23. India, let’s save our planet
Our earth is being destroyed by the wrong kind of products that we are consuming on a global scale. Hemp can replace over 50,000 products which are safer for us and our environment. Is this worth caring about?
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. The key word here is 'ADVERSE' or unfavourable. Contaminant is something that makes a place or a substance (such as water, air, or food) no longer suitable for use.
So, humans have introduced things in the environment that have unfavourably changed it and are rendering it unsuitable for further use. Environmental pollution is the gravest problem faced by the world today. In fact, it is increasing with every passing day causing irreversible damage.
Despite our incessant efforts, we have been unsuccessful in controlling our self-destructive lifestyle.
The pollution we are collectively creating is being a direct threat to all life on earth.
Pollution is one of the biggest global killers, affecting over 100 million people; comparable to global diseases like malaria and HIV.
People who live in places with high levels of air pollutants have a 20% higher risk of death from lung cancer than people who live in less-polluted areas.
While children make up 10% of the world’s population, over 40% of the global burden of disease falls on them.
More than 3 million children under age five die annually from environmental factors.
We are poisoning ourselves
Air, Water and Soil are the vital elements that is essential to grow and sustain life. Our choices of consumption which has created industries across the planet has become the greatest threat to the planet and its 4.6 billion years of evolution.
The need for energy plays a major contribution to both our progress in the scientific world and destruction in the physical world. Our governments have failed to set safe standards for industrialisation. Our industries do not care about the environment, but their main concern always will be to make more money and get richer.
And we the people, have been programmed to consume and are playing a major role in the destruction of the world today. It would be a fiction story, if the world chooses to stop consuming.
However, we have this opportunity to change the world again. We can still choose to consume all our products, provided we fight for the green industrial setups all across the planet.
There is a solution. A very powerful change is a possible dream.
It is just a matter of implementing it.
If we don't collective stand together to fight, aid setup and choose to consume ecological products for the rest of our lives, then we can just sit back and watch us consume ourselves and destroy one of the most beautiful creations of the cosmos.
Because the industries or our governments don't care to change the way we have been living for the past 200 years.
Our forests are being destroyed.
Our air is polluted.
Our ozone is leaking.
Our oceans are getting acidic.
Our soil is sprayed with chemicals.
Our underground water is poisoned.
All of our water sources is littered with industrial and urban waste.
We have created an extremely toxic environment for ourselves and many of the harmful diseases are on the rise across the planet.
If this was not enough, plants like Cannabis (Hemp) that hold the potential to reverse the damage done to the environment have been made illegal around the world. Medical Cannabis has also shown a lot of promise in treating diseases by working in sync with the Endo-Cannabinoid system.
Medical Cannabis also known as Gaanja / Bhaang has amazing prospects in treating terminal diseases like cancer and HIV.
Further research and clinical studies can bring out the hidden potential of this plant.
There are references of the medicinal properties of this plant in Atharvaveda and in Unani texts. Industrially, it can help replace all our existing products which are polluting the environment and help create a healthier and pollution-free future.
Hemp is an efficient crop, it doesn’t require the use of fertilizers and can grow in almost any condition quickly.Hemp plants are also know to remove toxins and restore fertility to the soil it grows in.
Most importantly, one acre of Hemp plants can produce the same amount of paper as four acres of trees. Trees take years to mature and grow while Hemp grows within a span of 4 months.
Growing hemp on a field makes the field more fertile and improves the quality of the soil, this plant takes root deep into the soil loosening it up and is extremely efficient in absorbing harmful chemicals like Cadmium present in the soil.
Why are we not using it then?
In 1985, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) came into force which made it illegal to produce / manufacture / cultivate, possess, sell, purchase, transport, store, and/or consume any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance. Over 200 substances were banned under this Act.
Hemp was banned too!
This was done to fulfil India's treaty obligations under
The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and
United Nation's Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
The government should do something about it! Yes, they should.
However, it is our duty as responsible citizens of the country to urge the government to understand the benefits of HEMP and lift the ban. We might have banned a plant that can solve or at least alleviate most of the problem faced by humans today.
In order to have a brighter, healthier and happier tomorrow, We must do something today!
There is a simple way to Save our forests Clean our air Not pollute any more water, Avoid soil toxication, Save millions of species, Enlighten billions of people and Protect our only earth. All it takes is to just Legalise one plant! Speak up!
Let's design a better future.
Special thank to Danny, Amy, Eshna, Aditya, Anshul, Priya.