These comments are part of this foundations aims of encouraging the use of sustainable, non-harmful alternatives to aid the world to slow and reverse its environmental decline. The Ekogaia foundation is a non-profit, non-aligned think tank that calls on various experts and databases to supply solutions to environmental and practical problems.

For reasons of clarity we will refer to the agricultural fibre plant with low psychoactive content as hemp. Cannabis will be taken to be the "drug" or high THC strain of Cannabis sativa/indica/ruderalis plant.

We offer our comments on the industrial uses of hemp, as opposed to the medicinal, as a starting point. It is evident that hemp offers a possible alternative to many types of agriculture that have been shown to be harmful in the short and long term.

Hemp on the other hand has no, or at most a very few natural enemies and hence it does not need extensive, routine pesticide application. It is also able to grow on marginal land thus lowering the need for chemical fertilisers. It actually has a beneficial effect on the land in that it is shown to bind the soil (hence diminishing soil erosion, a huge plus in our situation) and also has a soil enhancing effect in that nitrogen fixing bacteria are found to operate symbiotically with the plant. Water uptake is not excessive, enabling cultivation to be irrigation free, an important point for water poor nations.

"Green composting" with hemp is also known to enhance the quality of the soil. This is done in places such as The Netherlands, where hemp is one of the first crops grown after the reclamation of land from the sea and then ploughed back in.

A further advantage over cotton, is that the length of hemp fibre, one of the longest known, can result in a drop of the industrial cost of weaving, carding and ginning the fibre. This may be a questionable benefit as the initial cost of the mills needed to remove the fibre from the stems may well diminish the initial advantages.

Further economic research will have to be done on this matter. This is beyond our ambit. Whatever the case the textiles produced from hemp are of good quality, at the very least comparable to cotton and the more processed varieties having a texture similar to silk.

It is one of the strange quirks of history that a machine was invented to successfully "hurd" the hemp plant shortly before hemp production was curtailed in the USA. This was after at least 6000 years of commercial hemp cultivation and production! Sonic and high pressure water systems are now in use for this process as well.

Hemp also offers great advantages over tree pulp for paper manufacture. The ratio of pulpable product is at least 2:1 in the favour of hemp, per given area cultivated. The quality of paper produced is also superior to that produced by wood pulp. Small pilot factories could be started and thus organic growth of the industry could be encouraged.

Hemp is a perfect entry-level agricultural crop. It needs no particular expensive skills or technology in the cultivation stage. It has the capacity to heal land that has long been neglected and overgrazed. It is not a water hungry crop. It is not nutrient hungry or soil depleting. It produces many products beside fibre for cloth and paper, most of which are very useful in a rural setting. Harvesting is not difficult.

Useful products include, amongst others; oil, (from the seeds, which is evidently very healthy as well, an increasingly important marketing point at present) seed cake, (for livestock feed from the remnant of the pressed seeds), ethanol ( produced from the pulp waste of the "hurding" process by fermentation and distillation) which can provide energy for engines as well as reduce the carbon dioxide percentage of exhaust gasses ( it is interesting to note that a 10% addition of ethanol has been shown to reduce carbon dioxide by up to 50% in petrol driven vehicles!) and food (the seed is second to soybeans as a source of protein and contains all eight essential amino acids).

Other edible products such as cheese, sprouts, butter and various other comestibles are easily extracted. It is also important that in this most underfed and nutrient lacking continent, that hemp seed protein is readily digestible as two proteins (edestin and albumin), are present in the same ratios as found in human blood plasma. I must ask yourselves and everybody else involved in this study a rhetorical question; does this not seem like a crop that is eminently suited to human needs?

The plant is also a great source of renewable materials to produce plastics, composite materials ( fibre board etc.), building materials, biodegradable containers and many other applications. Many other uses exist. (Some sources quote 25,000 uses for the plant!).

This is in contrast to the case of crude oils and other resources which are limited in supply and will eventually be depleted as an economic stock. At some stage humankind will have to move away from fossil fuels etc. and the opportunities offered by hemp are second to none. To have a renewable resource of such beneficial qualities seems too good an opportunity to miss.

It seems eminently sensible for us to place ourselves at the vanguard of a revolution of agriculture. This change could assist us through the next century as non-renewable global resources come under increasing pressure.

Hemp thus offers advantages that few, if any, commercial crops display. There is little downside to this wonder plant beside the psychoactive components contained in the plant. This is a problem which can be overcome.

Normal "drug" cannabis typically contains between 1 and 15 percent of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive component. Agricultural hemp contains about 0.05 of a percent of the THC’s, causing anybody who wishes to indulge to have to ingest massive amounts to get even a slight effect. Cloning and genetic engineering could possibly further reduce this amount of THC.

As far as the decriminalisation of hemp is concerned, it may be sensible for us to follow the Dutch example. We have a historical record of use of cannabis in South Africa although it is doubted to have originated here, according to botanists. It may have been brought here by either Phoenician, Indian or Arab traders in their journeys down the coast of Africa as a means of barter. It could also have moved south through Africa with the migrations of peoples through the ages. Although these can only be speculative opinions, they make certain sense.

Whatever the case, the Dutch have found that the use of drugs, both "hard" (cocaine, heroin etc.) and "soft" (marijuana, hashish etc.) has dropped since decriminalisation of Cannabis. They have also maintained state control of the initial distribution of Cannabis, allowing the public to grow limited amounts for their own use. This largely prevents the drug trade been manipulated by crime syndicates. The solution of "coffee shops" is an elegant answer that could easily be adapted to our milleau. Separation of alcohol and Cannabis sale is advisable.

Note should also be made regarding the fact that civil society has huge strains placed upon it by the use and addiction of such legal drugs as tobacco and alcohol. Although any figures for misuse of Cannabis must be anecdotal due to its banishment to the twilight, it is widely recognised that its risks and consequences are less likely to jeopardise the users health to the same extent as tobacco or alcohol. Nor is it responsible for as much crime (against property and persons) and anti-social behaviour.

To back up this statement we have results from an American study (details avail. on req.) that give figures of 340,000 - 450,000 deaths per annum for tobacco and 150,000+ for alcohol (excluding its influence on drunk driving and violent crime). No deaths were attributed to Cannabis.

These figures ignore the social and medical costs to the fabric of society of tobacco and alcohol. Similar ratios probably apply locally.

The interest of "big business" in disputing such figures and other perceived potential threats to their hegemony is evident in the bias in media in which these same conglomerates often have a stake. The threat to their stranglehold on significant sectors of the economy(viz. tobacco, alcohol, coffee and tea) is obvious and retaliation must be expected from this lobby.

Many official American studies have been made at great cost and found that Cannabis holds few of the dangers attributed to it. Lobbyists have overturned initiatives which threatened their fields of influence or beliefs.

It is perceived by certain theorists that large conglomerates, such as Du Pont (which held the patent on nylon, a competitive fibre) and others were largely responsible for the banning of hemp as a crop due to their fomenting of apprehension by biased information as to the negative effects of Cannabis.

Paperback books with titles such as "Drugged into Sin", "Reefer Club" and the like were used to change the public perception of the drug. The efforts of Harry Anslinger, once head of the US Narcotics bureau was another driving force in the suppression of hemp and Cannabis world wide. It was a campaign driven largely by ignorance and misinformation, the echoes of which are still being heard around the world. Just as "McCarthyism" and "reds under beds" have gone to the international junk heap of history, so too should Mr. Anslingers prejudices regarding Cannabis.

Americas "war on drugs" and "zero tolerance" policies have long been shown to have been expensive exercises that have produced questionable results, to say the least. They entailed solutions similar to our apartheid solutions: in 1975 almost half a million Americans were incarcerated for possession of Cannabis, most (90%) for possessing under an ounce (about 30 cigarettes).

It is time to use African solutions to African problems and not accept reapplication of the colonial mindset that has dogged Africa for the past 500 years. We definitely cannot afford the jail space nor the introduction of non-violent offenders to a university of crime.

Criminalisation of Cannabis ties up scarce resources on a crime which does not have a victim (beside the user, and it is surely their constitutional right to indulge!) and harms no one. It also removes a huge amount of cash flow from the reach of the Dept. of Revenue as it is a "black market" and illegal trade at present.

If the psychoactive strains are to be grown it would make sense to have stricter controls of the crop. This would also enable monitoring of the problem of tax collection and also enable the government to export possible medicinal cannabis to counties overseas. It would, for example, seem logical for the Dutch Government to buy their cannabis from a reliable and safe source. Also a good, safe supply could be made available to local users, hence enabling education and preventing misuse of Cannabis as a "gateway" drug. It is really specious logic that defines Cannabis as a gateway drug, whilst excluding either tobacco or alcohol. Controls could also ensure that medicinal Cannabis is of a consistent quality.

Cannabis has a long record of being a useful and beneficial medicine. With further study by people such as Professor Frances Ames of the University of Cape Town and her colleagues we can place ourselves at the head of this aspect of medicine.

The toxicity of cannabis has not been fixed. This means that the amount needed to kill is so great that it is considered impractical to ingest, unless it is highly concentrated. Asprin, alcohol and other legal substances can kill much more readily.

It would be sad if we are beaten to the post by other countries. Our historical use of the drug places us in a good position to capitalise on our present strong position in Africa and the world. Much of the necessary research has already been done elsewhere in the world. We will enjoy significant savings if we can access the relevant information, which is largely available on the internet and through many other sources, at little or no cost.

Seen in perspective it seems illogical for us to not pursue the course of actively encouraging the growing of hemp as both industrial and medicinal crops. (In 1762, a law was passed in Virginia prescribing a penalty for anyone not growing hemp! It may not be needed to go that far today, with the alternatives offered!) There is little downside to cultivation, use and processing, and many benefits are to be gained by the use of hemp/Cannabis as a commercial crop.

With its multiple uses, hemp/cannabis has the potential to aid us to take our place at the head of the "African Renaissance" espoused by our president in waiting, Thabo Mbeki.

Hemp was once one of the most important crops on earth. It has a chance of again becoming a wonder plant which could aid a greening of Africa. This plant has distinct possibilities of offering us a green revolution which could empower, change and uplift many basic structures in South Africa. It can create an entirely new industry in this young and vital country.

The sooner the better.

Sincerely,

Glenn Ashton. (convenor)