cannabisnews.com: Legalizing Hemp
function share_this(num) {
 tit=encodeURIComponent('Legalizing Hemp');
 url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/24/thread24945.shtml');
 site = new Array(5);
 site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500');
 return false;
}






Legalizing Hemp
Posted by CN Staff on July 29, 2009 at 11:53:13 PT
By Ben Lundin, Vanguard Staff
Source: Daily Vanguard 
Oregon -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced last week his intent to take pen in hand and make Oregon the seventh state to legalize the growing of hemp.By signing into law Senate Bill 676, which allows farmers to grow hemp statewide and was passed by a veto-proof 27-2 margin, Kulongoski is among the few politicians taking small steps to reverse an agricultural mistake made 72 years ago.
Small steps, unfortunately, are the biggest ones Oregon lawmakers could take because hemp is still banned by federal law.Oregon became the first Western state to legalize the growing of hemp since 1999, adding to a slowly building snowball of states that could eventually push the U.S. Legislature to remove the archaic and unnecessary ban.Hemp growing was banned for all the wrong reasons seven decades ago. Its illegalization has a somewhat complicated history that was largely due to business considerations, rather than drug concerns, involving powerful figures of the time and some slick political maneuvering. Maneuvering that stripped away hemp and its benefits for most of the 20th century, long after America’s founding fathers, including George Washington, were known to cultivate the plant on their own land.The short version, which is by no means the complete story, is this: Harry J. Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper mogul, are largely to blame. Hearst owned hundreds of acres of timber. As hemp-based paper became more cost effective, the value of such land was threatened. Anslinger fueled anti-hemp propaganda that Hearst published in his newspapers. In 1937, Anslinger presented Congress with a ban against hemp and cannabis, which passed.Unfortunately, some people—many of whom compose our federal Legislature—still believe hemp and marijuana are equally dangerous.Hemp is a non-hallucinogenic variety of the cannabis sativa plant. You could smoke hemp for days and never feel anything more than throat irritation.This is a shortsighted view of an agricultural plant that can be manufactured more cheaply and used for more products than many of the standard fibers used for clothing, rope, paper, food and other everyday objects.America spends about $360 million per year importing hemp, according to the Eugene Register-Guard—money that could benefit local farmers, while the cheaper costs of local cultivation would translate into higher profits for local storeowners.Opponents of decriminalization contend that it will increase marijuana growing on Oregon farms and thus heighten use of the drug in the region.Oregon state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, a supporter of legalizing hemp since 1997, optimistically predicts the national ban will be lifted in about two years with increased pressure on the federal level. Politicians of traditionally conservative states aren’t likely to support the move, while political campaigns nationwide receive money from companies that would not like to see hemp’s competition in the marketplace.Let’s hope Prozanski is right that change is coming. Let’s hope U.S. lawmakers will refuse to succumb to political pandering this time around and reverse a terrible mistake. Source: Daily Vanguard (Portland State, OR Edu)Author: Ben Lundin, Vanguard StaffPublished: Tuesday, July 28, 2009Copyright: 2009 Daily VanguardContact: opinion dailyvanguard.comWebsite: http://www.dailyvanguard.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/tXrfrU3aCannabisNews Hemp Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/hemp.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help 
     
     
     
     




Comment #11 posted by ekim on July 30, 2009 at 06:58:07 PT
has some info on cbd
http://www.michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/node/4680?page=1
 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by Paint with light on July 30, 2009 at 00:41:37 PT
www.hempology.org
In the article, "1903:USDA Lyster Dewey Re: Principal Commercial Plant Fibers",Hemp is now cultivated.......(The author lists several countries which grow hemp)......The article goes on, "All of these and also the Japanese, Chinese and Kentucky(or China American) hemp, belongs to the same species, Cannabis sativa L. This is the only true hemp, but the name is unfortunately applied to many other fibers, most of which are quite different in character."The author also has interesting articles from 1927 and 1931 which apply to the discussion.The Article, "1969:Hemp-The World's Major Fibre Crops, Their Cultivation and Manuring", states that,"Their are at present time three main groups of varities under cultivation.1. Varieties cultivated primarily for fibre. These have long stalk and branch very little."The article goes on to say plants for seed are short and mature early and plants grown throughout India for their medicinal or narcotic properties are short.I don't remember who first posted about this site but it has a wealth of information, including some classic pictures.One article tells how to produce seeds that will only produce females. But we already know how to do that. Right?Legal like alcohol or rope.
http://www.hempology.org
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by FoM on July 29, 2009 at 14:50:16 PT
Update On Iowa
Pharmacy Board Sets Four Hearings on Medical MarijuanaJuly 29, 2009 The Iowa Board of Pharmacy announced today that it has set the schedule for four hearings on whether to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes.The board, which helps classify allowable uses for drugs, decided earlier this month to hold hearings on the issue around the state. Board members said they want to hear from experts and everyday Iowans before making a recommendation to the Legislature.The first hearing will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 19 at the State Historical Building in Des Moines. The second will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.Snipped:Complete Article: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090729/NEWS/90729028
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by tintala on July 29, 2009 at 14:04:05 PT:
The lobbyist are scared to death
Of HEMP> The large corps, DUPONT/DOW MONSANTO, and paint , cotton, timber, all have lobbyist paying alot to campaigners against hemp. Imagine if we didnt have to use DOWs fiberglass insulation in every home in America how much $$$ thuy would loose.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by museman on July 29, 2009 at 13:33:57 PT
Hempworld
Got it. Thanks for alerting me to that.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by museman on July 29, 2009 at 13:31:54 PT
to answer my own question:
Except the part about Indica and 'Industrial Hemp'
this one will do
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by HempWorld on July 29, 2009 at 13:30:39 PT
museman
You are correct!CBD, we now find out, is a very useful cannabinoid for relaxation and sleep. THC is another cannabinoid for an active high. Both are present in Indica and Sativa strains, however, the ratios are inverse of one another. Indica high CBD low THC, Sativa low CBD high THC. GW Pharmaceuticals uses Sativa strains for their extracts but then adds CBD from Indica strains to match specific medicinal properties and profiles.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by museman on July 29, 2009 at 13:21:11 PT
Hempworld
So, if I read you right, you are confirming that Indica -as my experience and what knowledge I do have on the subject leads me to conclude- is the root, of industrial hemp? And that this chemical -of which I admit no awareness of- 'CBD' is not part of the THC group? A 'non-narcotic' as they would have it?Or am I reading it in reverse?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by HempWorld on July 29, 2009 at 13:13:37 PT
museman
I believe Indica strains in general contain more CBD (Cannabidiol) than Sativa and hence this strain would be the non-drug variety originally from and for industrial hemp.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by museman on July 29, 2009 at 12:57:50 PT
correction:
"Hemp is a non-hallucinogenic variety of the cannabis sativa plant. You could smoke hemp for days and never feel anything more than throat irritation."Actually, that is a hybrid strain created by American Hemp farmers (and some horticulturists), and I almost guarantee that most of the hemp gardens that grew in the midwest during and after WW2 were of the Cannabis Indica strain, which is referred to in pre-prohibition texts as 'Indian Hemp.' I make my observation based on the recognition of stem and stalk difference between Indica and Sativa - observed by me close up and personal. The hemp fields I played in as a boy were distinctly Indica.The fibre of the Sativa (I believe -someone can check if they want) variety is shorter than the Indica variety, and in fact has a 9-12 month growing season, compared to the 3-6 month seasons of Indica (one of the primary reasons why Indica is the major strain and genus in the American hybrids of 'medicinal' herb.) The fact that sativa some how got mixed in (or was part of the hybridization) with the Industrial Hemp, and is to this day found as the predominant strain in the remnant wild plants in the midwest, referred to as 'ditch weed' is just the kind of anecdotal mis-representation that has been associated with any number of aspects concerning all things cannabis.There isn't a lot of clarity being made -in common language and understanding- about the differences and similarities of the two kinds of cannabis, Industrial Hemp (not just regular 'hemp') and the rest of the cannabis family. And I have to say that after smoking every kind of variety that was ever available, including 'high THC content' hashish for 38 years, that I have never, not once ever 'hallucinated' on pot. Really high, yes, too high to drive -once or twice- but reality was always there and the only changes I ever saw were in my perception, and those were more like waking up than 'losing consciousness' or seeing things that aren't there (hallucination).LEGALIZE FREEDOM
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on July 29, 2009 at 12:30:29 PT
Hemp highlights the level of corruption that
existed in Washington since 1937. Now anno 2009, we know that this corruption has gotten much bigger, to the point that lobbyists basically run congres and all US Federal policies and laws.To top this off, the decision on hemp cultivation is now in the hands of the DEA. The DEA is not a democratically elected body of government and the DEA will never allow hemp to be legalized out of self-preservation.This is the quandary the US finds itself regarding hemp and this is why, New Zealand and Australia have legalized industrial hemp ahead of the US. I don't think this situation will change soon, unfortunately.
Legalize Industrial Hemp!
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment