Traditional Uses : Some background articles on cannabis sattiva, including a brief history of hemp as a source for fabrics and as a psychotropic stimulant.

Australia took some strange turns in the late 1960s.

Something happened for which our convict past had not prepared us:

the hippy movement landed and took root.

Music was the chosen vehicle for an alternative lifestyle which landed like an extra terrestrial invasion. Suddenly everything was 'out there'.

As we trekked off to festivals, combined sex and drugs and pushed at the corners of consciousness. What would become the soundtrack for this new generation?

By the late 1960s some young people did think they could make a new world. Peace, love and hippy values were going to change everything. Even down the pub. But the conservative heart of Australian suburbia was a harsh environment for such imported fantasies. Our musical revolution was different. Rebellion was brewing. The younger generation was getting more and more pissed off by old rules and lingering repression.

The biggest focus for change was the relentless escalation of the Vietnam war. Being against the war wasn't only a matter of principle, it was about not being conscripted to die in someone else's jungle.

Music was about to turn, but it was drugs that brought the opportunity for release from the straight society.

Everyone, it seemed, could get into rock and roll, sexual liberation and of course funny cigarettes.

Artists, film makers and musicians saw themselves as the trailblazers of the alternative lifestyle.

In a paddock in New South Wales a real musical revolution was coming, too. At an 'open-air festival of love peace and music', Ourimbah was Australia's first attempt at a Woodstock event. A weekend celebration of drug culture, alternative lifestyles and one long jam session.

A revolution based on peace, love and freedom failed to convert suburban Australia.

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"Prior to the impact of our civilization's values on native societies, consciousness changing by way of substance ingestion was a fundamental part of every culture, with the exception of the Ennuit. In all instances, the substances used were naturally occurring, and had their accompanying role and ritual within each community. Their use was guided by people of knowledge and with some culturally understood and accepted purpose and outcome. Used in this spitual way, consciousness changing became a life enhancing and life affirming facility for people who lived in balance with the natural order." - Bob Hopkins - Australian Anti-Prohibition Activist.

In this section we explore ideas and articles related to marijuana and the spiritual life and experience.

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Industrial Hemp - an alternative to our problems?

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Old Rope. It's made from hemp. During the days of Empire the British were a dominant colonial nation based on their superior naval power - and hemp was an extremely important commodity for tall ships. Joseph Banks, a scientist of great integrity and powers of observation, was the first botanist to visit the Great Southern Land and he reported the exciting news back to London that he had seen wild hemp growing in New Zealand - and that therefore the climate and conditions were right for hemp cultivation.

The proposed new penal colony in Botany Bay was seen as a solution to the overflowing hulks being used as prisons on the River Thames during a time of great social change caused by the industrial revolution, but there is evidence that another important motivating factors in setting up the distant convict outpost was the plan to grow hemp for rope production to supply naval ships.

Other fascinating bits of information on the early history of hemp cultivation in Australia will be posted here.

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Industrial Hemp is more eco-friendly by its very nature and it can be used for a very wide variety of products - from foodstuffs to bio-fuels to construction materials to paper products to textiles.

And new uses are continually unfolding as we come to better understand the potential of hemp. Industrial hemp advocates propose using hemp as a replacement for wood and cotton because it offers products of comparable or superior quality while reducing or eliminating the ecologically negative characteristics involved in their processing.

Comparing Hemp with Wood.

As a replacement for wood products, hemp offers many environmentally friendly benefits. Hemp achieves better land utilization as it yields three to eight tons of fiber per acre, which is four times the yield of the average forest. An acre of hemp produces 4.1 times as much paper as an acre of trees. Hemp can also be harvested every year while trees take 20 years or more to grow to harvest. Since hemp builds topsoil, it can be grown on the same acre of land year after year. Many acres of forest could be saved by industrial cultivation of hemp for paper alone.

The replacement of wood fiber by hemp-based products can save forests for wildlife habitat, watersheds, recreational areas, oxygen production, and carbon sequestration to help in reducing global warming.

Many construction products now made out of wood could be made from hemp. Beams, studs, posts, oriented strand board, and medium density fiberboard made from hemp would be stronger and lighter because of hemp's long fibers. Hemp fiberboard has been manufactured that is twice as strong as wood-based fiberboard.

Unlike wood, hemp is low in lignin, which means that hemp can be pulped using fewer chemicals. Hemp can also be bleached using a gentle hydrogen peroxide rather than toxic chlorine compounds and dioxins which are generated as a by-product of paper production. Many of these toxic chemical waste products from wood pollute our streams, rivers and lakes.

The discharge of heavy metals and toxins like sulfuric acid and dioxin could be reduced by 60 to 80 percent by making the switch to hemp pulp.

Comparing Industrial Hemp with Cotton.

Hemp has few natural predators and it grows well without herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides. The production of cotton, on the other hand, consumes about 25% of all pesticides used on American crops. Some of these chemicals are among the most toxic classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In developing countries, where regulations are less stringent, the amount of herbicides and insecticides and their toxicity is often greater than those used in the U.S. on cotton crops.

Industrial hemp is also a very land efficient crop. On a per acre basis, hemp yields 250% more fiber than cotton and 600% more fiber than flax without the need for toxic chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Hemp bast fibers are one of the longest natural soft fibers. They are longer and stronger than cotton with eight times the tensile strength and four times the durability of cotton. Hemp fibers are also more absorbent, more mildew -resistant, and more insulative than cotton. This means that hemp will keep you warmer in winter and cooler in summer than cotton. Hemp is more effective at blocking the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

The nature of hemp fibers makes them more absorbent to dyes, which coupled with hemp's ability to better screen out ultraviolet rays, means that hemp material is less prone to fading than cotton fabrics. Like cotton, hemp can be made into a variety of fabrics, including high quality linen. When blended with materials such as cotton, linen, and silk, hemp provides a sturdier, longer lasting product, while maintaining quality and softness.

Land Use and Hemp

Hemp has a deep root system that helps to prevent soil erosion, removes toxins, provides a disease break, and aerates the soil to the benefit of future crops. Hemp grows well in a variety of climates and soil types. It is naturally resistant to most pests, precluding the need for pesticides. It grows tightly spaced, out-competing any weeds, so herbicides are not necessary. It also leaves a weed-free field for a following crop.

The cultivation of industrial hemp also combats the growing problem of topsoil erosion. In the U.S., more than five billion tons of precious agricultural topsoil is lost each year due to erosion. Hemp is the ideal farm crop to counter this loss. The fine root systems and the long tap roots of hemp plants will penetrate the soil for three to seven feet, helping to anchor and protect soil from runoff and erosion.

Hemp builds and replenishes topsoil and subsoil structures. Hemp plants shed their leaves throughout the growing season, adding rich organic matter to the topsoil and helping it retain moisture which allows hemp to be more drought-resistant. Hemp leaves the soil in excellent condition for any succeeding crop, especially when weeds may otherwise be troublesome.

Marijuana or cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in Australia - a third of the Australian population is reported to have used marijuana at some time in their lives. What are the health, psychological and social effects and risks of marijuana use? The use of cannabis to treat a range of serious illnesses has long been controversial  should the prescribed medical use of cannabis be legalised? What are the impacts of marijuana use on crime and the justice system in Australia, and what are the arguments for its current prohibition vs proposed decriminalisation?

"Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality... Simply stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to induce death... In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity... In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume... Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man."

Perhaps the greatest injustice produced by the current worldwide legislation with regard to cannabis is that relating to its potential medical usage. The usage of cannabis is largely governed under "Drug War" laws and, according to these, it has no medical value. However, current scientific research and the testimonies of thousands of people from the past and present fully contradict this claim.

Cannabis has been used as a medicine worldwide for at least 5000 years. It was part of the British Formulary until 1971 when the Misuse Of Drugs Act was passed, resulting in it being banned. The heyday of cannabis medicine was around the end of the nineteenth century, where it was used for a number of symptoms in a number of forms. The excitement of the introduction of hypodermic syringes and injectable opiates reduced its usage somewhat, in addition to newer synthetic drugs. However, in retrospect some of these new drugs have proved ineffective in some people, and have dangers inherent in their use. Unfortunately, the current state of our War on (some) Drugs legislative policies have prevented its legal use, and restricted any research efforts that brave scientists have attempted.

Nevertheless, there are also concerns raised by recent studies which suggest that, for people with a genetic predisposition towards (family history of) schizophrenia, smoking pot as a teenager can cause the onset of this troubling and hard to treat problem.

This section contains articles designed to illumionate and inform the debate on the medicinal use of marijhuana and also to look at some of the physical and mental health problems associated with its use.

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So if marijuana is 'natural', and the Indians smoked it straight from the forest in shaman rituals.....bla bla bla......where is all the wild weed?

Is it possible man wiped out all wild weed?

It cant simply grow only in closets and gorilla farms around the world.

Does marijuana grow wild? Is there anywhere it just grows naturally?

One would think it would be as natural as any other forest plant...

Well, we can't answer these questions without a large research grant, but here's some stories about cannabis growing wild in Australia.

How US attitudes to prohibition were altered by the grim realities of war.

Hemp farming is among the oldest industries on the planet, going back more than 10,000 years to the beginnings of pottery.

The Columbia History of the World states that the oldest relic of human industry is a bit of hemp fabric dating back to approximately 8,000 BC.

US Presidents Washington and Jefferson both grew hemp.

Americans were legally bound to grow hemp during the Colonial Era and Early Republic.

In 1937 the US Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act which effectively began the era of hemp prohibition. The tax and licensing regulations of the act made hemp cultivation unfeasable for American farmers. The chief promoter of the Tax Act, Harry Anslinger, began promoting anti-marijuana legislation around the world and Australia was strongly influenced by this media campaign, which was supported by media baron Randolph Hearst (who had interests in wood pulp bleaching).

[ To learn more about hemp prohibition see links in left menu, and also check out "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" by Jack Herer. ]

But when the Japanese sunk a large portion of the American fleet at Pearl Harbour, things suddenly changed in the USA when it came to the sudden reality of the huge industrial effort required to fight a world war.

The U.S. influence on Australian Cannabis Laws.

Read the classic tale of American corporate greed and power policics, involving the Media Baron, the Banker/Politician and the Industrialist - the Hemp Prohibition Conspiracy.

And, as has been a sad and sorry tradition, Australia's press and legislators meekly, naively, and foolishly swallow the story whole... and join the hysterical drive to ban "the useful hemp".