With the prohibition on cannabis plantation fading by the days, it is a matter of time before India legalises the recreational and industrial cultivation of the plant as well. This industry is the new gold mine and we will see why.
What is Hemp?
The street cred received by marijuana derivatives is the primary reason behind its stigmatisation and consequent status of the product. But the fact is that while both hemp and marijuana are derived from the cannabis plant, they couldn’t be more different.
The recreational use of marijuana is facilitated by the presence of the psychoactive component, THC (Tetra Hydro Cannabinol). Hemp on the other hand is derived from plants with less than 0.3 % THC. Such plants are not psychoactive and pose no risk of being abused. Sad reality is that under the NDPS legislation(s) it is put in the same category as heroin and cocaine to name a few.
That however is everything that hemp is not, so what actually is hemp?
Hemp is a plant which has been a part of our evolution for thousands of years, archaeological sites near Oki Islands of Japan have revealed the use of hemp dating back to at least 8000 BC. Since then, hemp has found its way to China where it was used for the fabrication of paper, clothes, and ropes. That practice would continue onto the modern era and by famous figures to the likes of George Washington who extensively promoted the growth of hemp on account of it being a cash crop.
From a scientific perspective, hemp is distinct from it’s cannabis counterparts and the biology of this plant is still somewhat of a mystery. Hemp does have a heterogeneous cell wall to begin with, that is the primary reason behind the sheer rigidity and strength of its fabric. Apart from that, hemp is composed of compounds with demonstrated anti-bacterial properties such as esterified sterols, triterpenes, beta-sitosterol, to name a few. This makes it an excellent candidate for production of sterile commodities like surgical instrument and trauma response kits.
That is just about hemp’s industrial usage.
The Medical Benefits of Hemp
Dr Peter Grinspoon from Harvard University maintains that there is not enough data and research to understand how CBD (Cannabidol) the non-psychoactive component of hemp works, but he is certain that it does work.
CBD has been touted for a wide variety of health issues, but the strongest scientific evidence is for its effectiveness in treating some of the cruelest childhood epilepsy syndromes, such as Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), which typically don’t respond to antiseizure medications. In numerous studies, CBD was able to reduce the number of seizures, and in some cases it was able to stop them altogether.
CBD is currently used to treat a plethora of mental health diseases which are of immense importance in today’s hustling city-space. According to The American Institute of Stress, 83% of workers suffer from work related stress issues and perhaps more disturbing is the fact that over 50% of gen Z have been diagnosed with some mental health issue. Now, anti-depression medications are far from being perfect, CBD however has showing promising results.
Recently, FDA approved the first ever cannabis derived medication, Epidiolex for treatment of seizures and LGS. Apart from this, CBD has also shown very effective results in treatment of inflammatory and neuropathic pain, these are two of the most difficult chronic pains to treat. A study from European Journal of Pain demonstrated that CBD ointment can help lower pain and inflammation caused by auto-immune disorders like arthritis.
However, in this regards a lot of scientific research is still required for us to better understand how the treatment works. Without sufficient high-quality evidence in human studies it is very difficult to get the legitimacy comparable to other treatments. But the industry is growing and it has promising results. So, how else is hemp beneficial.
Can Hemp Solve World Hunger?
Hulled hemp seed is one of the most energy dense food source. Apart from supplying a balanced diet of all sorts, hemp seeds contains 73% of its energy in form of essential fatty acids (Polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic, oleic, and alpha-linoleic acids) nutrition scientists have even compared Hempseed’s amino acid profile with other sources of protein such as meat, milk, eggs, and soy.
These seeds are also are a complete source of protein,which is very uncommon. Hemp seeds provide all nine essential amino acids which is the building block of proteins, it is specially crucial due to the body’s inability to produce the same. It has to be absorbed through diet.
Studies have further proven that hemp seeds contain antioxidants which have neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and above all Immunity boosting properties.
So, there is a pretty strong case of hemp being a resounding link to be a step closer towards solving world hunger.
Industrial Applications
As we briefly touched upon earlier, hemp has been used for thousands of years for various applications. Hemp fibre happens to be one of the most resilient organic resource. It was strong enough to be used and abused in the wartime era for heavy industrial application. Just take a look at this video from 1941 showing the sheer strength of a car chassis made of hemp plastic.
More shocking perhaps is the fact that not only was hemp commonly used throughout Europe to construct sail canvas but the word canvas itself is derived from cannabis which is apart from being incredibly strong as this video suggests, is also completely bio-degradable.
Hemp fibre is strong enough to be a replacement for wood and a growing number of people are opting for it due to it’s breathable nature. Hempcrete was first fabricated and used in 1986 France by innovator Charles Rasetti who was working on the renovation of the Maison de la Turquie.
The next step in the development of this technology was the introduction of Hemp Lime which was designed by Modece Architects in 2000. Hemp has since then also been recognised as an incredible material to be used as insulation against heat and noise.
Other industrial use amounting to the use of hemp fibre and its derivative include that in plastic and composite material, notably in Mercedes Benz C-Class containing up to 20kgs in each car. Hemp pulp is a far better alternative economically and ecologically when it comes to the manufacturing of paper. Notably, compared to wood pulp which has very low lignin fraction with respect to hemp pulp which has at least four to give times longer fibre and a higher tear resistance.
Hemp also has a much faster crop yield compared to trees which can take decades for cultivating. Hemp takes about 4-5 months to fully mature and are more favourable when it comes to recycling. Compared to wood derived paper, hemp fibres naturally resist decomposition thus preventing yellowing and browning of pages.
All that being said however, it must be taken into account that the industry does not have the machinery in place currently to produce on a comparable scale with that of alternate solutions.
The Ending Note
These are incredibly hard times and it is but natural for us to venture and look for opportunities and newer avenues to innovate in. With proper scientific studies of the material and development of machinery required to get it to be the industry standard, we don’t stand a chance of profiting from this gold mine. Hemp in it’s industrial application alone can solve a lot of ecological issues we are facing currently. So, if we can innovate without the fear of stigma maybe there’s a greener & more sustainable future ahead.