cannabisnews.com: High School Hosts Hemp Fest High School Hosts Hemp Fest Posted by CN Staff on December 07, 2003 at 13:47:11 PT By Omar Ford, Gazette Staff Writer Source: Beaufort Gazette Industrial hemp isn't a drug, but rather an alternative and useful resource wrongly stigmatized by ignorance, according to a handful of Beaufort High School student's who gathered at their school Saturday for Hemp Fest.More than a dozen students belonging to Beaufort High's month-old Hemp Club gathered in the school's cafeteria for food, music and an informational film about the plant fiber's industrial uses -- often overshadowed by its connection to marijuana, which is derived from a form of hemp's leaves and flowers. The plant's fiber was used to make the paper the Declaration of Independence was drafted on, students learned. In fact, it was widely grown on American soil until the mid-20th century, when its association with marijuana led to its prohibition.Hemp's fiber can be used to produce a wide variety of products, from rope and sailcloth to hair conditioner, diapers, insulation, carpets and even perfume, according to the Web site Vote Hemp.com.Industrial hemp should be considered as a valuable resource, said Megan Feight, a 17-year-old student who organized the event. It's often confused with marijuana because both are derived from plants in the hemp family, she noted.But industrial hemp has less than 0.3 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient which creates the marijuana "high," compared to the 3 to 20 percent in marijuana, according to: http://www.votehemp.com/"You can't get high from industrial hemp," Feight said.The club and its festival have been approved by the school's administration, said Ginger Anderson, an art teacher and the club's faculty advisor.But it hasn't been a smooth approval. People who are confused about the group think members are promoting the use of marijuana, said Elizabeth Corbitt, a club member. The group was asked to remove banners with the plant on it that announced the festival because people confused it as a symbol for the drug marijuana.Corbitt said her parents use hemp fiber -- which is illegal to grow in North America but legal to import -- to make jewelry.Asked if she smoked marijuana, Corbitt said she doesn't "believe in intoxicating" herself in any way. "I'm a very positive person," she said.Anderson said people need to take a close look at what the students are doing, which is actually studying an environmentally friendly alternative resource. Hemp, she said, can be a lumber substitute and reduce the number of trees cut down to produce paper.Beaufort High Principal Dan Durbin said he came to the event to take a look for himself, but "only to observe." He gave the festival the "green light" after the students told him what they wanted to do."These young people have put together a program of information," he said. "We're not promoting drug use or the legalization of marijuana."Furthermore, he said as long as the students didn't violate any of the school's guidelines then there would be no problems.It is Feight's hope that people will look at the event as a beginning. And while legalizing the growth of industrial hemp in the United States is a lofty goal, erasing the myths about it to her teachers and the community isn't, she said."A lot of the teachers are ignorant about it," she said. "My goal is to get that ignorance squashed."Source: Beaufort Gazette, The (SC)Author: Omar Ford, Gazette Staff WriterPublished: Sunday, December 7, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Beaufort GazetteContact: letters beaufortgazette.comWebsite: http://www.beaufortgazette.com/CannabisNews Hemp Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/hemp.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by Shishaldin on December 08, 2003 at 09:41:52 PT I had it for breakfast, Virgil.... "There sure are a lot of cereals on the shelf but why not one with hemp. It is coming."It's here, Virgil. Check out http://www.naturespath.com/products/ and click the Cold Cereals link to find Organic Hemp Plus Granola. It's got the GLA we all need from the Hemp seeds within. Check it out at Trader Joe's, if you have one in your neighborhood...Peace and Strength,Shishaldin [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by mayan on December 08, 2003 at 02:37:55 PT North America? "Corbitt said her parents use hemp fiber -- which is illegal to grow in North America but legal to import -- to make jewelry."Correction...hemp is being grown in Canada. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Virgil on December 07, 2003 at 15:26:14 PT Wood sugar again The big thing about wood sugar is that it does not trigger an insulin response. It is safe to use by diabetics. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Virgil on December 07, 2003 at 15:15:42 PT Wood sugar There is a family of compounds similar to sugars and alcohols. You can do a search for "wood sugar" and know as much as I do in 5 minutees about it.It is in corncobs and seems to be extracted from wood chips with birch bark being a favorite source. It has a sweetness equal to sugar and can be substituted on a one for one part basis. It is important to diabetics and with about one in sixteen people being a diabetic, wood sugar has important implications. The cause of diabetes is not known and wood sugar may even play a role of limiting the occurance of diabetes that is becoming common in young people.Wood sugar can be obtained from hemp and its costs versus other sources is a big question. Wood sugar cannot help but become a big market and it is something to remember in regards to hemp.Hemp flour is my area of curiosity as eating for health is even more important in older age. I like pizza as much as anyone, but am abhorred by eating white processed bread. I do not eat spagetti much anymore with noodles and do not like fast food because of white bread. You would have to add spikes to the club it would take to make me sign up for car payments to buy a loaf of white bread. That has been true for 20 years, where everything else has to do with crossing the mountain top of 50 and heading downhill.Well, anyway pizza lines whole sections of the freezer section with every differentiation exploited to its fullest. There is a big market in going healthy and the fall of sales in the bread market by a country cutting back on carbs has the bread industry in a tissy right now. Then there are frozen pancakes. Then there are just pancakes and Mom and Pops where the old farmers peel back there shirts to show each other their scars from heart surgery. Then their is gruel that may be necessary for what used to be the middle class. Hemp used to be big in peoples diets as they would mash hemp seeds and put a paste on a skillet and make cereal. Then add milk. There sure are a lot of cereals on the shelf but why not one with hemp. It is coming. It is all about money and health and an aging population trying to stay alive while obese, pumped up on pills, and clogged arteries from transfats and bad cholesteral.Hemp flour might not be the fountain of youth, but it may well be a fountain of life. I wish I had some hemp pancakes now and maybe something to stimuate my appetite. Laughing grass will redefine appetizers. Oh, happy day! What kind of effed up world is it when you cannot even have gruel. It is all upside down. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by The GCW on December 07, 2003 at 14:12:46 PT Hemp is not a drug. Cannabis is not a drug.Were the first Bibles made out of a drug?Was the 1st flag made out of a drug?420(this just came up on MAP.)US CO: Medicinal Marijuana ConflictPubdate: Sat, 06 Dec 2003Source: Steamboat Pilot & Today, The (Steamboat Springs, CO)http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1884/a03.html?397420& In case You haven't heard: Kucinich put in writting that as presedent He will: "decriminalize cannabis" -"in favor of a drug policy that sets reasonable boundaries for marijuana use by establishing guidelines similar to those already in place for alcohol." http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17917.shtml [ Post Comment ] Post Comment