General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHemp Legalization Added To Senate Farm Bill
By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, June 7, 2012 12:42 EDT
In a last minute addition to the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has submitted an amendment that would legalize the production of industrial hemp, a potential new bumper crop for U.S. farmers.
“Industrial hemp is used in many healthy and sustainable consumer products. However, the federal prohibition on growing industrial hemp has forced companies to needlessly import raw materials from other countries,” Wyden said in prepared text. “My amendment to the Farm Bill will change federal policy to allow U.S. farmers to produce hemp for these safe and legitimate products right here, helping both producers and suppliers to grow and improve Oregon’s economy in the process.”
Allowing American farmers to produce industrial hemp, which is different from its more notorious cousin marijuana, would yield significant and immediate profits the first year, according to an analysis conducted in 1998 (PDF) by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Kentucky.
Researchers found that farmers in the state of Kentucky alone could see between $220 to $605 in net profits per acre of hemp. Adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index, those 1998 dollars would actually be worth $310 and $854 today, although the study’s authors note that variables in supply and demand for hemp could change that valuation.
MORE...
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/06/07/hemp-legalization-added-to-senate-farm-bill/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Pab Sungenis
(9,612 posts)Some deep pocketed paper and textile magnates didn't like competition from hemp, and started the whole "killer reefer" business through their buddy Hearst.
stubtoe
(1,862 posts)Because, in the end, it's always about some rich guys wanting to get richer.
eggplant
(3,911 posts)Hemp would have also killed the petroleum-based textile market (think nylon, etc) at the time. Hearst, as a newpaper magnate, also had huge timber holdings, which would have been devastated in the marketplace by hemp.
It didn't hurt, of course, that the whole "killer reefer" thing also helped fuel anti-immigrant sentiments in the southwest, since users at that time were predominantly "brown" laborers.
So, hey, a two-fer!
Nowadays, the US is a net exporter of weed, so the anti-immigrant logic fails to hold up, so we've replaced that with pressure from:
- Big Pharma, who will have difficulty capitalizing on it when it can effectively be grown nearly anywhere.
- Big Tobacco, unless they can somehow make homegrown illegal while getting FDA-approved commercially produced packs of joints into the market.
- Big Alcohol, since this will hugely cut into their market.
- Police unions, since this DARE-type grants will be cut off. These are a significant source of funding, unfortunately.
- Prison guard unions / Private prison industry, since this will cut off their supply of inmates.
What pisses me off is that the "nutripathic/homeopathic" crowd of snake-oil salesman can operate without interference through all of this.
obamanut2012
(26,080 posts)And, they demonized cannibas by calling it marijuana, and associating it with Hispanics and Blacks.
polichick
(37,152 posts)...has its head up its ass!
msongs
(67,420 posts)
tridim
(45,358 posts)But I don't think they're that smart.
HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)That movie is a cult classic now as far as I'm concerned. I laugh my ass off every time I watch it. But the intention was simple propaganda by the cotton industry because hemp is a far superior fiber and they wanted the competition eliminated. Money talks.
felix_numinous
(5,198 posts)I hope this happens, it could benefit so many people with new jobs and business projects.
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Hemp is a good product that has many uses.
patrice
(47,992 posts)tridim
(45,358 posts)Which is why it probably wont pass.
CanSocDem
(3,286 posts)...because, as we know, medical marijuana advocates just want to get 'stoned' so hemp farmers just want to....what???....make money?
Not to mention, replenish the soil, produce their own fuel and free themselves from the grip of agri-business. Clearly they are communists.
.
Uncle Joe
(58,366 posts)Thanks for the thread, Purveyor. 
bupkus
(1,981 posts)An excellent book on the most useful plant on Earth.
http://thepotbook.com/potbook/home.html
Cannabinoids also have a pro-metabolic effect, meaning they may be helpful in stopping the progression of diabetes (partially through its anti-inflammatory action on the cells of the pancreas), as well as helping to normalize blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
Cannabis is a medicine that can slow the prevention of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries, the cause of many heart attacks and strokes) and can modify autoimmune diseases including arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and Multiple Sclerosis. (Cannabis doesn’t just relax the spasming muscles and bladders of MS patients; it actually seems to modify the course of illness and may slow neurodegeneration through its neuroprotective effect.) The United States has taken out a patent on the use of Cannabis as a neuro-protectant, though they continue to keep the plant in Schedule I, reserved for drugs with the highest potential for abuse and no medicinal use. Groups of physicians and nurses including the American Medical Association have requested a review of this scheduling.
There are other important uses of this plant. Cannabis seeds are a complete vegetarian protein and can be used as food for people, livestock, and birds. Hempseed oil not only provides the exact ratio of essential fatty acids our bodies need, but it can also be used as a fuel. Hempseed oil is a renewable fuel source, which could decrease our reliance on foreign oil. Hemp (the non-psychoactive stalk of the cannabis plant) can make many consumer goods including paper (decreasing deforestation that complicates our climate maintenance) rope, canvas, and clothing more absorbent than cotton. Importantly, with compostable cellulose, hemp can replace our current plastic bag and Styrofoam “plastic vortex”/landfill crisis.
progressoid
(49,991 posts)patrice
(47,992 posts)They turned me down, but that doesn't matter, as they WILL continue to hear from me about this and other important issues.
