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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Fuel, Pollution and the Environment
LCA LCA Manifesto
Sunday 13 Aug 2000 from hydrocarbons can also be derived from carbohydrates Cellulose provides both the hydrocarbons and the carbohydrates of fuel. Cannabis is the most prolific of all low-moisture, herbaceous woody plant species. Approximately 80% of the biomass of cannabis is composed of cellulose." Biomass is the name given to the bulk of a living organism. It can be broken down under pyrolysis to produce charcoal, methanol and other liquid fuels. These fuels, when they are burned, merely release into the atmosphere water and carbon dioxide. By contrast, when coal or oil is burned, sulphur dioxide is released, along with other noxious compounds. Of the various options, cannabis biomass-derived fuel is the only one that is not open to radical ecological objections. Nuclear fuel is extremely dangerous to transport and use, while the waste materials dumped on land or at sea will constitute a lethal hazard for tens of thousands of years. Petrol and coal are 'safer' oils; nevertheless they pollute our towns and cities, our traffic-crammed streets, the air we breathe and the sea that surrounds us (recurrent spillage of crude oil at sea are devastating to our coastline and its wildlife). Because of oil, wars are fought. It was for this reason that Iraq, at a huge cost ultimately in human life, invaded Kuwait. All this could be avoided if we grew our fuel. Not the most sensational but certainly the most familiar problem that engages us all, in this context, is the problem posed by the car. To dissuade people from private transport and so reduce pollution is an honorable tactic, but unworkable. The limiting factor for the number of cars is the usage and size of the roads. So long as we build roads, and more roads, there will be more cars. So long as we do not ban cars (and banning them is a project entirely utopian), there will be pollution - unless the fuel is changed. Whether public or private, transport fuelled by cannabis would pollute the environment far less and proportionately improve health. This is because, when burned, cannabis-derived fuels produce only water and carbon dioxide, in roughly the same proportion as absorbed during the growing season. In cannabis-fuelled cars we could drive without coughing! Henry Ford's first Model T, it should be remembered, was designed to run on cannabis fuel. (Most of the bodywork was made from cannabis too.) However, the petrochemical industry soon put an end to that scheme. It collaborated in the prohibition of hemp throughout the USA and thereby made huge profits. So we shouldn't be surprised when (not uncommonly) we're asked to believe that increased use of cannabis would cause the number of road accidents to rise. In keeping with the prohibitionist tactic of misusing statistics, Government (and other) literature is apt to claim that approximately 30% of blood samples taken from drivers killed in road accidents showed traces of cannabis (along, usually, with alcohol and other drugs), suggesting that cannabis was a major contributing factor. The scientific studies conducted on actual driving skills under the influence of cannabis, in Holland and in Australia, have revealed that there is no reason to worry about cannabis drivers. If anything they were seen to be driving more slowly and with greater care! From "MARIJUANA AND ACTUAL DRIVING PERFORMANCE", U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (DOT HS 808 078), Final Report, November 1993: "This program of research has shown that marijuana, when taken alone, produces a moderate degree of driving impairment which is related to the consumed THC dose. The impairment manifests itself mainly in the ability to maintain a steady lateral position on the road, but its magnitude is not exceptional in comparison with changes produced by many medicinal drugs and alcohol. Drivers under the influence of marijuana retain insight [into] their performance and will compensate where they can for example, by slowing down or increasing effort. As a consequence, THC's adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small." CANNABIS: LEGALISE AND UTILISE A MANIFESTO AND INFORMATION DOCUMENT ISBN 0-9535693-1-4 Produced and published by: The Legalise Cannabis Alliance http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0953569314/webbooks05
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