2019年经济学人 合法工业大麻(1)

 

The hemp¹ plant has a storied history in China. It was probably twisted into the world's first rope there around 2,800bc.

中国麻类植物种植历史悠久。公元前2800年，麻类植物可能就被拧成了世界上的第一股绳子。

In the West you find it in cigarette paper and Bible pages. In the East, it is woven into uniforms of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

在西方，你可以在卷烟纸和《圣经》书页中发现它。在东方，它被织成了人民解放军（PLA）的制服。

Since its cooler sister, marijuana, became legal for recreational use in Canada and many American states last year,

由于其冷酷的姊妹大麻在去年被加拿大和美国多州列为合法娱乐性药物，

industrial-use hemp—a variety of cannabis that contains trivial amounts of weed's mindaltering substance, THC—

工业大麻—各种含有微量致幻成分THC的大麻—

is flourishing in a country that until a few years ago banned its cultivation² outright³ and where cannabis traffickers can face the death penalty.

正在一个国家盛行，几年前这个国家完全禁止了其种植且贩毒者会面临死刑。

China grows nearly half the world's legal hemp. In 2018 sales, mostly of textile fibre made from the plant's stalk, totalled $1.2bn.

中国种植了世界近一半的合法大麻。2018年的销售额达到12亿美元，其中大部分是由麻类植物根茎制成的纺织纤维。

Now global demand for its seeds, leaves and flowers is surging. Packed with fulsome⁴ fatty acids, seeds go into snacks and oil.

现在世界对麻类植物的种子、叶子和花朵的需求剧增。经过脂肪酸的包装后，种子变成了小吃和油。

Leaves and flowers contain cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating compound that reduces anxiety and inflammation.

叶子和花朵中含有大麻二酚（CBD），一种无毒的化合物，可以减少焦虑和炎症。

It is being added as a supplement to food, drinks and cosmetics⁵ across the West. In June America approved the first CBD medicine, for epilepsy.

在西方这一成分作为补充物被添加至食物、饮料和化妆品中。6月，美国批准首个治疗癫痫的CBD药物。

China's first licence to extract CBD went to Hanma Investment Group, owner of its largest hemp planter and processor, in January 2017.

2017年1月，中国首个提取CBD的执照颁发给了汉麻投资集团有限公司—最大大麻种植商和加工方的所有者。

By next year, estimates New Frontier Data, a cannabis consultancy, Chinese sales of CBD will more than quadruple to $228m.

第二年，大麻咨询公司新前沿数据预计，中国CBD销售额将增加四倍多至2.28亿美元。

Investors⁶ are rushing into the field. A Chinese hemp index tracked since 2018 by Wind Information, a data provider,

投资者疯狂地挤入该领域。数据提供者Wind Information自2018年起追踪了中国大麻指数，

has more than doubled in value this year. Shares in Shanghai Shunho New Materials Technology, a packaging firm,

该指数在今年的价值翻倍。包装公司上海顺灏新材料科技股份有限公司的股价

rose threefold after it received a licence to plant hemp in south-western Yunnan, the first province to lift a national ban in 2010.

增长三倍，此前该公司获得了在云南西南部种植大麻的营业执照，云南是首个于2010年解禁国家性禁令的省份。

1 hemp   

n.大麻；纤维

参考例句：

• The early Chinese built suspension bridges of hemp rope.古代的中国人建造过麻绳悬索桥。
• The blanket was woven from hemp and embroidered with wool.毯子是由亚麻编织，羊毛镶边的。

2 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

3 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

4 fulsome   

adj.可恶的，虚伪的，过分恭维的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• Newspapers have been fulsome in their praise of the former president.报纸上对前总统都是些溢美之词。

5 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会