But never before has the class B drug been described as a way to save the environment too.
Researchers at the University of Bath believe they have discovered a way to build carbon-neutral homes of the future - by using cannabis instead of the usual bricks and mortar.
Experts are working on a revolutionary housing project using construction materials made out of hemp-lime, a form of the drug.
The lightweight building material is made of fibres from the fast-growing cannabis plant, bound together using a lime-based adhesive.
The hemp plant stores carbon as it grows and combined with the low carbon footprint of lime and its efficient insulating properties, gives the material a “better than zero carbon” footprint, researchers said.
Professor Pete Walker, director of the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials, said: “We will be looking at the feasibility of using hemp-lime in place of traditional materials, so that they can be used widely in the building industry.
 Using renewable crops to make building materials  makes real sense - it only takes an area the size of a rugby pitch four months to grow enough hemp to build a typical three-bedroom house |
| Professor Pete Walker |
“We will be measuring the properties of lime-hemp materials, such as their strength and durability, as well as the energy efficiency of buildings made of these materials.
“Using renewable crops to make building materials makes real sense - it only takes an area the size of a rugby pitch four months to grow enough hemp to build a typical three-bedroom house.
“Growing crops such as hemp can also provide economic and social benefits to rural economies through new agricultural markets for farmers and associated industries.”
The three-year project, worth almost £750,000, will collect scientific and engineering data about this new material so it can be more widely used in the UK for building homes.
- Express
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