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

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

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

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

Preventing the habitat destruction
of many endangered animals?

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

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

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

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

But linking cannabis to something that
just gets you high

is like saying
water only serves one purpose.

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

Let's take things back to the basics.

There are three species
of cannabis:

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

into an industrial compound
referred to as hemp,

which is where the industrial
side of cannabis comes in.

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

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

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

supply nearly every mineral and vitamin
the body needs.

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

but also requires no chemicals
or fertilisers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hemp's natural process
of removing harmful toxins

was also considered
for the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima.

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

But the two main resources
that can be produced using hemp

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

According to a study conducted in 1916,

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

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

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

reducing the need for tree paper
by using hemp

would still reduce the damaging effects
paper production has

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

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

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

reducing extensive pollution on beaches
and destruction to marine life,

can also be produced with little
or no chemicals,

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

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

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

and they're right.

However, cheaper is not always best,

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

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

Where do I begin
with the medical side of cannabis?

Let's start with what scientists
and researchers believe

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

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

80 of which are called cannabinoids.

Though the studies are becoming
a lot more popular,

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

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

such as delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol,

by far the most studied chemical,

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

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

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

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

anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant,

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

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

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

The next one is
tetrahydrocannabinolic acid,

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

which means
it's a non-psychoactive compound.

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

as it contains medical properties
that are lost when heated.

Though the chemical is in its early stages
of research,

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

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

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

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

nausea, acne, schizophrenia

and many neurodegenerative diseases.

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

and there's a reason for that.

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

Let's talk about that.

We have established that cannabis
has thousands of industrial uses,

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

than conventional products,

and that cannabis
may have more medical benefits

than any other natural,
untouched product in the world.

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

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

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

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

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

That just wouldn't make any sense.

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

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

although it seems
there are three supposed reasons.

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

was dealing
with the backlash of the alcohol ban,

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

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

that turned men into wild beasts

that would attack women.

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

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

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

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

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

marijuana became the perfect drug
to criminalize and label dangerous.

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

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

more specifically nylon,

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

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

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

from being a nylon alternative.

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

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

resulting in other countries to follow.

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

and do not want to use hemp.

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

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

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

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

meaning that getting to it now
would be very costly.

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

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

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

are doctors and researchers realising
how powerful it could be.

For me, everything on this planet
serves a purpose,

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

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

It seems everything
has some reason for being here,

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

with very little impact on the planet.

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

the law has perhaps stinted the research
and industrial production

of one of the most incredible materials
on the planet.

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

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

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

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

that there is so much more to it
than that.

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

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

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

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

I know you need to be going after life.

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

quitting your habits
could be the best thing you do.

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

because medical and recreational cannabis
can vary massively,

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

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

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

An amount that would not have
any mind altering effects,

but still seem to help relieve
and prevent many illnesses.

I hope you've enjoyed this video.

I'll see you in the next one.