Here’s the thriller: Megalomaniacs and death cults are profiting from the destruction of the planet. We need to be heroes together, to literally save the world.
In 1971, five high school students in San Rafael, California, used the term in connection with a plan to search for an abandoned cannabis crop, based on a treasure map made by the grower (sounds like a movie waiting to happen). The group called themselves The Waldos, met after school at 4:20 PM, and were later popularised by High Times magazine. Now 420, 4/20 or 4:20 (pronounced four-twenty) is used as a general slang or codeword for smoking cannabis, and also represents April 20, an annual occasion for cannabis activities, including pro-legalization marches where it is still illegal.
Frequently-asked questions on hemp, climate change, CBD, THC, cannabis
There’s a lot of confusion around hemp, cannabis, the uses of these plants, and their impact on climate change. So we’ve put this handy FAQ together for you. If there’s a question that you’d like us to add to this resource, please email us at hello@readathriller.com.
What is hemp?
Hemp is a plant that has been cultivated by humans for about 10,000 years for its useful fibre (think paper, fabric, rope, sails); and also for its oils, which can be used for food and as moisturisers; and for its CBD, which is undergoing multiple clinical trials on its medical potential; and for its conversion to fuel by fermentation (think ethanol). You can also make hemp beer by fermentation, it’s up to you. Hemp can be used to make plastic. In 1941, Henry Ford unveiled a car made almost entirely of hemp, which ran on hemp fuel. Hemp can claim to be the most versatile and useful plant in the world.
Can hemp help stop climate change?
Yes. The key problem in climate change is the carbon dioxide (CO2) that we emit into the atmosphere by burning oil, gas and gasoline. There lots more contributors, including methane emitted by livestock, but CO2 is the single biggest problem. Hemp, like all plants, absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. The CO2 is combined with water (H2O) inside the plant, to form carbohydrates. Oxygen (O2) is left over, so the hemp releases new oxygen into the air. One acre of hemp can absorb 10 tons of CO2 from the air.
Is hemp the most effective plant at absorbing CO2 from the air?
Yes. Hemp grows fast, with two crops a year possible in hot climates. It has a dense fibre and wide, lush leaves. We’ve calculated that planting hemp on just 5% of the world’s agricultural land will absorb enough CO2 to prevent us going over the 2C degree tipping point into environmental catastrophe.
What other environmental benefits does hemp have?
Hemp needs less water to grow, 50% less water than cotton for example. Hemp needs less pesticides. Hemp renews the soil in which it grows, making it the perfect rotation crop.
Is hemp the same as cannabis?
Hemp and cannabis/marijuana are, taxonomically speaking, the same plant; they are different names for the same genus (Cannabis) and species. But, in terms of utility, the plants are entirely different. Hemp typically contains less than 0.3% THC. Cannabis, whether used for medical or recreational purposes, contains THC in the 5 – 20% range. Hemp containing higher levels of THC was bred into cannabis by humans, starting thousands of years ago, to create the different varieties we see today.
What is THC?
THC – tetrahydrocannabinol – is the psychoactive chemical in cannabis (marijuana, weed, grass) that gives feelings of elation and euphoria, the ‘high’. THC also has medical benefits, used in treating multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and the side effects of chemotherapy. Clinical research into the medical benefits of cannabis continues around the world.
What is CBD?
CBD – cannabidiol – is a chemical found in hemp, and also in cannabis, that may have multiple benefits. In the United States, the cannabidiol drug Epidiolex was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2018 for the treatment of two epilepsy disorders. Clinical testing of CBD continues around the world.
Where is cannabis legal for medical use?
So many countries and states recognise the potential that cannabis has to alleviate pain and suffering. At time of writing (October 2019), cannabis is legal for medical use in Ireland, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United Kingdom,and Uruguay. It is also legal in 33 US States, led by Colorado, and DC. (Source: Wikipedia.)
Where is cannabis legal for recreational use?
Things are changing fast, with the number of countries legalising recreational cannabis use accelerating. It is currently (October 2019) cool in Canada, Georgia, South Africa, and Uruguay, plus eleven states and the District of Columbia in the United States and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. (Source: Wikipedia.) Possession in small amounts has been decriminalised in many other countries, including Ireland for a first offence.
Where does possession of cannabis still carry severe penalties?
Some countries still mandate the death penalty for possession of even personal amounts of cannabis. Cannabis can get you the chop – literally! – in Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Singapore doesn’t even need evidence of drug possession to jail a foreigner. The wealthy island nation appears to be the world’s only anti-drug system that gives drug tests to visiting foreign nationals in the arrival airport, and then arrests anyone who fails. Seems a bit harsh, a bit 1984, as hemp/cannabis is just a natural plant. And isn’t nature everything?
You want to live in a world that is beautiful, stable, fair and full of promise for many generations to come. You have a vision of a sustainable planet.
So do we.
We are you. Together we can save the planet.
We now offer everyone a way to stop climate change, by absorbing carbon dioxide – CO2 – from the atmosphere. If we absorb enough CO2, we stop the global temperature rise, and pull back from the 2 degrees Celsius increase that will tip the entire planet into chaos, disaster and uncertainty.
Welcome to your sustainable ecommerce marketplace
And it is so doable! Hemp absorbs 10 tons of CO2 for every acre planted. We need to plant hemp on just 5% of the world’s agricultural land to do this. Just 5%! Every purchase on our growing ecommerce platform will pay for a hemp plant to be planted, harvested, processed and sold as high value products, products in everything from wellbeing and nutrition, to fabric and fuel. We will sell a limitless range of sustainable lifestyle products on our sustainable ecommerce marketplace, including hemp products made from the hemp we grow. And when our crop makes a profit, you will share in the value generated.
Taking a vision of a sustainable planet and working together to make it real
This project is a real solution to the climate crisis. We will partner with hemp and sustainable product operations all over the world, working together for a better future for all.
Your future belongs to you
We will share the value that we generate while saving the world from climate change. That’s only fair, isn’t it? If this sounds too good to be true, that’s because we live in a system that’s rigged to work against the majority and the environment. Readathriller believes that the capitalist economy is no longer fit for purpose and we need to reimagine how and why goods are produced, and how and why value and profit are shared.
You’d think, wouldn’t you, that Ireland is a bastion of liberal humanism, not at all isolated and insular out there on Europe’s western fringe, but a cosmopolitan, secular, fun place to be. You think?
2018 was short on good news stories, but President Trump gave the world something to celebrate late in December, when he signed the 2018 US Farm Bill into law. One part of the Farm Bill decriminalised industrial hemp, at federal level, meaning that US farmers can now grow the crop without a complex licensing process, or fear of federal intervention.
Reefer Madness and all that
The Marihuana (sic) Tax Act of 1937 effectively made possession or transfer of marihuana illegal throughout the United States under federal law through the imposition of an excise tax on all sales of hemp. This act was brought in to criminalise the use of recreational cannabis, following the infamous Reefer Madness religious propaganda film. Many believe that hemp was effectively criminalised under this act so as to protect the paper and plastics interests of American industrialists. Whatever the truth was, hemp is now legal to grow, without the need for licences or advance tax payment. The 1930s were truly odd.
Hemp for sustainable production that helps the environment
Hemp built America, and much of the modern world, so it’s great to see this plant again taking the lead in the search for sustainable materials that can keep us in the lifestyles to which we’ve become accustomed, but without destroying the planet. An acre of hemp absorbs 10 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, while the processed plants can displace materials and foodstuffs derived from trees, oil and dairy cows. So hemp is the champion that can save the world. And it is truly awesome to see America again take the lead in mass cultivation of hemp.
The climate solution is hemp. Whatever the deniers may claim, the devastating fires in California are a result of climate change. Carbon dioxide is the biggest problem in climate change. We produce it by burning coal, petrol and gas in electricity production and transportation. Agriculture is another big source of CO2, as are deforestation and cement production. The CO2 that’s released by human activities helps to warm up the atmosphere. This is called the greenhouse effect, and CO2 and other contributing gases, such as methane, are called greenhouse gases, GHGs. A warmer atmosphere has more energy, which unsettles weather patterns and causes more severe weather events. Hurricanes, droughts, forest fires, ice storms are all caused by our GHG emissions.
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Reefer Madness and all that
