INDUSTRIAL HEMPS DOUBLE DIVIDEND - A STUDY FOR THE USA

The impacts on domestic industries and the quality of the environment of permitting industrial hemp production in the United States are expl ored. These impacts are modelled in three States of the World, that re flect alternative assumptions about technology. A linear programming m odel of domestic textile fibre, oil seed, pulp logs, pulp and paper in dustries is employed. The objective of the model is total land use min imisation. The impact on domestic industries of permitting industrial hemp production are substantial in each State of the World. Economic e fficiency is measured in terms of total direct land use required to pr oduce a desired level of physical output. There appears to be a double dividend associated with allowing industrial hemp production in each State of the World: land use decreases and environmental quality impro ves. This can be interpreted as a decrease in the ecological footprint of production. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.