poor young people, the disabled, and children the most. How can people like this claim to be “pro-life” with a straight face?

Also discussed: How the USDA made “Hemp For Victory” to encourage patriotic hemp growing, and then made the same film disappear after World War II. Hemp growing is returning to the USA, but slowly — what’s keeping it from booming?

Read moreDonald Trump’s Budget, The Disappearance Of ‘Hemp For Victory’ (Black Tower Radio Interview)
‘Hemp For Victory’: The Government Made This World War II Cannabis Film Disappear
Troops in a landing craft approach "Omaha" Beach on D-Day during the invasion of Normandy, June 1944. (Wikimedia Commons / Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.)
May 30, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

‘Hemp For Victory’: The Government Made This World War II Cannabis Film Disappear

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

During World War II, hemp was so desperately needed by the Allies that the United States briefly reversed its stance on hemp and encouraged farmers to grow it. Afterwards, they tried to erase all records of the campaign.

Millions of people are rediscovering the benefits of hemp, both as a health remedy in CBD oil and a raw ingredient in dozens of hemp-based products. Far fewer are aware of hemp’s history in the U.S. as a cash crop, or the lengths that the government went to suppress that history.

One of the most remarkable examples is “Hemp For Victory,” an educational film produced by the USDA in 1942 that encouraged farmers to grow hemp. After the war, when growing hemp again became illegal again, the government hid the existence of the film for years until pro-cannabis activists forced them to bring it back into the light.

Read more‘Hemp For Victory’: The Government Made This World War II Cannabis Film Disappear
Hemp Makes Great Plastic, So Why Isn’t Hemp Plastic Everywhere?
Sea turtle mosaic art constructed from plastic trash found discarded on a beach. (Flickr / Colleen Proppe, CC NC license)
May 22, 2017
Kit
2 Comments

Hemp Makes Great Plastic, So Why Isn’t Hemp Plastic Everywhere?

Posted in Ministry of Hemp

Plastic is an inescapable part of our everyday lives, so why is almost all of it still made from polluting, non-renewable petrochemicals?

You may have heard that agricultural hemp, the non-mind-altering cousin of cannabis (commonly known as marijuana), has dozens of potential uses from clothing to paper.

Since virtually all climate scientists agree that we must replace our dependence on fossil fuels, and given that hemp can even make the soil cleaner, it’s surprising that this miracle crop isn’t in wider use.

Read moreHemp Makes Great Plastic, So Why Isn’t Hemp Plastic Everywhere?
How Hemp Bioremediation Can Heal Our Soil & Why It Matters To Consumers
A tractor works the soil in an empty field. March 10, 2010. (Flickr / Natural England, CC NC ND license)
April 28, 2017
Kit
6 Comments

How Hemp Bioremediation Can Heal Our Soil & Why It Matters To Consumers

Posted in Ministry of Hemp

Add this to the many uses for our favorite plant: Industrial hemp can actually remove toxins from the soil.

Not only can you use hemp to make dozens of sustainable products, from clothing, skateboards to medicine, but it can also help heal the earth.

As the human population grows, so do our need for more land to grow the crops that keep us fed. But our dependence on fossil fuels and dirty industrial processes have left a lot of land too toxic to sustain life. That’s where the rapidly growing field of “bioremediation” can be vital. Bioremediation essentially means using living things to heal the soil, allowing us to clean and reclaim some of these polluted lands. While bacteria and other microorganisms can be used, phytoremediation, from the Greek word for plant, relies on crops like hemp.

Read moreHow Hemp Bioremediation Can Heal Our Soil & Why It Matters To Consumers
Science Explains How CBD Oil Could Help Ease Your Anxiety
An anxious woman holds her face in her hand. (Flickr / Alessandra, CC NC ND license)
April 13, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Science Explains How CBD Oil Could Help Ease Your Anxiety

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

As millions of Americans struggle with increasingly stressful lives, some of them are turning to cannabis, specifically CBD, to ease their anxiety.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 18 percent of Americans experienced the symptoms of an anxiety disorder at some point over the past 12 months, making it the most common form of mental illness in the United States. Even for the rest of us, our chaotic world can still often leave us feeling overwhelmed.

Regular users of psychoactive cannabis, also commonly known as marijuana, frequently report using the substance to relax after a hard day. For many people, hemp-based CBD oil can offer similar benefits, but with few side effects and without making them feel “high.”

Read moreScience Explains How CBD Oil Could Help Ease Your Anxiety
Is CBD Oil Legal in the US? The Answer Is More Complex Than It Seems
Hemp plants growing in soil. June 16, 2016. (Flickr / Lesley L., CC SA license)
March 27, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Is CBD Oil Legal in the US? The Answer Is More Complex Than It Seems

Posted in Ministry of Hemp

Is CBD oil legal in the US? Oddly, the answer seems to depend on who you ask.

Despite the many benefits of CBD oil and a growing field of research showing both its safety and its efficacy, this popular hemp extract exists today in a confusing legal gray area.

The Drug Enforcement Agency insists that CBD oil is illegal at the federal level, while other legal experts and many vendors and producers of CBD oil think the DEA is overstepping its bounds and argue that hemp extracts are legal.

Read moreIs CBD Oil Legal in the US? The Answer Is More Complex Than It Seems