Posted on 09/08/2001 11:10:58 AM PDT by forest
It's the largest cash-crop in my State. Besides what is cultivated, the stuff grows wild like weeds everywhere. In fact, a couple years ago, a nice sized, fully developed patch of the best domestic version was spotted growing in the median of the Interstate highway. No one noticed until fall, when the pretty blue flowers developed.
Yeah, marijuana.
If I were a "toker," I would be in heaven around here. It seems to grow wild in all sorts of strange places -- especially in those not very accessible wooded places down by the river. Alas, I'm rather allergic to the stuff.
If I smell marijuana burning, it aggravates my nose and I start sneezing if I don't quickly get away from the smoke. But, it's out in nature where it really gets to me. When it's damp out, like on a misty morning, I seem to be able to smell that stuff a quarter-mile away. Then, I really start with the sneezing and coughing. I have no idea why that is and I have no intention of experimenting to find out. That's just how it is.
Which means, of course, there are a whole lot of people around here who should be very happy I am not a cop.
Did I mention that marijuana is this State's largest cash crop? Mostly because the federal government interfered in just about everything people can do to make a living in this State, it is. There is good money in growing those "weeds" and government's environmental regulation nerds put the kibosh on just about everything that was legal. People still have to make enough money to keep up a home and eat, so that's the way it goes.
So, even if I do break into a conniption fit of sneezing once in a while, I will never interfere with those who may be "growing" a little commercial product here and there. My practice is to walk the other way before I actually see the stuff -- and begin sneezing.
But, this also puts me in a unique position to talk about both hemp and regular marijuana. I have repeatedly proposed that our State Legislators allow industrial hemp to be grown in this State. That would go far in decreasing cultivation of the smoking kind and would be a great source of inexpensive, high quality paper for some of the major printers we have here. Sure, I would probably still sneeze near the industrial hemp pants -- although that has yet to be determined for certain.
The "excuse" Commonwealth Legislators give for not approving the cultivation of industrial hemp in this State as a cash crop is that police say they cannot tell the difference between the industrial and the smoking kind. That is silliness personified, of course.
Any police officer seeing forty acres of hemp growing in nice rows on a farm should have enough common sense to know that it ain't likely "Farmer Joe" is planting the smoking stuff out in plain sight. If a farmer wanted to grow the smoking kind, ten to one he would grow the stuff back where he did before industrial hemp became legal to grow. In which case, the police would not see it.
Besides, the plants look somewhat different. Which means, police could be trained to know industrial hemp on sight. Sure, that might mean that the officer needs to get out of the car and go look once in a growing season, but that is no big deal. Few farmers would be fooling around with marijuana, anyway. There are good bucks to be made in industrial hemp, this is an optimum area of the country to grow it and it is a relatively easy crop to deal with.
Besides, industrial hemp would stimulate some very interesting industry in this State. Without giving out any proprietary information, we know of at least two major corporations that would move most of their facilities here -- with many, many well paying jobs -- if this were an industrial hemp producing State. Furthermore, more large printers would also be attracted because of the inexpensive, high quality paper.(1)
Of course, as much as I personally repel from the stuff, I also believe that ordinary marijuana should be legalized.(2) It is probably better for humans than hard liquor. Other then the present legal prohibitions, it certainly causes less personal interaction problems in society. And, if taxed and regulated like alcohol, its distribution could be limited to adults.
2. http://www.norml.org/news/archives/01-08-30.shtml
SO PATHETIC!
No wonder the corporate-gov't complex hates it.
Marijuana is not addictive.
Why should it be illegal? Did the cool kids snub you in high school?
Also, marijauna is non-physicaly addictive. Yes, some become psychologicaly addicted to it, but people get addicted to chocolate as well.
Sorry if you were being sarcastic, shame on you if you weren't.
Cotton was much more expensive to process into useable textile exports then hemp so to stay sovent and not ruin the state economies that were heavy cotton producers hemp products were being verbally labelled inferior. The next phase of the cotton industry was to loudly associate hemp with its sister plant.
Cotton won, hemp was erased as a useable product.
Yeah, the North American Industrial Hemp Council (NAIHC) identifies all sorts of useful hemp products. They also have a great quote on that web page from the 1938 issue of Popular Mechanics: "Over 25,000 products can be manufactured from hemp, from cellophane to dynamite."
That was 1938. I can't help but wonder what that number would be today. Better yet, all products are much stronger than when made with "modern" materials. You cannot hardly even tare hemp paper.
And I thought the Illegal Drug Freedom Fighter Thugs were trying to find some so-called "medical" reason for their habit. So much for that argument - they sure know how to shoot themselves in the foot, so to speak - eh?
Your gonna hafta convince all of the antismoking extremists to drop all past, present, and future charges. You don't have a prayer.
Maybe it's your timing that sucks...
Please explain why some people's addictions should be illegal, while not others.
Industrial hemp is labor intensive and even where its legal to grow and labor is cheap it has to be subsidized by the government.
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