# Hemp as the Highest oxygen producing plant in the world... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2000, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954 "2000-01-07T01:43:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/1 "2000-01-07T01:43:00Z")
Ok, at my school we’ve been having a discussion on hemp and marijuana on our message board (like here, but more like the pit, mpsims, great debates, and general questions thrown into a blender), and one of the posters said: > [@](#): > > Marijuana is also the highest oxygen producing plant known to man. So, does this poster have any truth to his statements, or is he BSing everyone? Oh and if you can, please provide me with references. I asked for his when I replied. * * * It’s worth the risk of burning, to have a second chance… ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/2 "2000-01-07T04:39:00Z")
Who cares if it produces oxygen or not, Doob? It’s about all the other wonders it produces! 😉 * * * “Teaching without words and work without doing are understood by very few.” -Tao Te Ching ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/3 "2000-01-07T04:50:00Z")
Have you ever met a “Hemp can save the world” type who wasn’t also a pot smoker? * * * Elmer J. Fudd, Millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht. ---
**Author:** ![hightechburrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@hightechburrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hightechburrito)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/4 "2000-01-07T05:09:00Z")
Yet another shameless attempt by a pothead to justify the mass production of the wacky tabaky. * * * How could I charge full price to the man whose lust for filthy magazines kept me in business through that first shaky year. Oh, by the way, here’s your new issue of “Gigantic Asses.” -Apu Nahasapeemapetilon ---
**Author:** ![Surgoshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Surgoshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surgoshan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/5 "2000-01-07T05:12:00Z")
I went to a hemp store. Everything in there is made of hemp, except the hats. It had soap and lotion shirts and pants and wallets and food and all sorts of stuff. Oh, the other things not made of hemp were the glass objects. Pipes, bowls, and bongs. What I went for was not made of hemp, and I don’t wear hats. Anyway, the guy in the store started preaching to us about the wonders of hemp. It’s a wonderful food source, healthy, can make comfortable clothes, strong fabrics or ropes, it can make soaps and oils, lubricants, can be compressed to make an incredibly strong wood (without the growing time of trees, he might add), can make paper… He went on and on and on about how glorious and wonderful hemp is and how it’s illegal NOT because of pot, but because it’s use in production would be dangerous to many established industries (lumber, par example) and those industries pay to keep it illegal. So, maybe the oxygen manufacturing industry is keeping the O2 factor hushed up. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/6 "2000-01-07T05:19:00Z")
Cecil speaks out about hemp’s real usefulness [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/970131.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/970131.html) followed up by… [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/970321.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/970321.html) * * * “I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.” ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/7 "2000-01-07T05:58:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Who cares if it produces oxygen or not, Doob? It’s about all the other wonders it produces! 😉 Dude, like if you’re not a part of a solution, then you’re like a part of the problem, man! 🙂 J/K Actually I really would like to know. The guy who said that hemp is the highest oxygen producing plant in the world failed to give me any proof in the way of references. I’m getting more curious (and i’ve even searched the web, but to no avail). * * * It’s worth the risk of burning, to have a second chance… ---
**Author:** ![EvilGhandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/8 "2000-01-07T10:24:00Z")
I would imagine the highest oxygen producer, lb for lb would be algae. But I’ll be damnned if I’ll search for it tonite. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/9 "2000-01-07T16:59:00Z")
Yo Doob, what school is that? I want to read the board. m a bit dry out here near monterey. So maybe this is why people hyperventilate pot smoke cause they get so much oxygen that way? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/10 "2000-01-08T03:01:00Z")
Wow, this claim is pretty logical compaired to some other pro-hemp claims. That doesn’t mean I believe it, however. Like EvilGhandi, I think algae would be the winner, because it doesn’t have any roots or other support structures who’s function is something other than photosynthesis. > [@](#): > > It’s a wonderful food source, healthy… Excuse me? Grasses are **not** a good source of nutrition. Why do you think grazing animals spend most of their waking hours eating? > [@](#): > > can be compressed to make an incredibly strong wood (without the growing time of trees, he might add), can make paper… He must have been talking about fiberboard. Sure, you could use hemp fibers…or almost any other plant fiber you could scrounge up. U.S. farms already produce more chaff than anyone can use, from corn, wheat, rice, etc. And IMHO, calling fiberboard “wood” is wishfull thinking. * * * –It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats. ---
**Author:** ![lvick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d07c76/32.png) [@lvick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lvick)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/11 "2000-01-08T05:22:00Z")
Diceman, you men grassess like wheat, barley, rice, and rye? Vegetable oil and flour can be made from hemp. I would not care to speculate on quality or economic feasiblity. It’s sad how many people on a board that claims to be stamping out ignorance jump right to attacking the credibility of the posters source, poor form, Larry no, I don’t smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/12 "2000-01-08T06:12:00Z")
Hemp growing campaign information: [http://www.ecoamerica.com/cgi-bin/2/webc.cgi/hempnews0602.html#CAMPAIGN](http://www.ecoamerica.com/cgi-bin/2/webc.cgi/hempnews0602.html#CAMPAIGN) * * * Krispy Original – voted SDMB’s 19th most popular poster (1999) ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/13 "2000-01-08T06:15:00Z")
Houses made of hemp in the UK: [http://www.ecoamerica.com/cgi-bin/2/webc.cgi/hempnews0602.html#HOMES](http://www.ecoamerica.com/cgi-bin/2/webc.cgi/hempnews0602.html#HOMES) * * * Krispy Original – voted SDMB’s 19th most popular poster (1999) ---
**Author:** ![Surgoshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Surgoshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surgoshan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/14 "2000-01-08T06:19:00Z")
Um, I thought grazers spent most of their time eating because they weighed in excess of a 1000 pounds… Those animals are pretty big, lots of mass to support, and if you spent your day eating plants about 2 inches tall, you’d spend your day eating grass. ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/15 "2000-01-08T06:24:00Z")
Hemp and ecology: > [@](#): > > - Hemp slows ozone depletion: the industrial use of fossil fuels, like petroleum, contributes to global warming by rapidly increasing the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere; however, hemp fuels, derived from the plant itself, maintain the earth’s natural O2/CO2 balance. [www.hemptimes.com/library/ecology/index.tpl](http://www.hemptimes.com/library/ecology/index.tpl) * * * Krispy Original – voted SDMB’s 19th most popular poster (1999) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/16 "2000-01-08T10:31:00Z")
And when the hell did hemp become a grass anyway? Last time I checked it was a regular plant that can grow up to 9 feet tall. Check out [this link](http://www.crrh.org/hemptv/misc_ford.html) for a video of a car Henry Ford made out of compressed hemp fibers. In the video, he pounds the car with a sledgehammer, and it bounces right back. Pretty cool, eh? And check out [the rest of the site](http://www.crrh.org/hemptv) for more hemp and pot videos than you can shake a doobie at, including the infamous Reefer Madness movie in its entirety. ---
**Author:** ![J\_String](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@J\_String](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_String)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/17 "2000-01-08T20:54:00Z")
Contrary to what the guy in the store said (see Surgoshan’s post) hemp is not good for making comfortable clothes. It’s far too coarse and feels like burlap. Most hemp t-shirts you see are a blend (usually cotton) that makes them tolerable to wear. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for “freeing the weed,” but a little more intellectual honesty would really help the debate along. * * * It’s a long way to heaven, but only three short steps to hell. ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/18 "2000-01-09T15:38:00Z")
Handy: The school is CSUMB. You would need to be student or staff to get an email account to read the schools message board. Anyway, Hemp is not a monocot (grasses, palms, gingers, lilies, etc.), But is a dicot. * * * It’s worth the risk of burning, to have a second chance… ---
**Author:** ![Lucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-as-the-highest-oxygen-producing-plant-in-the-world/5954/19 "2000-01-09T20:17:00Z")
Well, according to Burt Wolf, olive oil manufacturers use disks made of hemp. After squashing the olives into a paste, they spread them onto hemp disks, which are stacked and then pressed by machine to extract the oil. An aquaintance of mine who lives in Nepal is working with people in a remote district where quite a lot of hemp is grown. They are using it to make rugs–not the fancy kind, but durable ones for practical use. For this, hemp is quite well suited. It does not, as others have noted, make nice clothing because it is too coarse. They also make hats, BTW. * * * “I should not take bribes and Minister Bal Bahadur KC should not do so either. But if clerks take a bribe of Rs 50-60 after a hard day’s work, it is not an issue.” ----Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Current Prime Minister of Nepal