What if there was a plant that had over 60,000 uses?
A plant that had the ability to heal some of the deadliest diseases known to mankind,
could replace many chemical ridden medicines prescribed for problems
such as depression and insomnia,
a plant that could aid in the reduction of the growing and devastating effects of deforestation around the planet,
preventing the habitat destruction of many endangered animals,
a plant that was illegal for reasons that simply do not make sense.
That plant is Cannabis, and the name invokes various thoughts in peoples minds.
Perhaps your parents have their views on it and that has rubbed off on you.
Or perhaps, you have associated it with people sitting in their rooms and smoking it.
But the truth is, linking Cannabis to something that just gets you high is like saying water only serves one purpose.
This video is about to get interesting, so sit back and relax...
Lets take things back to the basics.
There are three species of cannabis; Sativa, Indica, and Ruderalis.
All of which can be split, although usually the Sativa type, into an industrial compound referred to as Hemp
which is where the industrial side of Cannabis comes in.
Hemp has been used for thousands of years and its usability is unlike anything else.
It can be used for oil for cooking and converting to fuel.
The seeds, which are one of the most nutritional seeds on the planet, supply nearly every mineral and vitamin the body needs.
It can be used for clothing and, not only requires half the amount of water to turn into fibre than cotton,
but also requires no chemicals or fertilisers.
It can also be used as housing insulation, fibre boards, and it's an excellent phytoremediation
which is a plant that can remove toxins, radiation, and contamination from water and soil.
Hemp was actually used in the agricultural fields around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site,
in order to help remove the heavy metals and radiation from the unusable land.
Scientists, behind the plant, used Hemp as a phytoremediation, also stated that
as well as being excellent for the job of removing harmful waste, the Hemp could then be converted to bio-diesel afterwards.
Now, the conversion to bio-diesel is far from environmentally friendly,
but the fact this plant has the ability to do this is incredible.
Hemps natural process of removing harmful toxins was also considered for the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima.
Although because of the strict Cannabis laws in Japan, Hemp was not used.
But the two main resources that can be produced using Hemp, that could have a profound impact on the planet and our lives,
is paper and plastic.
According to a study conducted in 1916, it's believed one acre of Hemp, over the course of twenty years,
can produce four to ten times the amount of paper than trees,
and, although the deep forestation problem we are faced with today is attributed to many things,
reducing the need for tree paper by using Hemp, would still reduce the damaging affects paper production has,
which sees roughly 4 billion trees being cut down a year for that purpose.
Yet, less than 0.1% of the paper we use today is made with Hemp.
Hemp plastic, which can not only be made to be completely bio-degradable,
reducing the enormous amount of pollution on beaches and destruction to marine life,
can also be produced with little or no chemicals which we all know makes up the majority of plastic we use today.
Now, those who discredit the wide-spread use of Hemp as a material, say it can be costly
and time-consuming to produce the equivalent of what we have today, and they're right.
However, cheaper is not always best. As has been shown with the impact of chemically ridden and non-degradable products we consume.
So yes, Hemp would most likely cost more to use but the overall impact would be more than justifiable.
A game changing medicine.
Where do I begin with the medical side of cannabis?
Well, let's start with what scientists and researchers believe is the reason it has profound benefits in the first place.
So far, they have been able to identify 483 different chemical compounds within the plant, 80 of which are called Cannabinoids.
Although the studies are becoming a lot more popular, so far we do not know a whole lot about these 80 Cannabinoids,
and their affects on humans as most research has only been focused on a handful of them.
Such as Delta 9, Tetrahydrocannabinol, by far the most studied chemical,
which binds the receptors in your central nervous system and immune system when heated,
causing you to get high and is the only compound in Cannabis to do so.
It's the chemical that medical Marijuana is most active in,
as it acts as a side-effect free muscle relaxant, anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant,
and current studies are showing, that it could be used as a treatment for anxiety, the side-effects of chemotherapy,
cancer growth reduction, crones disease, chronic pain, insomnia, and multiple sclerosis. Just to name a few.
The next one is Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, which is the same chemical as the one just talked about,
but in its unheated form, which means it's a non-psychoactive compound.
This is administered by juicing Cannabis, as you would wheat grass or any other plant,
as it contains medical properties that are lost when heated.
This chemical is in its early stages of research, but it's thought to be an effective treatment
as an anti-inflammatory, and a variety of illnesses without any significant side-effects,
and also will not give patients the feeling of a high.
Cannabidiol is similar, and has been linked as an effective aid for anxiety, nausea, acne, schizophrenia,
and many neurodegenerative diseases.
However, truth be told, these studies have not gone on long enough for us to know the full benefits Cannabis may have,
and there's a reason for that, because it's been illegal in nearly every country since the early 1900's, and lets talk about that.
Why is it illegal?
We have established that Cannabis has thousands of industrial uses, and many of these can be produced with
a less of an impact on the environment than conventional products,
and that Cannabis may have more medical benefits than any other natural, untouched product in the world.
So, why would something with all of these uses and benefits be illegal?
It can't be because of the high received when smoked, because if that was the case, and the law wanted to protect us,
then why would alcohol and tobacco, substances that kill millions every year, or even refined sugar,
that can be linked to a lot of the health complications humans suffer from today, be legal?
That just wouldn't make any sense.
But, if it's not illegal because of health concerns, then why is it?
Well, it's confusing and there's lots of false information that gets thrown around about the subject.
Although, it seems there are 3 supposed reasons.
The first is that in 1929, Harry Anslinger, the head of the department of prohibition in the United States,
was dealing with the backlash of the alcohol ban,
and once this was removed, Harry's department were practically non-operational.
So, they came up with an idea to tell the public that cannabis was a devil drug,
that turned men into wild beasts that would attack women.
Apparently, Harry contacted 30 scientists requesting proof of this to show to the public,
but 29 of them said they could not find valid proof that the drug was dangerous.
The second explanation seems to be linked to the Mexican immigration in the United States in the early 1900's.
When the Mexican's arrived, they brought with them Marijuana as a medicine and relaxant.
In order for the US to have an excuse to search and deport the immigrants,
Marijuana became to perfect drug to criminalise, and label dangerous.
And lastly, one that many people reside to when asked: "Why Cannabis is illegal?",
is that major industrial companies, mainly Du Pont, became worried that the many uses Hemp,
more specifically Nylon, which Du Pont first invented at around the same time the Cannabis laws were being properly enforced.
It was simply profitable for them to back and promote the governments decision to tell the public
Cannabis was just a drug to make people high when, in reality, it was to ban the use of Hemp from being a Nylon alternative.
It's hard to prove why exactly it's illegal, as no authentic records seem to be available,
but one, or a combination of the above, seems to be the reasoning for the US to originally ban Cannabis,
resulting in many other countries to follow.
But, regarding the last theory, I wouldn't say the big corporations are greedy and do not want to use Hemp,
if this theory is factual.
I think it's now gotten to the stage where it's too far gone for them to make the change to Hemp,
since, after it was made illegal, all manufacture processes and equipment was grounded to a halt,
and no new technology was used to advance the Hemp production. Meaning that getting into it now
would be very costly.
Whatever the reason, Cannabis is illegal in the majority of places. Be it an outdated racial action,
or the greed of big corporations.
Only now, nearly 100 years later, as it's becoming less frowned upon, are doctors and researchers realizing
how powerful it could be.
For me, everything on this planet serves a purpose.
Whether it's the bees and wasps that pollinate plants and flowers, or whether it's you who fulfils your purpose in life,
It would seem everything has some reason for being here, and many say Cannabis has the purpose of
providing humans with thousands of uses, with very little impact on the planet.
Yet, because just one of the many things it's used for makes you high,
the law has perhaps stinted the research and industrial production of one of the most incredible materials on the planet.
To finish off, I want to state that I am not a Cannabis activist by any means.
In fact I, probably like you, never even thought about Cannabis, apart from the fact that it can be smoked.
Until I started researching for this video, which I've wanted to talk about for a while,
because it's made me, and hopefully you, realise that there is so much more to it than that.
But, that doesn't mean the benefits of Cannabis can be used as a justifiable way to continue smoking weed.
For some people, smoking it can cause social and life problems.
And the effects of it has been shown to potentially cause harm to a developing young brain.
The fact of the matter is, if you're unhappy, do not have a job, and are sitting in your room smoking weed all day,
I know you need to be going after life, then, although weed has been linked to the reduction of depression,
and anxiety, and many other problems, quitting your habit could be the best thing you do.
Certainly, do not think to now go out and smoke weed for its health benefits, because medical and recreational Cannabis,
can vary massively, and the potential for long term side-effects are still being researched.
And besides, people who take Cannabis for its medical benefits, mostly do not want to get high,
and only require a small amount of the drug in the first place.
An amount that would not have any mind altering effects, but still seem to help relieve and prevent many illnesses.
I hope you've enjoyed this video. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next one.