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Hemp Horizons: The Comeback of the World's Most Promising Plant
What happened to hemp? Within these pages, John Roulac thoroughly examines this question as society looks to solutions for the toxic hangover from the last half-century's fossil fuel binge. The question has never been more relevant. Worldwide demand for hemp products is mushrooming, spawning a new breed of entrepreneurs who are discovering a vital marketplace. Twenty-three of these entrepreneurs are profiled here. This volume makes use of history, business and agricultural analysis and common sense in making its case. 90 illustrations.
- GenresAgriculture
226 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 11, 2025
Review published in EcoLiving New Zealand, issue 14, 2002
Hemp Horizons
The Comeback of the World's Most Promising Plant
by John W Roulac
(Chelsea Green Publishing, $45.95)
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
If we grow hemp, won't people just get stoned on it, or plant their marijuana in the hemp fields? This sort of misinformation is smartly debunked in Hemp Horizons, which offers a good overview of hemp growing and manufacturing. The author, president of the Industrial Hemp Information Network in the USA, explains that industrial hemp doesn't have enough THC to get you high, and besides, it also contains another chemical which actually blocks the high.
This book was published in 1997, but most of the content is completely relevant, particularly now that hemp can legally be grown here. The book contains an introduction and chapters on hemp in history, the legal and political situation (mostly about the US), the current global situation, hemp in the marketplace, hemp farming, and the role of hemp in a sustainable future. There are numerous pictures and brief case studies of several hemp businesses.
The range of products hemp can be made into is very broad: food products, resins, particle board and paper to name a few. While extolling the many virtues of hemp, the author is careful not to make it out to be a complete wonder plant, underlining the research, processing techniques and so on that are still needed.
A nice touch is the inclusion of a sheet of paper which is half hemp, half cotton. With the current state of the hemp industry in the US, to produce the book entirely out of hemp paper would have more than doubled the retail price, conflicting with the desire of the author to make the information available to as many people as possible.
This is a useful reference for anyone serious about the hemp industry, whether involved in growing, processing, manufacturing, researching or marketing.
Edited out of the published review:
The two plants are physically quite different: hemp grows high and is planted close together, like bamboo, so you'd be crazy to think of planting your dope in amongst it.
It [the book] has plenty of information and statistics about hemp growing around the world, although New Zealand is only mentioned in the useful contacts list at the back.
Hemp Horizons
The Comeback of the World's Most Promising Plant
by John W Roulac
(Chelsea Green Publishing, $45.95)
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
If we grow hemp, won't people just get stoned on it, or plant their marijuana in the hemp fields? This sort of misinformation is smartly debunked in Hemp Horizons, which offers a good overview of hemp growing and manufacturing. The author, president of the Industrial Hemp Information Network in the USA, explains that industrial hemp doesn't have enough THC to get you high, and besides, it also contains another chemical which actually blocks the high.
This book was published in 1997, but most of the content is completely relevant, particularly now that hemp can legally be grown here. The book contains an introduction and chapters on hemp in history, the legal and political situation (mostly about the US), the current global situation, hemp in the marketplace, hemp farming, and the role of hemp in a sustainable future. There are numerous pictures and brief case studies of several hemp businesses.
The range of products hemp can be made into is very broad: food products, resins, particle board and paper to name a few. While extolling the many virtues of hemp, the author is careful not to make it out to be a complete wonder plant, underlining the research, processing techniques and so on that are still needed.
A nice touch is the inclusion of a sheet of paper which is half hemp, half cotton. With the current state of the hemp industry in the US, to produce the book entirely out of hemp paper would have more than doubled the retail price, conflicting with the desire of the author to make the information available to as many people as possible.
This is a useful reference for anyone serious about the hemp industry, whether involved in growing, processing, manufacturing, researching or marketing.
Edited out of the published review:
The two plants are physically quite different: hemp grows high and is planted close together, like bamboo, so you'd be crazy to think of planting your dope in amongst it.
It [the book] has plenty of information and statistics about hemp growing around the world, although New Zealand is only mentioned in the useful contacts list at the back.
July 12, 2012
Jack W. Roulac’s book, Hemp Horizons brilliantly lays out the facts about growing hemp and the potential of turning that hemp into an alternative market. His focus is the USA but, apart from differing laws around the globe, this book is just as relevant to the UK or anywhere else.
He comprehensively covers all topic areas factually and does so whilst making it accessible to the reader. Early on there is a sub-chapter entitled Separating the opportunities from the hype. Here he answers five commonly made claims with the facts. He cleverly takes the sting out of the drama that surrounds hemp and states “Those who separate the hemp hype from the hemp facts will be in the best position to evaluate and act upon the crop’s numerous opportunities”; and the potentials are huge.
The chapters, each accompanied by a business profile of a hemp related company from around the world, cover the history, politics and law of hemp as well as the global hemp industry. He then writes of hemp in the market place and presents all the possible things we can make from hemp; these include food (seed oil has the richest known source of essential fatty acids), plastics (completely bio-degradable), body care and of course, paper. There is an informative chapter on farming, and finally Hemp and a Sustainable Future. He identifies the fact that although the potential benefits to our ecological system and our way of life are many, there are still huge obstacles to overcome, namely the harvesting, manufacturing and processing of a crop like hemp. However, he maintains the view that these obstacles should be seen as opportunities.
There is no doubt that for humanity to shape a reality that wholly respects the earth, radical solutions are needed to prevent the destructive way we consume nature. Roulac offers just one of those vital solutions in hemp. If you want to be well informed on the agronomy of hemp then read Hemp Horizons.
The recent protests by dairy farmers regarding the price of milk brings to mind the 1000s upon 1000s of acres of grazing land here in Devon and I can’t help wondering, wouldn’t it be better for the health of the people and the land if those fields were full of cannabis hemp?
He comprehensively covers all topic areas factually and does so whilst making it accessible to the reader. Early on there is a sub-chapter entitled Separating the opportunities from the hype. Here he answers five commonly made claims with the facts. He cleverly takes the sting out of the drama that surrounds hemp and states “Those who separate the hemp hype from the hemp facts will be in the best position to evaluate and act upon the crop’s numerous opportunities”; and the potentials are huge.
The chapters, each accompanied by a business profile of a hemp related company from around the world, cover the history, politics and law of hemp as well as the global hemp industry. He then writes of hemp in the market place and presents all the possible things we can make from hemp; these include food (seed oil has the richest known source of essential fatty acids), plastics (completely bio-degradable), body care and of course, paper. There is an informative chapter on farming, and finally Hemp and a Sustainable Future. He identifies the fact that although the potential benefits to our ecological system and our way of life are many, there are still huge obstacles to overcome, namely the harvesting, manufacturing and processing of a crop like hemp. However, he maintains the view that these obstacles should be seen as opportunities.
There is no doubt that for humanity to shape a reality that wholly respects the earth, radical solutions are needed to prevent the destructive way we consume nature. Roulac offers just one of those vital solutions in hemp. If you want to be well informed on the agronomy of hemp then read Hemp Horizons.
The recent protests by dairy farmers regarding the price of milk brings to mind the 1000s upon 1000s of acres of grazing land here in Devon and I can’t help wondering, wouldn’t it be better for the health of the people and the land if those fields were full of cannabis hemp?
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews