Re-defining Environmental Harms: Green Criminology and the State of Canada’s Hemp Industry

Abstract

Green criminology has been developing for more than 20 years as a field of criminological inquiry that grapples with defining and exploring environmental harms. This perspective includes approaches that look beyond legally defined environmental crimes, highlighting permissible activities that cause environmental deterioration, such as clear-cutting of forests, and prohibited activities that benefit the environment, such as pedicabs. Extending the criminological gaze helps green criminology identify unacknowledged environmental harms. The article draws from postmodernist/poststructuralist concepts to work past merely defining actions as either harmful or harmless, highlighting the complexity of socio-ecological effects and the importance of extending the conceptual boundaries of harm. Canada’s experiences with industrial hemp provide a fitting example. The heavily regulated Canadian hemp industry offers an important case for investigating the impacts of social constraints that limit the industry’s capacity to benefit the environment. Qualitative interviews reveal negative public perceptions, over-restrictive regulatory requirements, and insufficient technological capabilities as important obstacles to a fuller realization of hemp’s environmental benefits. Informed by constitutive criminology, chaos criminology, and Halsey’s important critique, the article adds to postmodernist/poststructuralist developments in green criminology.

Medical cannabis: A forward vision for the clinician

“…The species, Cannabis sativa has mostly been a commercial plant providing hemp fibre, whereas Cannabis indica, originating in the Indian subcontinent, was originally cultivated for psychotropic properties. Known for its fibrous qualities for over 10,000 years, the plant Cannabis sativa remains a valued modern commercial product in the manufacture of paper, textiles, plastics and biofuels (Tourangeau, ; Andre et al., ). The medicinal and psychoactive properties of cannabinoids have been recognized for thousands of years, with writings beginning in ancient China and Egypt attesting to effect in inflammation and rheumatic pain (Kalant, ; Russo, ).…”

Retting of Bast Fiber Crops Like Hemp and Flax—A Review for Classification of Procedures

“…Bast fibers, such as flax and hemp, have been used by humanity for thousands of years [1][2][3][4]. Evidence of the use of bast fibers especially hemp and flax/linen has been found in ancient society throughout human history including the cultivation and use of flax/linen in Ancient Egypt [5] or presence of linen in Swiss dwellings [6,7].…”

Reinventing Hemp as Bio Fiber Material for Industrial Applications: Past, Present and the Future

“…The birthplace of common Hemp is believed to be in central Asia. The earliest known evidence of Hemp fiber use to about 8,000 BCE in Taiwan [3,4].…”