Time To Legalize Hemp!

[greenbuddha]

Time To Legalize Hemp Posted by CN Staff on February 20, 2013 at 07:24:03 PT

By The Register-Guard

Source: Register-Guard

 

Washington, D.C. -- It’s an unusual coalition, even for Sen. Ron Wyden, who is well known for reaching across the aisle to work with Republicans on legislative proposals ranging from health care reform to overhauling the nation’s tax code.

 

Now, Wyden is working with Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican and tea party icon, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, also of Kentucky, on a proposal to remove hemp from the federal list of controlled substances. Their bill would clear the way for agricultural production of industrial hemp, the non-narcotic plant that shares a species name, genus type — and illegal status under federal law — with marijuana.

 

The case for legalizing hemp is simple and compelling. The United States is the world’s largest consumer of hemp but is the only industrialized country that bans farmers from growing the product. Wyden notes that U.S. hemp imports have grown by 300 percent over the past decade and that Canadian farmers, attentive to the potential for profit, have doubled the acreage devoted to hemp in that country in the last two years alone.

 

“Unfortunately, there are some dumb regulations that are hurting economic growth and job creation, and the ban on growing industrial hemp is certainly among them,” Wyden said. “It’s time to boost revenues for (U.S.) farmers and reduce the costs for the businesses around the country that use hemp.”

 

Wyden’s right. Legalizing hemp is a no-brainer; Congress should have done it years ago. Eight states, including Oregon, have removed legal barriers to hemp production. But farmers in those states are reluctant to grow it as long as they run the risk of federal raids, prosecution and prison time.

 

Yet federal lawmakers continue to succumb to misinformation that lumps hemp with marijuana because both contain tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive substance better known as THC. As Wyden notes, hemp contains only minuscule levels of THC. His bill would remove hemp from the federal list of controlled substances and define it as a non-drug as long as it contained less than 0.3 percent THC. That would enable U.S. farmers to grow the hemp that is now imported from countries such as Canada, China and France and processed into clothing, nutritional items, building products and cordage.

 

Numerous attempts to end the nonsensical ban on hemp have failed. In the last session, Wyden tried in vain to add a hemp amendment to a major farm bill, and later introduced legislation along with co-sponsors including Sen. Jeff Merkley, who has endorsed his Oregon colleague’s latest effort.

 

Hopefully, Wyden’s unusual partnership with Paul and McConnell will draw more Republican votes and allow farmers in Oregon, Kentucky and elsewhere to, in McConnell’s words, “harness the economic potential that industrial hemp can provide.”

Source: Register-Guard, The (OR)

Published: February 20, 2013

Copyright: 2013 The Register-Guard

Contact: rgletters@guardnet.com

Website: http://www.registerguard.com/

URL: http://drugsense.org/url/2zvarWMJ

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[Chauncy Gardner]

They (the idiots who don't get it) have been steeped in anti-cannabis propaganda for so long that it will take a monumental change in their core beliefs in order for them to support hemp legalization. Monumental changes in core beliefs usually don't occur "overnight", especially in people who are seriously skeptical of science.

 

If someone can get the toothless, idiot red necks of the Bible Belt to accept hemp, then maybe there is hope after all.

[greenbuddha]

They (the idiots who don't get it) have been steeped in anti-cannabis propaganda for so long that it will take a monumental change in their core beliefs in order for them to support hemp legalization. Monumental changes in core beliefs usually don't occur "overnight", especially in people who are seriously skeptical of science.

 

If someone can get the toothless, idiot red necks of the Bible Belt to accept hemp, then maybe there is hope after all.

 

Chaunc, I believe it's the 'toothless' rednecks that WANT hemp.

 

It the arseholes with all their teeth and the fake smiles that don't want it legal.

[Chauncy Gardner]

Chaunc, I believe it's the 'toothless' rednecks that WANT hemp.

 

It the arseholes with all their teeth and the fake smiles that don't want it legal.

 

I have to agree with you. I was wrong in my assessment of those folks.