www.hemp.com

Ventura County Star
Terri Thomas


When you say the word hemp, many people think of marijuana. In reality, it
is a renewable resource that can be manufactured into a variety of items
that we use every day. Hemp is nature's longest, strongest and most durable
fiber.

Hemp has been cultivated since 2800 B.C. in China and was grown by such
people as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and even 4-H children in the
early 1940s.

In 1941, Henry Ford built a hemp-fueled and -fabricated automobile that
weighed only two-thirds of the amount of a steel car and could resist blows
10 times as great without denting. Ninety percent of all ships that sailed
from at least the fifth century B.C. until the late 19th century were made
from hemp. Even today, hemp is used on some ships because of its resistance
to mildew and weathering and because it remains pliable in extreme
conditions where plastic-based ropes become brittle and crack. The first
paper was made from hemp as well as the first draft of the Declaration of
Independence, the first draft of the U.S. Constitution and even the first
Gutenberg Bibles.
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