cannabisnews.com: Nader At Odds With Drug Agency Plan Nader At Odds With Drug Agency Plan Posted by FoM on September 05, 2000 at 15:32:28 PT By Lance Gay, Scripps Howard News Service Source: InsideDenver Under pressure from the White House drug czar, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is planning to classify industrial-use hemp as the most serious narcotic drug, such as heroin and cocaine.Green Party presidential nominee Ralph Nader disclosed the plan Monday and blasted government efforts to crack down on farmers who want to grow industrial-use hemp for use in food, cosmetics, carpets and paper products. "Industrialized hemp is not a drug,'' Nader said, contending that the industrialized version of the marijuana plant has lower levels of psychoactive chemicals than plants grown for human consumption. "Smoking it will give you a headache, not a high.''Nader said both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp on their plantations.Jeffery Gain, a member of the North American Industrial Hemp Council and president of the Blue Ridge Co. in Illinois, said allowing farmers to grow industrial hemp would help preserve small farms, and provide local economies with more jobs to process hemp into a variety of products and foods. "The crop is good for the environment, and it's good for the economy," Gain said.Rogene Waite, a spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, acknowledged the agency is redrafting the regulations concerning hemp and marijuana, but said she cannot discuss what the result might be, or when they will be published."We are working on some clarification of that subject," she said.Congress sought to discourage growing marijuana and hemp under the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which imposed stiff taxes on production of the weed. But the United States allows $200 million worth of imports of hemp food and fiber products each year mainly from Canada and China, and U.S. farmers say they should be allowed to participate in the market for the product.White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey wants to outlaw any hemp use, contending it sends the wrong message about drug abuse in the United States to permit legal sales of any form of the marijuana plant. He also has argued that hemp-based foods could distort drug-testing programs. Hemp seeds are used in nut bars sold at health food stores.Nader said hemp crops would yield farmers from $308 to $410 an acre, compared to the $103 to $137 per acre gained from growing canola."The DEA's intrusion into the realm of agriculture is preventing American farmers from growing a crop that has the potential to help address the global depletion of forest resources, the dependency on foreign oil, the harmful effects of petrochemicals, the excessive use of pesticides for fiber crops, and the economic depression of farming communities,'' he said.State legislatures in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota and Montana have passed pro-hemp legislation. Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Tennessee are considering similar measures.Lance Gay is a reporter for Scripps Howard News Service.Published: September 05, 2000© Copyright, Denver Publishing Co.Related Articles & Web Sites:The Hemp Industries Associationhttp://www.thehia.orgVote Nader http://www.votenader.comThe Green Partyhttp://www.greenparty.org/Nader Protests Proposed Restrictions On Hemp Productshttp://mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1316/a12.htmlGreens' Choice for President: Nader http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6188.shtmlCannabisNews Hemp Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/hemp.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by Klaus-Martin Meyer on September 11, 2000 at 10:42:36 PT: the German Hemp Portal has opened! Visit the German Hemp Community! http://www.meome.de/hanf [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on September 07, 2000 at 09:27:54 PT McCaffrey's such a creep >>White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey wants to outlaw any hemp use, contending it sends the wrong message about drug abuse in the United States to permit legal sales of any form of the marijuana plant. Does this mean I'm going to have to be 18 to buy rubbing alcohol now? Harry Browne - Libertarian for a Drug War Free USA [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by zion on September 06, 2000 at 17:45:35 PT Should you vote for Nader or vote for Browne? Not to try to drive a wedge in this issue, but I've recently committed to the only party that consistently has championed the cause of personal freedom, especially with respect to the war on drugs - Libertarian. I suggest that people consider paying back at the voting polls for all the doggedly hard and consistent effort that the Libertarian party has put forth in the past decade. As someone mentioned in another thread, there over 20 (is it higher?) million regular cannabis users in the nation today. And if we just voted as a block for what's right, the war on cannabis users would crumble. Instead we often vote for the lesser of two evils, just getting more of the same old police state.Would voting Green party dilute the vote? I don't know, but I do know that I'm voting Libertarian from now on, 100% of the time. They are the only party that has been consistently made ending the war on drugs a top priority, and taken a lot quite a lot of heat for it. They deserve our vote. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by schmeff on September 06, 2000 at 12:11:38 PT: Environmentalists dis Nader!!?? One of the leading environmental groups in OR yesterday endorsed Al Gore, claiming that while they preferred Nader, he wasn't going to win, so a vote for him would only serve to elect Bush. So righteous was this group, that it vowed to tour neighboring states in an effort to discourage environmentalists from voting for Nader. It's often said that voting for a long shot candidate is like throwing away your vote. But honestly, the only way to throw away your vote is to vote for something you don't believe in. Voting to preserve the status-quo because you believe that truth and justice can't prevail only make us more complicit in our own degradation. The inequalities of the system have created such disgust and apathy that more and more people choose not to participate. It is said that every person who bothers to vote equals ten or more who don't; thus our individual voices are louder. A vote for Nader or Brown = 10 Republican/Democrat sheep. A TV ad running locally depicts Gore as a champion of doctor/patient rights over HMO's. "We need to put medical decisions back into the hands of doctors and patients," he intones, "and take it out of the hands of big corporations like the HMO's." This from the #2 man in the administration that lobbies the Supreme Court to make an emergency ruling asserting the Federal Government's right to make medical decisions for CA doctors and patients! If votes for Nader lose the campaign for Gore, so be it. Next time around, more attention will be paid our concerns. Vote your conscience. That ringing you hear may not be the victory bell, but if we're fortunate, it might just be a wake-up call. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by fivepounder on September 05, 2000 at 19:07:49 PT Those Pigs Its about control of the people. Its worst than insane. Its fascist thinking, plain and simple. The truth is irrevelant. They,. McCaffery will do anything to maintain control whixh is the staaus quo. This is stupid, but its also calculated to end all the local industrial hemp movements. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Thomas on September 05, 2000 at 17:00:11 PT I Can Barely Stomach This! The only message the children are getting is that the government is run by a bunch of idiots. But seriously, if the two reasons McCaffrey used above to justify his actions were genuine, he would be all over the poppy seed industry. This isn't the case, however, because poppy seeds don't threaten a multitude of established (and huge) industries such as pharmeuticals, petroleum, timber, chemicals, etc. This is all about protecting old money. McCaffrey and Clinton are thier stooges. As of late, thier rabid and ever more overt actions such as the one discussed above have completely disgusted me. Please won't the general population wake up to these happenings? Hopefully Nader can shed a little more light on these evil people's doings. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by howard on September 05, 2000 at 16:55:54 PT: Ralph is the man! Ralph will bring down the Empire. And that must happen in order for this dear, wonderful plant to be be free! VOTE NADER! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by MikeEEEEE on September 05, 2000 at 16:30:49 PT Insane I used to think these guys were just prejudice, now I'm starting to believe they're insane. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: