5. Paper
The war on hemp may all have started because of its competition with paper. Indeed, Harry Anslinger earns credit for bringing forward the idea that conflated hemp with the marijuana plant.
As head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs department, his campaign through newspaper articles to change the culture’s reception of hemp was likely motivated by his connections to other industries, like the paper industry’s main players at the time—the Hearst and DuPont families.
While only Anslinger can confirm or deny why he targeted hemp, the result of the campaign continues to shape American agriculture.
These industries don’t want hemp legalized. But in reality, paper production would benefit from industrial hemp. Its low lignin content makes it unnecessary to use as many chemicals when producing paper as wood.
In fact, just one acre of industrial hemp produces quadruple what once acre of trees can. This potential alone should generate dollar signs for those in paper production.
These industries don’t want hemp legalized, but changing how paper is produced to include hemp might help enhance the current industry. Save a tree, grow some hemp.
