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What if there was a plant 
that had over 60,000 uses?

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A plant that had the ability to heal
some of the deadliest diseases we know?

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Could replace many chemical medicines
for problems like depression and insomnia?

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A plant that could reduce the growing
and devastating effects of deforestation?

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Preventing the habitat destruction
of many endangered animals?

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A plant that was illegal for reasons 
that simply don't make sense?

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That plant is cannabis and the name alone
invokes various thoughts in our minds.

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Maybe your parents have their views on it,
and that has rubbed off on you.

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Or perhaps you associated it with people
sitting in their rooms and smoking it.

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But linking cannabis to something that
just gets you high

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is like saying
water only serves one purpose.

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This video is about to get interesting
so sit back and relax.

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Let's take things back to the basics.

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There are three species
of cannabis:

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all of which can be split,
although usually the sativa type,

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into an industrial compound
referred to as hemp,

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which is where the industrial
side of cannabis comes in.

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Hemp has been used for thousands of years
and its usability is unlike anything else.

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It can be used for oil for cooking
and converting to fuel.

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The seeds, which are among
the most nutritional ones on the planet,

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supply nearly every mineral and vitamin
the body needs.

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It can be used for clothing, and not only
needs half the amount of water than cotton

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but also requires no chemicals
or fertilisers.

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It can also be used as housing insulation,
fibre boards; and it's a phytoremediation,

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a plant that can remove toxins, radiation
and contamination from water and soil.

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Hemp was used in the agricultural fields
around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site

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to help remove the heavy metals
and radiation from the unusable land.

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Scientists behind the plant used hemp
as a phytoremediation, and stated

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that as well as being excellent
for the job of removing harmful waste,

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the hemp could then be converted
to bio-diesel afterwards.

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Now, the conversion to bio-diesel is far
from environmentally friendly,

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but the fact that this plant
has the ability to do this is incredible.

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Hemp's natural process
of removing harmful toxins

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was also considered
for the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima.

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Due to the strict cannabis laws in Japan,
hemp was not used, though.

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But the two main resources
that can be produced using hemp

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that could have a deep impact on planet
and our lives are paper and plastic.

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According to a study conducted in 1916,

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it's believed one acre of hemp
over the course of twenty years

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can produce four to ten times
the amount of paper than trees.

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And, although the deforestation problem
we face now is attributed to many things,

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reducing the need for tree paper
by using hemp

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would still reduce the damaging effects
paper production has

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which sees roughly four billion trees
being cut down a year for that purpose.

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Yet, less than 0.1% of the paper we use
is made with hemp.

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Hemp plastic, which can not only be made
to be completely biodegradable,

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reducing extensive pollution on beaches
and destruction to marine life,

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can also be produced with little
or no chemicals,

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which we all know makes up
the majority of plastic we use today.

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Those who discredit the broad use of hemp
as a material say

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it can be costly and overlong to produce
the equivalent of what we have today,

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and they're right.

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However, cheaper is not always best,

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as shown with the impact of chemical-laden
and non-degradable products we consume.

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Hemp would most likely cost more to use,
but the overall impact would be justified.

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Where do I begin
with the medical side of cannabis?

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Let's start with what scientists
and researchers believe

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is the reason it has profound benefits
in the first place.

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So far they have been able to identify
483 chemical compounds within the plant,

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80 of which are called cannabinoids.

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Though the studies are becoming
a lot more popular,

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so far we do not know a whole lot
about these 80 cannabinoids

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or their effect on humans, as the research
has been focused on just a few of them,

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such as delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol,

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by far the most studied chemical,

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binding the receptors in your nervous
and immune system when heated,

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causing you to get high, and it's the only
compound in cannabis to do so.

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It's the chemical that medical marijuana
is most active in,

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as it acts as a side-effect-free
muscle relaxant,

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anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant,

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and current studies are showing that
it could be used as a therapy for anxiety,

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the side effects of chemotherapy,
cancer growth reduction, Crohn's disease,

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chronic pain, insomnia
or multiple sclerosis, just to name a few.

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The next one is
tetrahydrocannabinolic acid,

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which is the same chemical as the one
just talked about in its unheated form,

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which means
it's a non-psychoactive compound.

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This is administered by juicing cannabis
like wheat grass or any other plant,

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as it contains medical properties
that are lost when heated.

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Though the chemical is in its early stages
of research,

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it's thought to be an effective treatment
as an anti-inflammatory

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and of a variety of illnesses
without any significant side effects,

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and will not give patients
the feeling of a high either.

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Cannabidiol is similar and has been linked
as an effective aid for anxiety,

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nausea, acne, schizophrenia

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and many neurodegenerative diseases.

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The studies haven't gone on long enough
to know full benefits cannabis may have,

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and there's a reason for that.

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It's been illegal in nearly
every country since the early 1900s.

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Let's talk about that.

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We have established that cannabis
has thousands of industrial uses,

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and many of these can be produced
with less of an impact on the environment

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than conventional products,

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and that cannabis
may have more medical benefits

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than any other natural,
untouched product in the world.

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So why would something with all these uses
and benefits be illegal?

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It can't be due to the high when smoked
because if that was the case

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and the law wanted to protect us,
then why would alcohol and tobacco,

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substances that kill millions every year,
or even refined sugar,

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linked to a lot of health complications
human suffer from today, be legal?

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That just wouldn't make any sense.

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But if it's not illegal
due to health concerns, then why is it?

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Well, it's confusing and there's lots
of false information about the subject,

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although it seems
there are three supposed reasons.

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First, in 1929 Harry Anslinger, the head
of the prohibition department in the US,

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was dealing
with the backlash of the alcohol ban,

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and once this was removed, his department
were practically non-operational.

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So they came up with an idea
to tell people cannabis was a devil drug

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that turned men into wild beasts

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that would attack women.

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Apparently, Harry contacted 30 scientists
asking for proof to show to the public,

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but 29 of them said they could not find
valid proof that the drug was dangerous.

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The second explanation is linked to
the 1900s Mexican immigration to the US.

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When the Mexicans arrived, they brought
marijuana as a medicine and relaxant.

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In order for the US to have an excuse to
search and deport the immigrants,

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marijuana became the perfect drug
to criminalize and label dangerous.

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And lastly, one that many people reside to
when asked why cannabis is illegal

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is that major companies, mainly DuPont,
became worried at the many uses of hemp,

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more specifically nylon,

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which DuPont invented around the same time
the cannabis laws were being enforced.

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It was profitable to back and promote
the government's decision to tell people

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cannabis was a drug to make people high
when in fact it was to ban the use of hemp

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from being a nylon alternative.

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It's hard to prove why it's illegal,
as no authentic records seem available.

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One or a combination of the above seems
the reasoning for the US to ban cannabis,

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resulting in other countries to follow.

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But regarding the last theory,
I wouldn't say big corporations are greedy

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and do not want to use hemp.

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If this theory is factual, I think
it's now gotten to the stage

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where it's too far gone for them
to make the change to hemp,

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since after it was made illegal,
all manufacturing was grounded to a halt

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and no new technology was used
to advance the hemp production,

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meaning that getting to it now
would be very costly.

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Whatever the reason, cannabis is illegal
in the majority of places,

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be it an outdated racial action
or the greed of big corporations.

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Only now, nearly 100 years later,
as it's becoming less frowned upon,

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are doctors and researchers realising
how powerful it could be.

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For me, everything on this planet
serves a purpose,

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whether it's the bees and wasps
that pollinate plants and flowers

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or whether it's you
who fulfils your purpose in life.

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It seems everything
has some reason for being here,

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and many say cannabis has the purpose
of providing humans with thousands of uses

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with very little impact on the planet.

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Yet, because just one of many things
it's used for makes you high,

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the law has perhaps stinted the research
and industrial production

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of one of the most incredible materials
on the planet.

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To finish off, I want to state
I am not a cannabis activist by any means.

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Probably like you, I never thought of hemp
apart from the fact that it can be smoked

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till I started researching for this video,
which I wanted to talk about for a while,

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because it's made me,
and hopefully you, realise

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that there is so much more to it
than that.

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That doesn't mean the benefits of cannabis
can justify smoking weed, though.

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For some people smoking it can cause
social and life problems,

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and the effects have been shown
to possibly harm a developing young brain.

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So if you're unhappy, don't have a job
and smoke weed in your room all day,

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I know you need to be going after life.

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Though weed's linked to busting depression
and anxiety, and many other problems,

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quitting your habits
could be the best thing you do.

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Certainly do not think to now go out
and smoke weed for its health benefits

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because medical and recreational cannabis
can vary massively,

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and the potential for long-term
side effects is still being researched.

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Those taking cannabis for medical benefits
mostly don't want to get high

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and only require a small amount
of the drug in the first place.

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An amount that would not have
any mind altering effects,

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but still seem to help relieve
and prevent many illnesses.

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I hope you've enjoyed this video.

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I'll see you in the next one.