John Sinclair: Das Hemp-Kapital

[marmar]

from the Detroit Metro Times:



Das Hemp-Kapital
A look at the seminal figures behind Amsterdam's thriving marijuana businesses

By John Sinclair
Published: February 16, 2011


I'd like to start by thanking my Higher Ground co-host, friend and colleague Larry Gabriel for his fine column on hemp farming last week. As it happens, I'm staying this week at a splendid guest apartment above the Hash Marihuana and Hemp Museum in Amsterdam's Green Row on the Achterburgwal Canal as the guest of Sensi Seeds and its progenitor, Ben Dronkers, who's also responsible for establishing the booming hemp industry in the Netherlands.

Ben's a very sweet cat and what they used to call a "mild and unassuming" character — someone who probably wouldn't want to hear me sing his praises too loudly — but he was a leader in the Rotterdam branch of the original movement that succeeded in eliminating criminalization as a public approach to marijuana use in Holland in the early 1970s.

Ben Dronkers established the Sensi Coffeeshop in Rotterdam as one of the first public cannabis outlets, then starting in 1985 built Sensi Seeds as a major developer and distributor of top-grade marijuana seeds for the burgeoning growing industry in Holland. He opened Sensi Seed Bank in Amsterdam and founded the Hash Marihuana and Hemp Museum next door as a means of educating the public about the wonders of hemp and its products, both smokable and industrial.

In 1993, Ben began his intensive venture into hemp production and product development with a company called HempFlex. He developed and manufactured specialized hemp harvesting machinery and started growing hemp in a big way — now covering about 6,000 acres — to supply hemp fiber to major manufacturers such as BMW, market hemp products like HempFlax animal bedding, and harness oils and other agricultural products. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://metrotimes.com/mmj/das-hemp-kapital-1.1105422

[ensho]

1. kick - wish our country would be that civilized

nt

[marmar]

2. Kick for A'dam........and sane marijuana laws.