HEMP VS PLASTICS

by HempingtonPost | May 15, 2017

Why Hemp Could Be The Future Of Plastics

The world of #Hemp is emerging faster then we can stay up with, and we’ve only just begun.  It’s definitely strange that hemp is safe and legal in some countries and not in others.  In the United States, we import over 1/2 billion dollars a year in hemp products from countries like China and Canada and some European Countries, yet our American farmers can not grow commercially.  These laws need to be changed as soon as possible, and here’s a great article to explain why Hemp is a Multi-Billion dollar Industry ready and waiting to be grown!

Leslie Bocskor, investment banker and president of cannabis advisory firm Electrum Partners, is one of the most passionate people in the cannabis industry Benzinga has come across. In a recent chat, Benzinga asked him to discuss a topic he was passionate about, an issue he found particularly interesting.

The Rise Of A Hemp-Ire – Bocskor recently became fascinated with hemp. Not marijuana, but good old-fashioned hemp, the kind that was used to make fabrics in the nineteenth century. “I have been talking to some scientists and there is a conversation about hemp for plastic,” he began, pointing out that Henry Ford — Ford Motor Company F 0.18% — had built one of his first cars using hemp plastic. In fact, that car even ran on hemp fuel.

“This could potentially create the largest carbon-negative industry in the world,” he continued.

But, what does carbon negative even mean? Nowadays, most plastics are hydrocarbon-based, which means they use fossil petrochemicals pulled out of the Earth to be made. Leaving any discussions about climate change, global warming and carbon emissions aside, it does not take much scientific knowledge to understand why the process of making plastics out of petrochemicals implies pollution.

Hemp plastic, on the other hand, is extremely useful or convenient for several reasons.

Bocskor went on.

1. “I’m told it doesn’t have any of the ‘ene’s’: Toluene, benzene, things like that, which are the most toxic byproducts of plastics that are produced from hydrocarbons.”

2. “I’m told that hemp can be engineered for biodegrading that will reduce it into much less harmful compounds than the ones that can be done with hydrocarbon-based plastics.”

3. “We can have fields, acres, and acres, hectares of hemp farms that are pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere – as plants do. Then, that carbon from the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere gets used to make the plastics, and the plastics, when they are going into a landfill and they are no longer usable, will biodegrade bringing carbon back into the soil [anecdotal data and initial research have suggested]. So, it’s essentially carbon negative, pulling carbon out of the atmosphere and putting it back into the soil.”

Better Understanding Hemp – It’s important to understand the difference between hemp and marijuana. Although they both belong to the same genus and species, their characteristics differ widely. The main difference: hemp does not have enough THC to have significant psychoactive properties; this basically means it cannot be used to get high.

“Hemp is far less controversial than marijuana. So, it’s hard to understand why it isn’t supported by the U.S. government, to help remediate the soil and add to the crop rotation, and even help the farmers in states like West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee or Virginia, who have been seeing reducing crops for tobacco — which so much of their economies have been based on,” Bocskor pointed out. “This is a crop that is not only able to replace tobacco, but it even grows more easily, remediates the soil and has so many other potential areas that we can go with it besides hemp plastic, and hemp paper.

“In fact, this is a crop that would not even need subsidies, unlike so many other crops that we grow,” he supplemented. “So, this is an opportunity to not only bring economic benefit back to those regions I mentioned before but to do it in a way that has so many more positives.”

Betting On The Future

Companies in the industrial hemp industry include:

• Hemp Inc HEMP 13.3%.

• HempAmericana Inc HMPQ 6.96%.

• FutureLand Corp FUTL.

However, the valuations of these companies are pretty low. We wondered why.

“You have to say converging market forces,” the expert explicated. “On the one hand, hemp is potentially disruptive to the paper industry, to the textile industry, and to the plastics industry. And, disruption is not something that anybody in any industry that has an established, long-running, well-entrenched business likes.”

As Albert O. Hirschman points out in his book “The Rhetoric of Reaction,” defenders of the status quo conceive change as risky, and thus use this argument to fight it.

“The disruption potential of hemp combined with the fact that it’s not as glamorous, interesting or immediately profitable as marijuana makes it difficult for the industry,” Bocskor continued, calling for increased research to back the growth of the environmentally-friendly industry.

“I happen to think that the global hemp market could easily be bigger than the cannabis market in 10 years,” the specialist concluded. “When you start to look at the paper market, the textile market for cotton, the plastics market on a global scale, you realize that these are industries that dwarf what could be the cannabis market on a global basis.”

What Industrial Hemp Can Do For The United States

by HempingtonPost | Mar 9, 2017

Industrial hemp is an invaluable renewable resource that is gaining popularity in the U.S. marketplace.  As states in the U.S. continue to legalize hemp, more and more hemp products are found on local store shelves.

The U.S. is currently the largest importer of industrial hemp grown products in the world. To date, almost all hemp merchandise on U.S. shelves are imported into the U.S., as commercial cultivation of industrial hemp is still illegal under U.S. Federal law. Although market data is not readily available, the Congressional Research Service estimated that the U.S. imported $12,271,000 worth of hemp goods in 2011. In 2013, the U.S. imported approximately $36,866,000 of products made of hemp. Now in 2016, it’s clear to see the demand for hemp in the U.S. is increasing exponentially.

Similarly, as U.S. imports of hemp increase, the U.S. market share for hemp products is increasing exponentially. In 2010, Vote Hemp estimated U.S. retail industrial hemp sales at $419 million. In 2013, the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) estimated U.S. retail sales around $581 million. In 2015, HIA estimated U.S. retails sales at more than $620 million. These products were all produced with imported hemp. It’s time U.S. farmers share in that market.

Legalize Industrial Hemp

At least 27 U.S. states have distinguished hemp from marijuana, removing barriers to production. As more states re-legalize, declassify hemp and begin hemp production, we will start to see “Made in the U.S.A.” products on store shelves.

Currently, hemp grown products in America are produced, manufactured, and sold under the auspices of market research, compliant with provisions in the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill). Pending action on the federal level, U.S. farmers will soon engage in full commercial cultivation.

Many U.S. states have enacted hemp cultivation legislation specifically for the economic opportunities that industrial hemp provides. For example, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky base their support for hemp legalization, and in particular Kentucky’s hemp legalization in 2013, on the economic benefits of industrial hemp. Senate Majority Leader McConnell stated,

“After long discussions with Senator Rand Paul and Commissioner James Comer on the economic benefits of hemp, I am convinced that allowing its production will be a positive development for Kentucky’s farm families and economy…The utilization of hemp to produce everything from clothing to paper is real and if there is a capacity to center a new domestic industry in Kentucky that will create jobs in these difficult economic times that sounds like a good thing to me.”

Legislative Committees around the country that are reviewing proposed hemp bills are echoing industrial hemp’s potential as a mechanism to create jobs and provide abundant economic opportunities. One of the focuses of the Oregon 2016 Legislative Session was implementation of industrial hemp legislation that provides for a sustainable industry that will provide farmers with an alternative crop as well as put rural communities back to work. In Oregon this is especially important for those communities that have been negatively affected by the decline in the timber industry. Rural communities throughout the country are seeking new economic opportunities, which hemp farming can provide.

A resurgence in hemp industry, hemp production will create jobs in all sectors. For example positions will open up in academics, agriculture, business administration, construction, health care, law, manufacturing, marketing, processing, retail sales, and transportation sectors. Since hemp can be produced into a myriad of products, all sectors will be able to take advantage of hemp benefits.

Increasing hemp acreage is paramount to realizing industrial hemp’s economic benefits. As U.S. farmers increase production, U.S. manufacturers and retailers will use U.S. grown industrial hemp, and will no longer need to rely on imported hemp. Having an increased, local supply of industrial hemp will enable U.S. manufacturers to engage in state of the art processing techniques to produce products from industrial hemp that are currently being produced from non-renewable materials, for example, hemp plastics. Eventually, the U.S. will export, rather than import, industrial hemp grown products.

Availability of U.S. hemp will reduce importation and transportation costs, which will lead to reduced wholesale and retail costs of hemp products. As wholesale costs decrease, manufacturers not currently using hemp in their products will be able to incorporate industrial hemp into those products. As retail prices decrease, more consumers will be able to afford items from the hemp industry and they will become common household items, in all households.

Increasing U.S. production will also provide significant environmental benefits. Hemp farmers that are currently allowing their fields to go fallow, can use industrial hemp as a rotation crop. When used in rotation, hemp plants can break disease cycles, replenish soil, and provide farmers with additional income. Industrial hemp can also remove toxins added to soil through conventional farming, assisting farmers converting to organic farming. Consumers are becoming conscious consumers, demanding sustainability produced and organically grown products. Industry representatives report that organic hemp products retail for three times the value of conventional industrial hemp grown products.

To guarantee the U.S. once again reaps the full potential industrial hemp has to offer, it is essential that laws enacted regulating industrial hemp provide for a sustainable, thriving industry. Arbitrary limitations today will have significant impacts on the development of the industry in years to come. Hemp laws need to protect agricultural, manufacturing, and consumer interests, while ensuring standards are put in place that protect public health and safety.

Industrial hemp is already starting to revitalize the U.S. economy. Development of the U.S. industrial hemp industry is providing abundant economic opportunities around every corner. As US hemp farmers begin to increase their production, processors are modifying existing hemp processing equipment as well as bringing new hemp processing equipment to the U.S., manufacturers are developing new products, and retailers are bringing those products to market. jobs are opening up in all sectors in states that are actively developing an industrial hemp industry.  Industrial hemp will provide for a strong, sustainable economy.

Written  by Courtney N. Moran, LL.M.

EARTH Law, LLC – [email protected]