Committee OKs Bill Letting Farmers Grow Hemp |
Posted by CN Staff on January 11, 2006 at 14:43:57 PT By The Associated Press Source: Associated Press Sacramento, CA -- Legislation that would allow California farmers to grow industrial hemp, a distant cousin of marijuana that can be used in making myriad products, has been approved by a state Assembly committee. The measure by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, cleared the Public Safety Committee on Tuesday night, 4-2, and was sent to the Appropriations Committee, the last stop before the full Assembly. Hemp is imported to the United States from Canada and other countries and can be used to make clothing, cosmetics, food, paper, rope, jewelry, luggage, sports equipment, toys and a variety of other products. But hemp can't be legally grown in the United States without a federal Drug Enforcement Administration permit that often is difficult to obtain. Hemp contains a trace of tetrahydrocannabinols, or THC, the drug in marijuana. Leno's bill would allow California farmers to grow hemp to sell to California manufacturers of hemp products, a limit the bill's supporters hope will avoid legal challenges to the legislation under the U.S. Constitution's interstate commerce clause. Leno said the bill provides a "great opportunity to assist family farmers." "California can import the entire plant to manufacture thousands of products, so manufacturers are benefiting from current law, the environment benefits, retailers benefit, consumers benefit," he said. "The only one losing out is the California farmer." Complete Title: Assembly Committee OKs Bill Letting Farmers Grow Hemp Source: Associated Press (Wire) Related Articles & Web Site: Cannabis News Hemp Links Legislative Movement To Legalize Hemp Begins Bill Would Allow Hemp Farming in California Assembly Mulls Industrial Hemp Bill Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
Comment #10 posted by FoM on January 12, 2006 at 11:02:29 PT |
January 12, 2006 CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - A Reno woman has filed an initiative petition with the Nevada secretary of state's office seeking to legalize the use of hemp to produce clean-burning energy. Kathryn Whitman, a student at Truckee Meadows Community College, said hemp is one of the most efficient agricultural resources to produce methane to fuel the country's energy needs. "If hemp was grown on 2 percent of the nation's farmland, it could fuel the nation," she said. "And it's clean burning." While hemp is frequently associated with marijuana, the agricultural product would have no value for drug use, Whitman said. Industrial hemp does not contain enough of the key ingredient in marijuana for such use, she said. But the product is not legal for use in Nevada, which is why the initiative petition was filed Monday, Whitman said. If Whitman and other supporters can collect the necessary 83,184 signatures by Nov. 14, the measure would go to the Legislature for its consideration in 2007. If it failed there, it would go to the voters in 2008. It would be difficult to grow hemp in Nevada because of the climate, but the petition would allow the use of the product here to produce energy, Whitman said. It would also allow the study of hemp in Nevada as an alternative energy source, she said. Other states have looked at legalizing the production of hemp, which can be used to make clothing, cosmetics, food, paper, jewelry, luggage, sports equipment, toys and a variety of other products. According to the Hemp Industries Association, the Marijuana Tax Act passed by Congress in 1937 began the era of hemp prohibition. The Controlled Substances Act passed in 1970 also failed to recognize hemp as distinct from marijuana and thus legal to grow. -- Copyright: 2006 Las Vegas Sun, Inc. http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jan/12/011210212.html [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #9 posted by Toker00 on January 12, 2006 at 09:20:56 PT |
How can it make it harder to enforce the laws, hemp being legalized and all, when they are not able to enforce the laws against cannabis right now? How can you enforce a law that is unenforcable? You can't. You can only make a living out of prosecuting and persecuting innocent people for possessing the God given and sanctioned Cannabis plant. WE ARE A CULTURE. CANNABIS CULTURE. Cannabists are victims of Governmentally sponsored Genocide. Nothing like a spliff to spice up a movie or sitcom. Rock-n-roll sells and hippies of old are making millions sponsoring Corporations who, in turn, donate millions to Drug Free America, to encarcerate the very culture that is making them rich. They praise us for being the generation who will go out partying and trail blazing just like we came in. Then they cage the young for emulating us. Corporate America Sucks. Boycott the Bastards! Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!
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Comment #8 posted by observer on January 11, 2006 at 17:10:52 PT |
Expect prohibitionists to equate hemp with the deadly evil poison of marihuana. Hemp will be a cover for concealed cannabis crops, hemp will mean more marijuana! Hemp will be demonized with links to longhair hippies and fabulous furry freaks. Hemp will be said to lead to the hard stuff: pot, then crack and heroin. Hemp will destroy the youth of California! That's what prohibitionists always say.
Drug War Propaganda http://www.cafepress.com/drugpropaganda2 [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #7 posted by Sukoi on January 11, 2006 at 16:55:21 PT |
I'm still trying to get the color thing down but I'm sure that you still get the gist of the statements... [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #6 posted by Sukoi on January 11, 2006 at 16:52:12 PT |
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060111-7.html"Let me talk about immigration. We have an obligation to enforce our borders. (Applause.) Let me just say the full answer. (Laughter.) And we do for a lot of reasons. The main reason is security reasons, seems like to me. And security means more than just a terrorist slipping in. It means drugs. The Mayor was telling me that there's a lot of -- crime around the country -- he's been studying this -- because of drug use. And who knows if they're being smuggled in from Mexico, but drugs do get smuggled in. So it's a security issue. It's more than just the war on terrorist security issue. It's the issue of being able to try to secure the lifestyle of our country from the use of drugs, drug importation, for example. A lot of things get smuggled across. Generally, when you're smuggling something it's against the law. So we have an obligation of enforcing the border. That's what the American people expect". "It also makes sense to take pressure off the border by giving people a legal means on a temporary basis to come here, so they don't have to sneak across. Now, some of you all may be old enough to remember the days of Prohibition. I'm not. (Laughter.) But remember, we illegalized whisky, and guess what? People found all kinds of ways to make it, and to run it. NASCAR got started -- positive thing that came out of all that. (Laughter.)What you're having here is you've created a -- you've made it illegal for People to come here to work that other Americans won't do, and guess has happened? A horrible industry has grown up. You've got folks right here in Kentucky who are hiring people to do jobs Americans won't do, and you say, show me your papers, and they've been forged, and the employer doesn't know about it".Hmmm, has he missed something perhaps??? [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #5 posted by FoM on January 11, 2006 at 16:10:38 PT |
I was born in North Carolina so that makes me a Rebel but I live in no man's land Ohio so maybe I'm a half of a Cool Rebel! LOL! [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #4 posted by runruff on January 11, 2006 at 16:05:08 PT:
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Yea, I like that. I'm a cool rebel. How about you? [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 11, 2006 at 15:39:35 PT |
This could become very interesting. California is the trailblazer state. I wonder where we would be without those cool rebels out west. [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #2 posted by MikeC on January 11, 2006 at 15:11:18 PT |
Great news. This ought to be interesting. [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 11, 2006 at 14:44:54 PT |
Little by little we are making progress! [ Post Comment ] |
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