America remains the only country in the world that still prohibits hemp production.

[mcg]

'Today, in the modern world, 32 countries allow their farmers to grow, process and sell hemp just like corn, wheat or soybeans. But after more than 70 years of constant government propaganda, America remains the only country in the world that still prohibits hemp production. How can America, the country founded on the ideal of personal freedoms, the "land of the free" and "home of the brave" find itself banning a natural plant in the name of a "drug war"?'

http://www.woodyharrelson.net/article.php?section=4

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Because there are too many other industries "threatened" by it. This the same

attitude that keeps us churning out cars with bad gas milage and not making solar shingles and wind turbines available at a pittance.

[madrchsod]

2. what is really funny is that

commercial hemp will not get anyone high...where i live the farmers grew hemp during ww2 and for years the stuff grew wild.it was affectionately known as "ditch weed" and it was the harshest thing ever to reach one`s lungs. the local drug busters spent tens of thousands of dollars and tons of herbicides to kill it...

[mcg]

3. very ironic, hemp is 'anti-marijuana'

In this thread ms liberty points out that 'hemp will cross-pollinate with any pot in IIRC about a 3 mile area, and render that pot valueless.'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2617689#2617791

Cerridwen in this thread writes 'The THC levels in Industrial Hemp are so low that no one could get high from smoking it. Moreover, hemp contains a relatively high percentage of another cannabinoid, CBD, that actually blocks the marijuana high. Hemp, it turns out, is not only not marijuana; it could be called "anti-marijuana".'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2960917#2962694

[htuttle]

9. Precisely

That's why it's so hard to grow good outdoor dope in the midwest, where they don't have that problem out on the Pacific coast. The midwest used to have thousands of acres of industrial hemp, and it still sprouts up along roadsides, railroad tracks and between the rows of corn. All those randy male industrial hemp plants fertilize everyone's fancy female sensemilla around here...

At least...that's what I've heard...
:yoiks:

[Odin2005]

4. Drug-busters killing wild hemp pretty much shows that the anti-MJ BS is ACTAULLY about.

It's about HEMP, not MJ.

[Ready4Change]

13. My thoughts/experience exactly

My grandfather grew it during war time. Then, afterwards, he replanted the fields with other crops, and the hemp kept on growing around the edges. It was like a weed, he couldn't get rid of it.

Every couple of years, a new batch of kids would notice all his "pot" sneek out and try to smoke it. He'd find them, green to the gills sick and wishing they'd never been born. Not only did it make them sick, it left them with a full grasp on reality to experence every moment of their misery.

He'd laugh and laugh at those dumb kids.

[mcg]

14. "Hemp For Victory" WWII film from the USDA

Hemp for Victory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_For_Victory

"Hemp for Victory" free download
http://www.archive.org/details/Hemp_for_victory_1942_FIXED

[bob4460]

5. The founding fathers would have found it

absurd to prohibit hemp it was part of everyday life.The Constitution itself is written on hemp paper. Todays paper will not hold up over hundreds of years like hemp paper will.

[bob4460]

6. Also hemp made paint ,dyes and oils of various types

and also it had alot of uses the we use plastic for today, Hemp/pot is a very useful plant and humanity would not be where it is today without those special plants

[IsItJustMe]

8. It's a great substitute for wood products. It can be ground up and pressed to make ply-wood for

houses. With the shortage of trees, it seems like a real good idea to use it. It's also great for heating and clothing. It is one of the most versatile plants in existance. Some countries grow it as a cash crop for industrial uses like we do cotton. But, at last, this isn't the only stupid thing we do in this country. I guess you have to pick your battles.

Reminds me of the old sang, cut off your face to spite your nose.

[Porcupine]

10. It can be used to make a lightweight, insulating concrete also.

.

[mcg]

12. early settlers were *legally required* to grow hemp

From HempLobby booklet
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22required+to%22+hemp&btnG=Google+Search

"Hemp made a similar journey from Europe to the New World when the early settlers
were legally required to grow hemp as an essential part of the ecomony and settlement
effort. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew Hemp and exchanged
growing tips and seed stock. Ben Franklin ran Hemp paper through his printing press
and the working drafts of the Constitution were written on Hemp (the final is on hide).
And even Betsy Ross sewed up the first Stars and Stripes flag with Hemp cloth."

Our founding fathers would have found it un-American to be opposed to hemp.

From Cannabis Culture Forums
http://www.cannabisculture.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1090706&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

Long-haired hippy freak Thomas Jefferson:


"George Washington may well have cultivated some cannabis for medicinal and occasional recreational purposes.
Both he and Thomas Jefferson (who quite disliked tobacco) are known to have exchanged gifts of smoking mixtures.
In the 1790's, Washington also began to cultivate "India Hemp", the resinous variety developed in India."
-- Robert A. Nelson, A History of Hemp, Chapter 2 "Hemp in America"
Available free online at: http://www.rexresearch.com/hhist/hhist2~1.htm

"The culture is pernicious. This plant greatly exhausts the soil. Of course, it requires much manure, therefore other productions are deprived of manure, yielding no nourishment for cattle, there is no return for the manure expended... It is impolitic... The fact well established in the system of agriculture is that the best hemp and the best tobacco grow on the same kind of soil. The former article is of the first necessity to the commerce and marine, in other words to the wealth and protection of the country. The latter, never useful and sometimes pernicious, derives its estimation from caprice, and its best value from the taxes to which it was formerly exposed..."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Farm Journal (16 March 1791)



"Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth & protection of the country." -Thomas Jefferson

From The Emperor Wears No Clothes
http://www.jackherer.com/chapter01.html

'American Historical Notes

In 1619, America's first marijuana law was enacted at Jamestown Colony, Virginia, "ordering" all farmers to "make tryal of" (grow) Indian hempseed. More mandatory (must-grow) hemp cultivation laws were enacted in Massachusetts in 1631, in Connecticut in 1632 and in the Chesapeake Colonies into the mid-1700s.

Even in England, the much-sought-after prize of full British citizenship was bestowed by a decree of the crown on foreigners who would grow cannabis, and fines were often levied against those who refused.

Cannabis hemp was legal tender (money) in most of the Americas from 1631 until the early 1800s. Why? To encourage American farmers to grow more.1

You could pay your taxes with cannabis hemp throughout America for over 200 years. ...'

Also,those who think having a vegetarian diet is un-American should
consider this from THE HEALTHFUL HABITS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/winter2006/health.html

While not a vegetarian, as we understand the term today, Jefferson was unusually moderate in his consumption of meat and was notable for the amount and variety of vegetables that he ate. His granddaughter wrote: "He lived principally on vegetables....The little meat he took seemed mostly as a seasoning for his vegetables." Jefferson's fondness for vegetables can be traced in his garden books that contain thousands of entries detailing the many varieties that he grew for his own consumption. Two of his favorites were peas and cucumbers.

[dougkeenan]

7. "... the only country ..."

What about Australia?

Any hemp fields down under yet?

[mcg]

11. Yes, hemp is now grown in Australia.

http://www.taima.org/en/fibre.htm

"...
Hemp is coming back
Today hemp is staging a comeback, used by fashion designers and mass producers alike. In addition to established producers such as China, Romania, Hungary and France hemp crops are now also grown in Australia, Canada, Britain and Germany where for decades there had been none. It is legally cultivated in at least 30 countries around the world, including every G-7 country. Even in the USA an experimental crop is being grown in Hawaii under a government license. ..."

[skids]

15. The truly sad thing about this is we export our laws...

...to those developing countries not counted in this stat, by insisting on hemp eradication in areas where drug war programs are being foisted off on impoverished governments. While Canada and Spain and other wealthy countries start to take advantage of this long-lost friend to mankind, we make sure that the native poor cannot take advantage of it, or of medical marijuana for that matter.

I am so glad that the demand for US anti-hemp laws has declined to the point where other countries just aren't buying it anymore. I wonder how long our government can justify the prohibition with a successful industry booming just across our northern border -- I hope Democrats might gather some gonads and fix our laws to match those of more sensible administrations worldwide.