California moving toward legalizing hemp as an industrial crop.

[freethought]

Okay, you have a plant that grows fast, needs virtually zero pesticides, can grow in a variety of areas and conditions, has been cultivated for thousands of years and whose derived products have a multitude of industrial applications with more on the way.

This plant and its byproducts can:
-make paper that is longer lasting and requires a fraction of the chemicals required to make paper from
wood pulp
-Make fiber for fabrics without having to use pesticides, unlike cotton.
-make oil from its seeds that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and possibly a source of biodiesel
-make a feedstock for livestock such as cattle without having to use heavy nitrogen requiring crops such
as corn.
-be a significant source of cellulosic ethanol biofuel
-can be a sustainable substitute for a number of other products.
-who knows what else

And what does the U.S. do with regards to this "wonderplant". It totally bans it from cultivation because it is "related" to marijuana. Who knows? Maybe someone wearing a hemp shirt or jeans could
roll up a swatch into a doobie and "get down". Talk about unadulterated B.S.!

Looks as if there could be some change on the horizon. A new initiative in CA. Personally I think they should tell DEA to drop dead.
Aritcle is in the NY Times. Here's the link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/us/28hemp.html?ei=5094&en=976d0c04f878b0cc&hp=&ex=1156737600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

STRATFORD, Calif. — Charles Meyer’s politics are as steady and unswerving as the rows of pima cotton on his Central Valley farm. With his work-shirt blue eyes and flinty Clint Eastwood demeanor, he is staunchly in favor of the war in Iraq, against gun control and believes people unwilling to recite the Pledge of Allegiance should be kicked out of America, and fast.

But what gets him excited is the crop he sees as a potential windfall for California farmers: industrial hemp, or Cannabis sativa. The rapidly growing plant with a seemingly infinite variety of uses is against federal law to grow because of its association with its evil twin, marijuana.

“Industrial hemp is a wholesome product,” said Mr. Meyer, 65, who says he has never worn tie-dye and professes a deep disdain for “dope.”
<snip>
Seven states have passed bills supporting the farming of industrial hemp; their strategy has been to try to get permission from the Drug Enforcement Administration to proceed.

But California is the first state that would directly challenge the federal ban, arguing that it does not need a D.E.A. permit, echoing the state’s longstanding fight with the federal authorities over its legalization of medicinal marijuana. The hemp bill would require farmers who grow it to undergo crop testing to ensure their variety of cannabis is nonhallucinogenic; its authors say it has been carefully worded to avoid conflicting with the federal Controlled Substances Act.
<snip>

God, I hope this works. Definitely a step in the right direction.

[Wilms]

1. Really bad idea.

Everyone knows hemp is a gateway crop that leads to use of harder crops.

[phantom power]

5. LOL!

:rofl:

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Oh man, that was a wicked good knee slapper!

[Bobbieo]

2. Alex White Plume an Ogala Sioux should move to CA

He has been ordered to get a permit from the DEA to grow his industrial hemp. His South Dakota crop has been raided three year a row by the DEA.

[Bobbieo]

3. Most of Plume's crop went for building houses -

like straw houses - on the Rosebud Reservation.

[madrchsod]

4. industrial hemp is the most god awful tasting stuff in the world

there is a factory building near here that produced hemp rope for ww2. the plants grew wild untill the 60`s but the hippies started cutting the stuff and selling it or smoking it far worse they would cut decent grass with this crap. of course the cops went nutso and spent thousands of dollars kiling the wonderful "ditch weed".....they should have left it alone cause anyone who smoked it regreted ever firing up the joint...ya it happened to me.

[phantom power]

6. It's supposed to make good clothing, right?

[freethought]

10. Yes! It is often mixed in

with other fibers such as cotton. This gives the garment a slightly different feel. I have tried on
all-hemp shirts. I personally thought they felt stiff, but in hindsight I was probably jumping to judgment. Just about any shirt or pair of jeans needs to be washed a few times and broken in before it feels right. Hemp fabric becomes light and airy, great for hot weather. It breathes naturally.
I have a pair of hemp sneakers, the only problem with them is not the hemp uppers but the arch support
of the sole.

[ThomCat]

7. It's about time.

Hemp is far too useful a plant to be outlawed because of the damned-stupid war on drugs.

[Az_lefty]

8. We need to get the puritans out of power...

and start using some common sense. All this taboo bullshit is just holding up progress.

[tomreedtoon]

9. I'm thinking "National Lampoon's Radio Dinner."

That was the album that had Richard Nixon threatened by a Democratic candidate, a Chevrolet. (Laugh if you want, but it would have more spine than our current Democrats.) So Nixon suddenly changed his policies to stay in power, and copy the Democrat's policies...and appearance.

As I recall, the album's Nixon said, "Those of you who have seen my ending the war in Vietnam and my legalization of marijuana...may wonder why I'm wearing these odd-looking foglamps on my head. Let me explain..."

Could it be that Der Gropenfuhrer, facing his many failed policies, has decided to legalize hemp to keep some kind of public appeal? Let's see if he straps some Hummer headlights to his shoulders next.