Why does the environmental movement appear to be wimping out?

[dissent1977]

The environmental movement appears to be shying away from a very important issue in order to avoid controversy.

The issue I am talking about is the legalization of hemp. Hemp has so many environmental benefits, that it seems like any real environmentalist would like to see it legally cultivated in the United States. Afterall this is a plant that can produce high quality paper, meaning we can cut back on deforestation. It can also produce fabric that is superior to cotton, and can be grown without the heavy use of pesticides that cotton requires. It can produce bio-diesel fuel, which serves the dual purpose of cutting back our dependence on fossil fuels and reducing the impact of global warming.

And hemp has virtually no THC, meaning there is no way anyone could ever use it as a drug. There does not seem to be any logical reason to oppose the legalization of hemp, unless of course you are working for one of the corporations that financially benefits from the criminalization of hemp. For anyone else to oppose hemp, it is basically like opposing the cultivation of corn. Except it is even stupider than opposing corn, because hemp actually has more uses than corn does and is actually a more beneficial plant.

So why in the hell does it seem like environmental groups are completely ignoring this issue? I want to build the environmental movement, but it is difficult when we seem unable to even talk about real alternatives because we are afraid of being called "pro-drug".

[Mythsaje]

1. I think you've touched on part of the reason

but I also think that one of the major hindrances from hemp is that it's more or less impossible to tell the difference from the air. It could also be very easy to hide cannabis within a hemp plantation as long as you took steps to prevent cross-pollinization (not all that difficult, really...it's done all the time to prevent the seeding of female cannabis flowers).

It may be stupid, but it's what we got.

[madrchsod]

2. hemp is illegal in the united states

so any hemp product comes from outside the usa. hemp shampoo is really good stuff....but back to the story. i subscribe to several interior design magazines and believe me green products are the next big thing in buildings. although a tad more expensive than "dirty products" the long term benefits and cost savings make up the difference in costs.if we could grow commercial hemp in the usa we would see a lot more hemp products in everyday use. but we have a war on drugs to win!