In 1937, Mechanical Engineering magazine declared hemp, "the most profitable and desirable crop that can be grown."

Hemp oil, with its superior Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) content deeply pentrates the skin to assist cells in rebuilding the cell membrane, making it soft and healthy.

The cannabis sativa plant produces more protein, oil and fiber than any other plant on earth. Hempseed, for example, was an essential part of our ancestors' diet and is the source of "gruel," the porridge that is referred to in countless stories and books written before this century. However, when new technology in the 1900's made mass processing of hemp possible, certain petrochemical, wood-based paper, and cotton-fiber industries protected themselves from competition by recasting hemp as "marijuana."

Prohibiting the cultivation of this ancient plant, the most productive source of fiber, oil and protein on our planet, is evil. Our civilization is consuming fossil fuels that represent hundreds of millions of years of carbon deposits, at a cost so expensive that only the world's largest and most powerful industries can enter into competition. As we burn this petroleum, coal and natural gas for fuel, and release prehistoric carbon into the atmosphere, it causes changes in the world's climate that we are only beginning to understand.

With the Cannabis Tax Act, profits from the sale of cannabis will help create and fund an agricultural committee to promote hemp fiber, protein and oil crops and associated industries. It will provide millions of dollars a year to implement this important change.

Let's give our farmers back this valuable and environmentally necessary commodity.