BudTrader Hemp Border Wall White Paper

Use Industrial Hemp Materials to Build a U.S./Mexico Border Wall Funded by: The Cannabis Industry/Federal Cannabis Tax

10.01.2018

By:

Brad McLaughlin

CEO of BudTrader.com

Brad@BudTrader.com

Overview

Our proposal is to construct 1,954 miles of border wall separating the United States and Mexico using “hempcrete” and other industrial hemp by-products as building materials grown by both the United States and Mexico’s legal cannabis/hemp industries. A major portion of the labor force hired to complete this project will be veterans of the U.S. Armed Services, with an aim to decrease the number of unemployed veterans by 10%. By constructing the border wall this way, we will save the U.S. government billions of dollars, while spurring both the United States the Mexican economies and by dealing a huge blow to the Mexican drug cartels. As a quid pro quo, we will ask that medical cannabis be legalized on a federal level so that all those who need it, especially veterans, have safe access to it.

Hemp Wall

Goals

  1. Construct a wall along the U.S. / Mexico Border using industrial hemp materials, saving the United States billions of dollars and spurring both the U.S. and Mexican economies.
  2. To employ 36,000 U.S. Veterans to construct the wall, reducing the unemployment rate for veterans by 10%. [1]
  3. To secure nationwide federal legalization of cannabis for medical patients and veterans.
  4. To implement a 3% federal medical cannabis tax rate and putting these funds entirely toward construction of the border wall, with additional funds going toward “smart wall technology”.
  5. To cause a 25% loss in illegal revenue to drug cartels after complete US and Mexico cannabis legalization.

Specifications

President Donald Trump has proposed a plan to build a wall along the U.S./Mexico border. President Trump’s goal is to increase safety and security for the United States.

The basis of our proposal is that we construct the border wall, not using the traditional construction materials as proposed by the President, but using an innovative and much more cost effective approach by using industrial hemp building supplies.

“Hempcrete” as Building Material

Hempcrete is a bio-composite made of the inner woody core of the hemp plant mixed with a binder. The result is a lightweight cementitious insulating material weighing about a seventh or an eighth of the weight of concrete.

Environmental Impact

Modern day building materials are either mined from the earth or harvested from centuries old forests. Hemp crops can be harvested annually in perpetuity. One acre of hemp provides as much material as 4.1 acres of trees. The hemp plant grows to complete maturity in 4 months as opposed to 30 years maturity time for industrial hemp. [5]

If we grew hemp along the 2000 mile southern border, it would be about 3,000,000 acres of hemp. That size hemp crop would offset the carbon emissions from 50,000,000 automobiles. Growing hemp removes carbon from the atmosphere and toxins from the soil. We would only need to grow hemp on 4% of the landmass in the lower 48 (roughly 77 million acres) to meet all the fuel requirements for the entire nation.

Cost Effectiveness & Safety

Our proposal would cost around 5 billion dollars to complete approximately 2,000 miles of hemp wall, 5,000,000,000 / 2000 = $2,500,000 per mile as opposed to government proposed cost of $8,000,000,000/ 2000 = or $4,000,000 a mile.

We estimated the amount of concrete needed to build the border wall and found that the amount of hempcrete building materials needed would be the same as concrete, and that hempcrete would be less expensive and more durable.

Many countries already recognize the numerous benefits of building with industrial hemp. If you build a house with Hempcrete in England, you receive an insurance discount. [4] They do this because Hempcrete is proven to be a more durable and safe building material.

Specs for Wall Design

Wall height and depth requirements from the Homeland Security Department outline a “physically imposing” wall 18 to 30 feet, able to withstand tunneling 6 feet deep, 3 feet wide, impervious to attack by sledgehammer, pickax, blowtorch or other tools, and, from the U.S. side, and “aesthetically pleasing.” [6]

Federal Medical Cannabis Legalization

We propose full legalization for medical cannabis across the United States on the federal level. In addition, we recommend a 3% federal tax on all cannabis sales.

3% Tax

Cannabis sales in the United States are predicted to reach $31.4 billion by 2021 [2]. The 3% tax would represent $94.2 million in federal revenue, to be used towards construction of the wall, as well as towards research and development of new “smart wall” technology.

Funding Solution

The President has said Mexico will pay for the wall. They refuse. Congress has also refused, causing a catastrophic government shutdown. We propose that the cannabis community will pay for it via a 3% federal cannabis tax. Nearly half the country still doesn’t have any form of legal cannabis. We propose that this must change, and that the benefits gained from taxation would far outweigh the risks for all involved.

****ing & Justice System

Federal legalization will allow legal cannabis and hemp companies to have access to reliable ****ing services at FDIC ****s. Most cannabis businesses still have to deal in cash, even in states where it is legal, due to federal restriction. This is dangerous and not practical.

Additionally, we demand that clemency be granted to non-violent cannabis offenders in federal prison.

U.S. Veteran Employment Plan

Our proposal is to employ 36,000 U.S. Veterans to construct the wall, reducing the unemployment rate for veterans by 10%. [1]

Safe Access for US Veterans

If our plan for a hempcrete wall is implemented, we will call for veterans of the US Armed Services to be allowed safe access to cannabis without risk of losing their VA benefits. This is one part of our proposal, along with federal legalization of cannabis, that the cannabis community demands.

Additional Security Benefit

We consulted with a San Diego based non profit MJ Meds for Veterans regarding employing veterans for construction. They suggested to us that the presence of military veterans would deter drug cartels from attempting to smuggle ***** into the United States of America, which we feel is correct.

Bipartisan Support

The Democrats will soon control the House, and have said that they will not support the border wall as proposed by President Trump. Why would they support this proposal?

This proposal should draw support from both sides of the aisle, because nobody loses. The President doesn’t lose, the Democrats don’t lose, the Republicans don’t lose and the American people are the big winners. The Democrats are intelligent and reasonable, and would be likely to agree to this proposal because of the benefits to the environment, the economy, public safety and our nation’s veterans.

Spur Mexican Economy & Combat Lethal Cartels

In addition to hiring thousands of U.S. veterans, we also propose to hire locals on the Mexico side of the border, as well as source hemp and other materials from Mexico in order to stimulate the Mexican economy. As proposed here and by President Trump, the construction of a U.S./Mexico border wall will greatly reduce the ability for violent Mexican drug cartels to do business in the United States. In addition, the proposed nationwide medical cannabis legalization will do even more to keep the dangerous cartels out by removing one of their most lucrative markets – illegal cannabis.

Milestones

  1. Federally Legalize Medical Cannabis

3% sales tax will generate $94.2 million.

2. Build Wall

Using Hempcrete (industrial hemp) will be more cost effective and better for the environment and safer.

36,000 U.S. Veterans will be employed, reducing veteran unemployment by 10%.

3. Complete Wall

Federal sales tax on cannabis will pay for continued maintenance of wall.

References

  1. “Employment Situation of Veterans Summary 2017”. March 22, 2018. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/vet.nr0.htm
  2. M. Zhang; “The Global Marijuana Market Will Soon Hit $31.4 Billion But Investors Should Be Cautious”. Dec 8, 2017. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/monazhang/2017/11/07/global-marijuana-market-31-billion-investors-cautious/
  3. J. P. Caulkins; “Estimated Cost of Production for Legalized Cannabis”. Jul 2010. Rand.Org. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/2010/RAND_WR764.pdf
  4. M. Chaban; “Cannabis Construction: Entrepreneurs Using Hemp for Home-Building”. July 6, 2016. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/07/nyregion/cannabis-construction-entrepreneurs-use-hemp-in-home-building.html
  5. Anonymous. 2015. Purdue University Hemp Project. https://dev.purduehemp.org/hemp-production/
  6. T. Gillman; “Trump’s new border wall specs: See-through, skip the river, and he’ll pick the design himself “ September, 2017. Dallas News. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2017/09/23/trumps-new-border-wall-specs-see-skip-river-pick-design
  7. The RAND Drug Policy Research Center values Mexico’s illicit narcotics trade at $6 billion to $8 billion a year. Thanks to legalization in the US and Canada, cannabis represents a shrinking portion of the cartels’ portfolio, which includes ******, **** and *******. RAND estimated that cannabis represented 15 to 26 percent of illicit Mexican drug activity in 2010. Seizures of cannabis at the United States border have plummeted since then, an indication that state legalization may be drying up demand in the north.  https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/legalization-vs-mexicos-powerful-cartels-whod-win

Contact Info:

BudTrader.com

brad@budtrader.com