cannabisnews.com: Committee OKs Bill Letting Farmers Grow Hemp

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)Published: January 11, 2006Copyright: 2006 The Associated Press Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Hemp Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/hls.htm Legislative Movement To Legalize Hemp Beginshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21468.shtmlBill Would Allow Hemp Farming in Californiahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20461.shtmlAssembly Mulls Industrial Hemp Billhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20334.shtml

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Comment #28 posted by Hope on January 12, 2006 at 19:17:18 PT
Knowhemp
I understand the "reputation". Like you...I have to not care. I'm convinced that cannabis prohibition is heinously many times worse than the prohibited stuff. I'm all too aware that our government has spent more tax dollars than I can imagine on the drug war and that too many people are in prison or suffering in some way because of the prohibition. That's all got to change and we have to stand up and raise hell about it.
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Comment #27 posted by Hope on January 12, 2006 at 19:09:55 PT
Knowhemp
You obviously do know your hemp.Lately, highways and streets reinforced with hemp stalks has entertained my imagination. If one is to grow medicinal or special smoking or vaporizing cannabis...one will have to be sure to not be too near downwind of a hemp grown for fiber patch.Medicinal, the best anyway, would likely always need to be grown in greenhouses.
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Comment #26 posted by ekim on January 12, 2006 at 19:07:47 PT
good one knowhemp-- more hemp jobs wanted here
Chinese Hemp Industry has Boundless Potential
Posted by FoM on November 05, 2001 at 09:01:46 PT
Business News
Source: People's Daily
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread11260.shtml
As world fashion increasingly moves toward simplicity, comfort and health protection, experts point out that hemp, a major economic crop in China, could have great market prospects after the nation's entry into the World Trade Organization. Chapter 3
February 1938: Popular Mechanics Magazine:
http://www.jackherer.com/chapter03.html
"NEW BILLION-DOLLAR CROP" February 1928: Mechanical Engineering Magazine: "THE MOST PROFITABLE & DESIRABLE CROP THAT CAN BE GROWN"Modern technology was about to be applied to hemp production, making it the number oneEthanol from cellulose was being included as the amount
of Ethanol will increase from 4 billion gals to 8 billion by 2012.
http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2004/3404_technologies_lauded.html The first
http://www.hempgoodsetc.com
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Comment #25 posted by knowhemp on January 12, 2006 at 18:27:59 PT
hemp products
you know, i've always kind of had a problem with how people present the uses of cannabis:
'you can make all kinds of stuff...bracelets, rope, paper, soap, candy, rope, icecream, rope, clothing, rope, canvas, rope....etc'i'm sorry but rope isn't really something we really NEED to start making out of cannabis in order to save the world, and mentioning it isn't going to change the skeptic's mind.how about some of the more toxic products we could replace? how about some of the more industrial uses? the BIG changes!i like to hear paper mentioned...but lets throw in some mind blowing estimates while we mention it! 'the american paper association estimates that 80% of ALL paper made from trees could be made from hemp and of a higher quality.' - this is without acid rain, which is created when making paper from trees.how about the fact that almost everything you need to build a home can be made of hemp? particle board, concrete, wall paper, paint, carpet...etchow about the fact that major auto compaines are using hemp to replace fiberglass parts?clothing could be big...but the hemp style is definitely NOT mainstream, and is taking it's sweet time catching up. when you mention clothing to the skeptic they will remember mary sunbeam's burlap looking vest and hemp bag... not the silk/hemp blend dress. these things need to be mentioned to drive the point home...hemp is like fine linen, not burlap! and if you're a skeptic, you probably haven't seen what they can do with hemp! and if you have seen it, you may not have realized it.how about mentioning the fact that cotton farmers rely on more pesticides to grow their crop than any other, and hemp requires none at all!! beautiful!!i think we all start feeling like a broken record when we talk about cannabis to the ignorant more than once...i know i do. it usually starts up like a regular topic that will come and go. you know, 'oh, i heard this about weed' or 'did you know?' - and then i go on for about an hour talking all about this one topic. so people start thinking 'ohhhh kay...pothead...i think you need to take a break - and not THAT kind of break either.'after that it's hard to bring it up again with the same person - but i do it anyway:) i maintain my reputation everywhere i go. tee hee!ps - don't mean to be hyper-critical , i still respect ANYTHING positive that people say about cannabis. i just think we need to be more aggressive. grrrrrr
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Comment #24 posted by knowhemp on January 12, 2006 at 18:05:40 PT
ruderalis
ruderalis is a russian strain; which explains why it's short and grows in a shorter season. i've heard that until recently it was thought of as pretty much inferior in all regards to sativa and indica...but now they're finding that it's great for making softer clothing, and i think they said it's better for certain fiber blends.anyone ever smoke ruderalis? i wonder if it's even something worth considering -perhaps there are secrets in the genetics that could be brought out through years of growing - perhaps a certain psychoactive effect not found elsewhere.
i also remember an article in high times magazine that said there was cannabis somewhere in madagascar that causes one to hallucinate - supposedly the only place in the world that you can find it. of course this was back in 94-95 and i think high times can be a little sketchy - for instance, all the shady fake pot ads in there - what a blow to the cause and our image - jeez louis!
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Comment #23 posted by whig on January 12, 2006 at 12:07:27 PT
Chronic pain
Low-dose psilocybin weekly is actually the most effective pain killer, but requires a fully psychedelic dose. Lysergic acid diethylamide is nearly as effective at 1/4 to 1/3 hit (30mcg or so) weekly.Sorry for being off-topic, but it seemed worth mentioning.
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Comment #22 posted by FoM on January 12, 2006 at 11:56:01 PT
BGreen
I have thought about this. If a person takes pills for pain management they will build a tolerance to the drug and need to take more to get the pain in control. I know it happened that way with me. Not anymore though thank goodness. That aside different varieties of cannabis would help with the tolerance issue. Just switching types now and then would keep tolerance from building up. I think that seems right.
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on January 12, 2006 at 11:48:50 PT
Dogs
I have a big Rott barking in my ear because he wants to go outside but if I had a little dog he would be barking at my ankles. I'm just kidding but dogs are dogs. I understand what you mean.
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Comment #20 posted by BGreen on January 12, 2006 at 11:46:15 PT
Pain, Indica and Get Up And Go
Indica is one of the best things for chronic pain (pun entirely intended) and when there it a substantial reduction of pain it naturally encourages activity.Pain is the ultimate couch-lock.It's funny how the body works.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on January 12, 2006 at 11:45:10 PT
Whig
That's cool. Now I want some Welch's grape juice but don't have any! LOL!
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Comment #18 posted by whig on January 12, 2006 at 11:43:57 PT
Some grapes...
...are only used to make Welch's.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on January 12, 2006 at 11:42:59 PT
Whig
Much like different grapes that make different wines. I don't drink but I can see how different grapes would make different wines with different highs.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on January 12, 2006 at 11:40:27 PT
whig
I understand feminized and I understand there are different types. I am a get up and go type person. I wouldn't like to be couch locked. Isn't that ruderalis short and squatty? That wouldn't make good hemp fibers I would think but I am guessing here.
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Comment #15 posted by whig on January 12, 2006 at 11:38:33 PT
Speciation
Think of dogs, for a moment. There are many different breeds, from the very small (think chihuahua) to the very large (think great dane) and with all kinds of different characteristics. But guess what? There is only one species of Canis domesticus.
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Comment #14 posted by whig on January 12, 2006 at 11:33:20 PT
FoM
Hemp is Cannabis sativa (useful hemp).What people mean to say when they say that hemp is different from marijuana is that it is not cultivated for the buds, but for the fiber. It is not feminized, and it is not especially potent. But this isn't actually a difference of species.There is a subspecies of Cannabis called ruderalis that is inherently less potent, and could presumably be grown as hemp. On the other side, there is also indica, which is probably more common than sativa in most commercial pot farming because it tends to produce more buds more quickly, though has different effects (more stoning and physical, less cerebral high -- I'd rather have the sativa.)
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on January 12, 2006 at 11:20:58 PT
Hope
I don't understand what the difference is between Hemp and Cannabis Sativa. One thing I can say is I never heard of anyone lighting up a big stalk of Hemp or rolling up a bunch of seeds to smoke. They sort of explode.
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Comment #12 posted by Hope on January 12, 2006 at 11:14:30 PT
Hemp and nooses and cannabis sativa
Smoking the hangman's noose? There's a hook for a song.Smoke it all. Eat it all. Use it all. No nooses please.
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on January 12, 2006 at 11:11:55 PT
Cannabis Sativa/Hemp
I just had a stunning thought that I wanted to share. I was thinking about the amazing non-poisonous aspect of cannabis. It's never killed anyone. Then I saw the hangman's noose.
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on January 12, 2006 at 11:02:29 PT

Reno Woman Pursues Hemp Initiative Petition
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
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Comment #9 posted by Toker00 on January 12, 2006 at 09:20:56 PT

Hypocrisy USA
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
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. Hemp as Total LegalizationIndustrial hemp plants, grown for fiber, have been have been cultivated since ancient times. Planted densely, they typically grow to heights of 12 to 14 feet. In the US, hemp was cultivated from colonial times right up until the 1940s. George Washington has been quoted as commanding Americans to "Make the most of the Indian Hemp Seed and sow it everywhere." Such industrial hemp is bred for fiber, not THC content. The Chinese, Europeans, Canadians and may other cultures and nations have gown and used hemp for hundreds of years, even millennia.Still, enthusiastic prohibitionists see danger upon the land, should farmers no longer be jailed for growing industrial hemp. Why? Because drug warriors simply know that all marijuana is evil and must be totally prohibited. Drug warriors know that any lessening of the laws for hemp would be the same as, or lead to, total access to the sinful marijuana by everyone.Researchers must not so much as be allowed to study hemp. If researchers are not jailed for studying the hated plant, jailed as common criminals for their research, then "legalization" of marijuana would surely be the tragic result."The Illinois Drug Education Alliance," reported on paper, “an antidrug citizens' group, fought to prevent passage of the bill [to study hemp], with the help of state and federal law enforcement officials who also oppose it." In describing the actions of government police to retain power, the paper gets in on the act of describing even the study of hemp, as "legalization.""The alliance argues that legalization of industrial hemp could become one step toward legalizing marijuana. They also warn that legalized hemp could make it harder to enforce existing drug laws because hemp and marijuana are often hard to tell apart without chemical testing." Total access or total prohibition. Citizens must be jailed, to make expensive tests unnecessary for law enforcement.259Drug War PropagandaIndeed: because government police might be put to some slight inconvenience in the rush to pack prisons with pot growers and dope smokers, farmers must likewise be assumed to be criminal, and thus always be jailed for growing the evil weed. "Anti-drug groups [claim hemp farming] opens the door to legalized marijuana. 'It would make it extremely difficult to enforce the laws we have on the books against marijuana,' . . . Someone could plant real marijuana in the middle of an industrial hemp field and law enforcement officials might not be able to tell the difference, she said."16The paper painted prohibitionists as noble warriors protecting the children. "[W]e're fighting an agricultural hemp bill when I'm at home working with kids on substance abuse issues." As is customary. the paper left off mentioning the issue of jail. Instead, the children were repeatedly mentioned: "[T]he group will try to persuade Ryan that signing the bill 'would send the wrong message to children' about drugs."17 Using similar (slippery-slope) reasoning, a politician in New Zealand likewise saw in industrial hemp farming trials a "stalking horse to a wider agenda" of cannabis legalization.18It goes on and on, the song is sung in state legislature after legislature, with endless variations on the theme. 'Allowing hemp,' say prohibitionists, (that is to say, not arresting farmers for growing hemp) is the same as 'legalizing marijuana.' Why, to merely study hemp, is the same as legalizing marijuana. "'Legalize hemp and you legalize marijuana,' said Sue Dugan, director of Omaha anti-drug group PRIDE. 'Don't fall for that business of Let's just study the use. It's been studied.'"19"Hemp-Legalization Bill Dies In House," a Santa Fe headline shouted, linking "hemp" to "legalization" (i.e. total access of the hated drug). The familiar refrain is sung: "A proposal to legalize the production of industrial hemp, a relative of the marijuana plant, failed in the House on Sunday amid criticism that it would be the first step in drug legalization."20"There is ample evidence that hemp has no marketable value in this country, and the push to legalize hemp is nothing more than the first step in growing of hemp that has far greater THC capacity," bellowed260Drug War Propagandaone politician. "This plant has virtually no economic value to this country and has potential danger that is enormous," he warned of the hated plant.21 If farmers are not arrested for growing hemp, total prohibitionists declare, then the enormous danger of total access to legalized drugs would sweep away hapless citizens. Because of the 'message' that 'legalized' hemp would send to children, say prohibitionists, farmers must be jailed for growing it. "[T]his bill to legalize the growing of marijuana hemp in Nebraska is sending an even louder message to our children. [The bill] is telling Nebraska's young people that marijuana is OK."22 Either hemp is totally prohibited in all forms, or children would get the wrong message, that marijuana is "OK."The perception of "young people" (as reported by prohibitionists) is the reason for total prohibition. "I talk to many young people about the dangers of drugs. Even teens who do not use marijuana tell me they think marijuana is now an acceptable drug. They use two main arguments to explain why all marijuana ought to be legal. One is that marijuana is 'medicine,' and the second is that 'marijuana hemp' is going to save our farmers," complained one writer. The hated drug culture must be eliminated. "Our kids are bombarded by the drug culture with many of the same arguments . . . Is it any wonder that adolescent marijuana use is increasing at an alarming rate in Nebraska? Nebraska can either follow the agenda of the drug culture or we can fight for drug-free children. We cannot have it both ways."23 When farmers talk of changing the law to stop arrest of hemp-growers, the prohibitionist propagandist knows it is time to talk of "marijuana" access by "children."Hemp, must be totally prohibited in all forms, or else, states prohibitionist rhetoric, we are following "the agenda of the drug culture," (i.e. total access for the "children"). A editorial in a Kentucky paper agreed wholeheartedly: not jailing farmers for growing the hemp plant is a sinister plot. "Hemp A Cover For Legalizing Pot," trumpeted the paper. The editorialist given space in the paper, "chairwoman of Drug Watch International's hemp committee," outlined the wicked conspiracy to foist total access to261Drug War Propagandahated drugs upon our tender young children.24 In Iowa, the same tactic is used by authority and newspaper alike."IOWA LEGISLATORS CONSIDER LEGALIZING HEMP," proclaimed another headline. "Legalize" was punched continually to nurture associations of the dread marijuana "legalization." This is to emphasize fears of total access: "State legislators are working to legalize industrial hemp as another cash crop in Iowa's agricultural economy, but opponents said the proposal is too risky due to ties with hemp's hallucinogenic cousin -- marijuana," dutifully explained the paper. "Legalize," was used again and again: "The Senate Agriculture Committee passed the bill on a voice vote Tuesday to legalize the plant, which can be used for building materials, twine, textiles and fiber, said Sen. Mark Zieman, R-Postville"25 While "legalize" was repeatedly stressed, the jailing of hemp farmers under current law was of course not mentioned. Neither were mentioned the US Government's hempgrowing programs of the 1940s.When attempting to persuade people that government need retain powers to jail citizens for growing forbidden plants, it is perhaps best for the propagandist to keep arguments simple and emotional. If hemp is "legalized", says the drug warrior, then total access to drugs by our children would surely be the ruinous result.
Drug War Propaganda
http://www.cafepress.com/drugpropaganda2

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Comment #7 posted by Sukoi on January 11, 2006 at 16:55:21 PT

oops
I'm still trying to get the color thing down but I'm sure that you still get the gist of the statements...
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Comment #6 posted by Sukoi on January 11, 2006 at 16:52:12 PT

OT: Bush on prohibition 1
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???

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Comment #5 posted by FoM on January 11, 2006 at 16:10:38 PT

runruff
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!
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Comment #4 posted by runruff on January 11, 2006 at 16:05:08 PT:

"Cool rebels".
Yea, I like that. I'm a cool rebel. How about you?
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 11, 2006 at 15:39:35 PT

MikeC
This could become very interesting. California is the trailblazer state. I wonder where we would be without those cool rebels out west.
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