cannabisnews.com: BMW Owners Show Hemp’s No Longer Just for Hippies
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BMW Owners Show Hemp’s No Longer Just for Hippies
Posted by CN Staff on July 31, 2009 at 05:27:35 PT
By Ann Woolner
Source: Bloomberg.com
USA -- OK, so you haven’t used Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap since your last camping trip years ago. And you never noticed those boxes of hemp granola at Whole Foods. But if you drive a BMW or a Mercedes Benz, or wear Armani jeans or Patagonia shirts, you could be consuming hemp.Its fiber turns up in car door panels, insulation and clothing. Its seeds make tasty granola and frozen desserts, its oil expensive cosmetics and ecologically friendly soap.
If you use these products, you won’t be jailed for possession. But would-be hemp farmers’ fear of arrest is what keeps the U.S. importing the stuff instead of growing its own.The problem is that federal drug law makes no distinction between hemp, which can’t get you high, and its twin, marijuana, which does. A 1970 statute outlaws substances containing “any quantity” of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the chemical that delivers the high.Hemp contains an infinitesimal level of THC, far too little to alter anyone’s mind but enough to qualify it as a controlled substance under a strict reading of the law. That’s why industrial hemp has been lumped into the same, “high potential for abuse” category as heroine and methamphetamines.At least, that was the position of the previous administration, which tried to kick hemp foods off grocers’ shelves only to be laughed out of court. With that, stores were again free to stock hemp protein powder, hemp milk, hemp ice cream, hemp granola, hemp seeds, hemp oil. You get the idea.Hemp consumers are mostly Americans. Yet while 30 countries around the world cultivate it, the U.S. doesn’t. Seeking New Policy Now, farmers and a growing number of state lawmakers are hoping the new administration will allow this healthy, useful, planet-friendly crop to grow on American soil, as it used to.“The market is there,” says Christina Volgyesi, co- founder of Living Harvest, a hemp foods company based in Portland, Oregon. She saw its sales jump last year as revenue at other companies lagged. Volgyesi forecasts 65 percent growth this year.OK. Living Harvest’s annual sales are still relatively small, at $8 million. But with national food chains like Whole Foods and even the more conventional Kroger stocking hemp foods, Volgyesi sees only greater demand ahead.She wishes she could use U.S.-grown raw material instead of importing it all from Canada. So does the Oregon legislature.Last month Oregon became one of three states to pass laws to license hemp farmers, and the governor has signaled he will sign the bill. By regulating hemp farming, the state aims to ensure hemp cultivation doesn’t become a cover for growing pot. Licensing Farmers North Dakota already has such a law and has licensed two farmers to grow hemp, including a Republican state legislator. The farmers have gone to court to try to stave off federal arrest should they plant the crop.Compare that to California, which allows marijuana to be grown and dispensed for medical purposes but whose communities have inconsistent regulations for growers.“Many large-scale marijuana cultivators and traffickers escape state prosecution because of bogus medical marijuana claims,” according to the Justice Department.The Drug Enforcement Administration fears the same thing could happen with industrial hemp.You can’t tell that plant from marijuana just by looking, says DEA spokesman Garrison Courtney. Inviting Inspection But surely no farmer would be stupid enough to seek a state license for hemp cultivation, thus announcing himself to authorities and inviting inspection, and then grow pot instead.And no one who expects a high out of marijuana would try to hide a pot plant within a hemp crop. Cross-pollination would rob the pot of its potency.Thirteen states now permit the use of marijuana for medical reasons. Asked last year about DEA raids on those who grow it and dispense it, candidate Obama called it a poor use of federal resources to go after people who follow state law even if they violate federal law.Then-new Attorney General Eric Holder was asked about that by reporters in February.“What the president said during the campaign,” Holder said, “will be consistent with what we will be doing in law enforcement.”Hemp advocates take heart in that and have reached out to the Justice Department to change its policy toward hemp cultivation. Campaign Promises But we now know that not everything Obama said during the campaign has become Justice Department policy. The treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay comes to mind.Besides, Obama cautioned during that interview that he isn’t sure he would be willing to spend political capital on medical marijuana issues when there are so many more pressing and far-reaching matters.And the DEA says that Obama’s statements weren’t inconsistent with DEA policy, anyway. Courtney says the only medical marijuana operations the agency busted were so large that they violated state and federal law.Either way, it makes no sense to let marijuana be grown, even for legitimate medical use, while hemp, a healthy food for all which is incapable of being abused, can’t be cultivated in the U.S.Even the lobby for legalizing marijuana has more momentum in Congress than the hemp folks.“How ironic is that?” asks Adam Eidinger, spokesman for the advocacy group, Vote Hemp.Allowing domestic hemp cultivation isn’t the most pressing issue around. Letting it happen probably wouldn’t dramatically alter the balance of trade.It’s just that it makes complete sense.Ann Woolner is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.Source: Bloomberg.com (USA)Author: Ann WoolnerPublished: July 31, 2009Copyright: 2009 Bloomberg L.P.Contact: awoolner bloomberg.netWebsite: http://www.bloomberg.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/DDjTpjoTCannabisNews Hemp Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/hemp.shtml
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Comment #18 posted by Hope on August 02, 2009 at 00:07:48 PT
"faith shouldn't be involved in politics"
Obviously not.History tells the tale ... over and over again.It's creepy because it leads to tyranny, for your own good.It is cunning, and clever, and tricky.Religion and politics and government have rarely, if ever, mixed well. The mixture seems to have some sort of chemical reaction and turns into something else. Something else, creepy and not good. Freedom. "Free, indeed.""Why should I be governed by another man's conscience?"And of course, the teachings of Christ while he walked the earth as a man... "made a little lower than in the angels"... "He took upon himself a robe of flesh".As far as I know... and I know fairly far...there is only one rule, one commandment for the follower of the Jeshua...Christ Jesus... The Counselor...The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit of God... that "I Am". The New Covenant with that "I Am". One rule. One Divine rule. One commandment for the believers in the Lamb of God, the risen Christ."Love one another".
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #17 posted by FoM on August 01, 2009 at 16:39:27 PT
Hope
I believe that we are to render to Caesar the things that are Caesars etc. Some people think that means taxes and maybe it does but I think that we are to do what we should for our country and our faith shouldn't be involved in politics.
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Comment #16 posted by Hope on August 01, 2009 at 11:33:28 PT
Comment 12
".... dwell on the angry parts" Indeed.And the punishing and accusing parts. And, it often seems, they're always angry about something or someone, or nearly always, and they are, seemingly, often, easily offended. *sigh*
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on August 01, 2009 at 11:25:22 PT
Hemp Farming
Maybe some knowledgeable people can send some emails to Farm Aid or connected web sites.
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on August 01, 2009 at 11:22:52 PT
Must make a correction or clarification
of something I said in comment 11.I said, "So maybe women, as such, are getting the brunt of some of the unleashed hatred, simply because they are women, and even worse, women who were suspected of being part of a peaceful, forgiving... different religious or spiritual outlook."I should have said, "So maybe women, as such, are getting the brunt of some of the unleashed hatred, simply because they are women, and even worse, women who were suspected of being part of what is supposed to be a peaceful, forgiving... different religious or spiritual outlook.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #13 posted by FoM on August 01, 2009 at 06:55:00 PT
Ekim
Maybe people who are into hemp could set up a stand at Farm Aid this year in Missouri. I hope they try. It would be good.
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on August 01, 2009 at 06:52:51 PT
Hope
One of the main reasons I dislike any hard core fundamentalist of any religion is they find the areas of the bible or kuran or whatever and dwell on the angry parts of the book. Muslims are good people. Jews are good people. Christians are good people. When the fundamentalists joined the Republican Party I knew we were in for big trouble. That is when I quit going to church years ago.
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on August 01, 2009 at 06:29:45 PT
Good morning, Ekim.
Here's hoping we have a good day today.Running off topic, but I was reading a very disturbing news item this morning.This seemed like Deja Vu. It was like reading about the infamous Crystal Night, the day after it happened. Instead of Crystal Night... likely this one will be remembered as Fire Night.Only it's Christians being hated and persecuted this round instead of Jews. Of course, as I understand it, some fundamentalist Muslims are disinclined to love their brother, who is Jewish, so perhaps they rejoiced at the Holocaust carried out by Hitler's Germanany. Of the Christians accused and killed in Pakistan's Fire Night, happening now, five were women, one a child, and one a male. So maybe women, as such, are getting the brunt of some of the unleashed hatred, simply because they are women, and even worse, women who were suspected of being part of a peaceful, forgiving... different religious or spiritual outlook.Hideous.http://bit.ly/2XnCwcRiots between Pakistani Christians, Muslims kill 6
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Comment #10 posted by ekim on August 01, 2009 at 06:03:30 PT
Farmaid please go back to your roots
have Cannabis presented as a cash crop.Gather all the Cannabis importers and sellers and allow them
to show the products, and ask how much the farmer will be
helped by growing Cannabis.Have nutrition experts speak to the value of its oil.jobs jobs jobs come on Willie pen a song about it.http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/A question for the next drug dealer bust press conference
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on July 31, 2009 at 10:03:41 PT
HempWorld
It makes me very upset when people are being pushed so hard that they have to sell to big business. Land is precious and loved by those who are drawn to work with the earth. I say no to factory farms too.
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Comment #8 posted by HempWorld on July 31, 2009 at 10:00:20 PT
tintala
There are millions like you and big business is waiting to buy all your land on the cheap. Yet another reason hemp is illegal!
Legalize Industrial Hemp!
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on July 31, 2009 at 09:54:38 PT
tintala
If you need advice on farming your land have you thought of checking out Farm Aid? I know they do many different projects. Until Hemp is legal to grow it might give you some advice and maybe even help.http://www.farmaid.org/
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Comment #6 posted by tintala on July 31, 2009 at 09:41:54 PT:
300 acres and nothing to farm
I have 300 acres in Kansas, and now it's organic soil since nothing has been farmed for almost 15 yrs. The only viable crop that i see to farm is HEMP. THis would eliminate the " BANKRUPTCY" position we are in now trying to pay the property taxes.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on July 31, 2009 at 06:45:57 PT
Interesting Link on Hemp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #4 posted by FoM on July 31, 2009 at 06:18:20 PT
Hemp
I would be very happy if Hemp could be grown in rural Ohio. We have beautiful farm land with moderate temperatures. It would do wonders (create jobs) for this part of the country. People that worry about cross pollinating between hemp and medical marijuana can use a greenhouse if my state ever allows medical marijuana.http://www.greenhouses.com/
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Comment #3 posted by runruff on July 31, 2009 at 06:12:30 PT
Government created problems..............
..........are rarely simple!Hi Hope, high hopes!
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on July 31, 2009 at 06:03:43 PT
"It’s just that it makes complete sense."
Well... there ya go.The government doesn't like simple answers to simple problems.
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Comment #1 posted by runruff on July 31, 2009 at 05:35:31 PT
Not a Bush quote!
"A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which
our government was founded."
Abraham Lincoln
Source:http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Abraham.Lincoln.Quote.410A
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