The Emperor Wears No Clothes

by Jack Herer

Spectre of Worldwide Famine

By itself, widespread use of hempseed food protein could save many of the world’s children now dying of protein starvation! An estimated 60% of all children born in Third World countries (about 12-20 million a year) will die this way before reaching five years of age. Many times that number have their lives dramatically shortened and/or their brains decimated.

Remember, hemp is a hearty plant that grows almost anywhere, even in adverse conditions. Australians survived two prolonged famines in the 19th Century using almost nothing except hempseeds for protein and hemp leaves for roughage.

Furthermore, recent studies indicate that depletion of the ozone layer threatens to reduce world soya production by a substantial amount – up to 30% or even 50%, depending on the fluctuation of the density of the ozone shield. But hemp, on the other hand, resists the damage caused by increasing ultraviolet radiation and actually flourishes in it by
producing more cannabinoids which provide protection from ultraviolet light.

It’s no wonder that some Central and South Americans hate America and want us out: they see us as ignorant killers. For years, our government demanded the paraquat poisoning of their lands; lands these farmers had grown cannabis on by law since 1545, when King Philip of Spain ordered it thrown throughout his empire to provide food, sails, rope, towels, sheets and shirts – as well as providing one of the people’s most important medicines for fever, childbirth, epilepsy, and poultices for rheumatism – in short, one of the oldest livelihoods, medicines, food staples and relaxational pleasures.

In South and Central America today, anyone who is caught growing their old staple,
cannabis, has his land expropriated and is imprisoned by the U.S. supported government/military leaders who then qualify for more American foreign and military aid in exchange for continuing this policy of wiping out cannabis.