Author, Zack DiLiberto
Meet Zack DiLiberto, co-author of the new book, Hemp the Novel. It’s a historic novel that tells the story about how hemp came to be criminalized in the US when big oil and petrochemical realized hemp was a threat to the demand for their products:
With [...] breakthroughs in hemp-processing, and rumors of Henry Ford’s ‘hemp-mobile’ materializing, hemp is now an imminent threat to Big Oil and its allies. The war on hemp begins.
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Acting solely to further their own interests, a conspiracy of powerful, greedy tycoons such as Andrew Mellon, Du Pont, and William Randolph Hearst, and their fanatical, federal pawn systematically outlawed the industrial hemp plant, and with it, the world’s greenest, cheapest, alternative source to petrochemical and tree-paper products. They got away with it, unchallenged, for 74 years . . . and counting!
Recently got a chance to ask Zack some questions about Hemp — both the plant and the novel. He talked about education is the key to legalizing industrial hemp, and discussed the environmental and economic incentives for doing so. So without further ado…
HempNotes: How did you first develop an interest in hemp?
Zack DeLiberto: It was almost as if we were meant to be part of the industrial hemp movement. People started ‘talking hemp’ to my co-author, Nini Martino, and me at around the same time. We both jumped in with both feet, did a lot of research, shared notes, and decided right away: “This is a story that needs to be told, and we’re going to tell it!”
HN: What do you see as the main barrier to legalizing hemp-farming in the U.S (e.g. public education, private interests/lobbies, legislative chauvinism, etc.)?
ZD: Ignorance. Plain and simple. People do not realize there is a distinct difference between industrial hemp and the drug marijuana. The tricky part about the ignorance surrounding industrial hemp is that it is not an accident. What few people are aware of, including many college professors, is that the destruction of the American Hemp Industry can be traced back to a small group of very powerful and well-connected men from the Big Oil, Petrochemical, and Newspaper industries. These men realized that with advancements in the processing of industrial hemp, which had been grown and used in the US since the days of its colonization, their own industries could soon be obsolete. So, they conspired together over 75 years ago to make hemp-farming illegal through a highly-sensationalized smear campaign that falsly equated industrial hemp with the drug marijuana. To this day, most people have no idea that industrial hemp and marijuana are entirely different from each other and that there are almost zero drug properties in hemp.
Hemp - The Novel
This misunderstanding is coupled today with the nearly forgotten history of hemp in the United States. Most people have no idea that in 1941 Henry Ford had already developed a car that ran solely on hemp fuel and was constructed from hemp plastic. Furthermore, few people know that the Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper, “The Star Spangled Banner” on a hemp envelope, and that the first American flag was sewn by Betsy Ross using hemp cloth. In fact, many of our Founding Fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, grew their own hemp crops and firmly believed that hemp must be a staple crop in our countries advancement from independence. Needless to say, there is a lot about hemp in the United States that is either unknown or misunderstood, and we are convinced that raising public awareness on these issues and correcting the falicies that surround this industry are the best way to get the pro-hemp movement towards a tipping point. Once the ignorance about hemp is cured, voters will undoubtably demand a change in the laws and the green revolution we describe in our book will finally be realized. We see it coming; and we’re excited to be part of the process.
HN: Do you think there are significant economic incentives to legalizing hemp production?
ZD: Of course! Hemp can become the New Big Oil! The renewable, home-grown, non-polluting alternative to OPEC! What better incentive could there be? Hemp can replace virtually every petro-chemical product in existence. And then there’s the textiles, the paper and building-materials, and even food! These are all green industries, creating green jobs. They’re doing it successfully today in every industrialized nation except the USA! It’s insane!
HN: What do you think is hemp’s biggest environmental potential?
ZD: It’s hard to choose. The list is huge. You need to check out our HEMP FACTS page. But if I have to choose, I’d say the reduction of the world’s carbon imprint by switching from petroleum to biomass-fuel. Burning hemp oil does not contribute to acid rain or global warming, and any pollution it does produce is offset by growing it. A close second and third would be switching from tree-pulp paper and cotton textiles to cleaner, greener hemp paper and cloth. Again go to www.hempthenovel.com for details.
HN: What is your favorite hemp-based product?
ZD: We’ve got this vision of the next edition of our book being printed on American grown and manufactured hemp paper!
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