growing number of marijuana activists. In 1994 alone, there was twenty-five million dollars worth of products created from hemp (Barry, 22). China, France, the United Kingdom, and Spain are large suppliers of hemp products which the United States imports. Such companies as Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Adidas, and Disney offer hemp commodities to the public. Popular Mechanics has listed over 25,000 products which marijuana could be used to make. Daily uses include: clothes, soaps, hair products, flour, candles, oil, paper, motor and fiberboard for building, hemp chips for horse bedding, textiles, and machine lubricants. The list is endless. If marijuana was used to make oil, it would reduce gasoline consumption by one half. Likewise, it would cut back deforestation by one half if the pulp was excreted to create paper. The United States Department of Agriculture has calculated that, "over twenty years, one acre of hemp would yield as much pulp for paper as 4.1 acres of trees." (Barry, 22)
             Perhaps one of the best arguments for marijuana activists is that the marijuana plants are actually environmentally-friendly. The crop can be produces with little or no fertilizers or pesticides, which could "help save the planet from chemical doom." (Barry, 23). Cotton, presently one of the largest cash crops in the south, is a chemical dependent crop and requires large quantities of water, which, in most cases, must be supplied by artificial means. Not only would marijuana eliminate a large amount of chemicals that are being pumped into our environment daily, but it would also remove heavy metals from the soil and replenish the ozone.
             The legalization of industrial marijuana is under consideration in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Missouri, Washington, and Kentucky, which was the largest producer of hemp when outlawed by the Marijuana Prohibitive Act of 1937 (Elvin, 17). Struggling Vermont farmers are supporters of revitalizing this ...