Today I watched a little video on MSNBC about industrial hemp and its current ban in the U.S. I am greatly disturbed by the apparent lack of common sense put forth by the U.S. government regarding its use. We import millions of pounds of the stuff from Canada and France every year but we continue to be the only country in the world that doesn’t grow it. It was made illegal in the 1950’s as the start of the “war on drugs”. Hemp contrary to popular belief is not cannabis (marijuana). It does contain a small amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, but you would have to smoke a telephone pole sized joint to get high and really all you would likely end up with is a whopper of a headache.
The fibers produced from hemp are very strong and the seeds are very high in omega three fatty acids. Hemp is used to make a lot of things including but certainly not limited to; gloves, clothes, soap, lotion and car parts. Here is an example; the American car we know as the Viper (coincidentally built by the company Chrysler…yeah that one that is bankrupt now) gets its door panels from an independent company. This company makes the door panels out of hemp. The company that makes the door panels has to buy the hemp needed for the doors from France and Canada. The CEO of the company says that doing this adds ten to fifteen percent to the cost of the car. Currently all of the money we spend every year on products made from hemp, Millions, goes to other countries that we have to buy the hemp from.
Hemp is cheaper to grow than cotton because it doesn’t need fertilizer, irrigation, or pesticides; it basically grows like a weed. As the taxes on tobacco continue to rise in the U.S., hemp is a viable growing option for those farmers as well as the farmers that grow the cotton that makes our clothes. The footprint for growing hemp is much smaller than the footprint left by growing cotton.
There is a bill HR-1866 in congress right now which is co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul for the legalization of industrial hemp; however he is not optimistic it will pass because congress says that hemp is marijuana. So if they vote for hemp, they are voting for marijuana, which means they are voting for hard drugs so then they are pro drugs. Only in Washington could this convoluted thinking thrive.
Of course the legalization of drugs in America is a whole other story and one I believe to be a good decision for this country but that is a whole other blog. However, I will leave you with these thoughts on it. How many of you have tried an “illegal” drug? How hard was it for you to get? How many of you have known a drug addict in your life? How hard was it for them to get drugs? How affected were they by the belief that they were dirty or bad because of their addiction to “illegal” drugs? Do you honestly think there would be more drug addicts if drugs were legalized? How much money do you think the government spends on policing drugs? Try 19 billion dollars a year. I wonder how much more money this country could make legalizing and taxing drugs? How much more of that money would be better spent treating people with the debilitating DISEASE of drug addiction? Think about it.
The fibers produced from hemp are very strong and the seeds are very high in omega three fatty acids. Hemp is used to make a lot of things including but certainly not limited to; gloves, clothes, soap, lotion and car parts. Here is an example; the American car we know as the Viper (coincidentally built by the company Chrysler…yeah that one that is bankrupt now) gets its door panels from an independent company. This company makes the door panels out of hemp. The company that makes the door panels has to buy the hemp needed for the doors from France and Canada. The CEO of the company says that doing this adds ten to fifteen percent to the cost of the car. Currently all of the money we spend every year on products made from hemp, Millions, goes to other countries that we have to buy the hemp from.
Hemp is cheaper to grow than cotton because it doesn’t need fertilizer, irrigation, or pesticides; it basically grows like a weed. As the taxes on tobacco continue to rise in the U.S., hemp is a viable growing option for those farmers as well as the farmers that grow the cotton that makes our clothes. The footprint for growing hemp is much smaller than the footprint left by growing cotton.
There is a bill HR-1866 in congress right now which is co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul for the legalization of industrial hemp; however he is not optimistic it will pass because congress says that hemp is marijuana. So if they vote for hemp, they are voting for marijuana, which means they are voting for hard drugs so then they are pro drugs. Only in Washington could this convoluted thinking thrive.
Of course the legalization of drugs in America is a whole other story and one I believe to be a good decision for this country but that is a whole other blog. However, I will leave you with these thoughts on it. How many of you have tried an “illegal” drug? How hard was it for you to get? How many of you have known a drug addict in your life? How hard was it for them to get drugs? How affected were they by the belief that they were dirty or bad because of their addiction to “illegal” drugs? Do you honestly think there would be more drug addicts if drugs were legalized? How much money do you think the government spends on policing drugs? Try 19 billion dollars a year. I wonder how much more money this country could make legalizing and taxing drugs? How much more of that money would be better spent treating people with the debilitating DISEASE of drug addiction? Think about it.
The hemp plant.
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