This is the first chapter in one of the most important books in the recent history of cannabis, Hemp: Lifeline to the Future, the deeply researched and footnoted work that proved visionary in predicting (first edition 1993) and helped facilitate the global resurgence of industrial hemp, medical marijuana, adult personal use including home gardens and regulated cannabis commerce. While its focus is on the industrial uses of hemp, Chris Conrad lays out his political, industrial and public education strategies that changed the world.
Chapter One tells the story of a day in the life, set in a world where cannabis is not only legal but central to every aspect of maintaining a healthy and prosperous society. Later chapters include section one, which reveals our stolen history with hemp as, arguably, the world’s most important agricultural resource. It is shown to have been a major engine driving the global economy until its mysterious disappearance in the early 20th century and ends with the scheme used to ban “marihuana” in 1937. Section two merges that historical record and knowledge of hemp with modern science and technology to show how hemp can be quickly restored as an integral and sustainable resource for today’s industry to provide food, clothing, housing, paper, fuel, plastic, medicine and jobs. It provides the reader with business advice, do-it-yourself projects and (now outdated) contacts in the industry to get raw materials and help start your own company. Section three cites scientific research to dismantle prohibitionist arguments, then analyzes the situation as humanity enters the 21st century in terms of how restoring hemp can solve environmental, political and economic problems around the world. It ends with a stark comparison of two future worlds, one is a dying planet killed by toxic fossil fuel and nuclear industries and prohibitionist politics; the other a world where hemp is legalized and fully restored, where society repairs ecological ravages while providing high quality products for healthy consumers. This poses the question, which future would you prefer?
Other books by Conrad include the Newbie’s Guide to Cannabis and the Industry (with Jeremy Daw), Hemp for Health, Cannabis Yields and Dosage, Shattered Lives: Portraits From America’s Drug War (with Mikki Norris and Virginia Resner) and Human Rights and the US Drug War (with Norris and Resner), and contributed to numerous others, including The Emperor Wears No Clothes (Jack Herer).
Chapter One tells the story of a day in the life, set in a world where cannabis is not only legal but central to every aspect of maintaining a healthy and prosperous society. Later chapters include section one, which reveals our stolen history with hemp as, arguably, the world’s most important agricultural resource. It is shown to have been a major engine driving the global economy until its mysterious disappearance in the early 20th century and ends with the scheme used to ban “marihuana” in 1937. Section two merges that historical record and knowledge of hemp with modern science and technology to show how hemp can be quickly restored as an integral and sustainable resource for today’s industry to provide food, clothing, housing, paper, fuel, plastic, medicine and jobs. It provides the reader with business advice, do-it-yourself projects and (now outdated) contacts in the industry to get raw materials and help start your own company. Section three cites scientific research to dismantle prohibitionist arguments, then analyzes the situation as humanity enters the 21st century in terms of how restoring hemp can solve environmental, political and economic problems around the world. It ends with a stark comparison of two future worlds, one is a dying planet killed by toxic fossil fuel and nuclear industries and prohibitionist politics; the other a world where hemp is legalized and fully restored, where society repairs ecological ravages while providing high quality products for healthy consumers. This poses the question, which future would you prefer?
Other books by Conrad include the Newbie’s Guide to Cannabis and the Industry (with Jeremy Daw), Hemp for Health, Cannabis Yields and Dosage, Shattered Lives: Portraits From America’s Drug War (with Mikki Norris and Virginia Resner) and Human Rights and the US Drug War (with Norris and Resner), and contributed to numerous others, including The Emperor Wears No Clothes (Jack Herer).
