Posted on 08/12/2018 3:49:37 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Lawmakers are poised to fully legalize hemp after a decades-long campaign, setting the stage for the resurgence of a once-common crop that disappeared during the war on drugs.
The legalization provision, championed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and included in the Senate’s farm bill, would officially classify hemp as an agricultural commodity and remove it from the federal controlled substances list. Lawmakers are also expected to advance the measure when they meet next month to draft the final, bicameral version of the legislation.
Hemp landed on the list because it is, like marijuana, a form of the cannabis plant. But growers and farm-state politicians argue the two have been unfairly lumped together, depriving farmers of what could one day become a major commodity crop.
In Kentucky, in particular, hemp has been touted as a panacea for cratering tobacco sales and falling crop prices. Growers there have pinned their hopes for future profits on it. But as legalization looks ever more inevitable, the question now is whether industrial hemp can deliver on decades of hype and promises.
Advocates say the industry is poised for an explosion, particularly as new supply chains develop and researchers discover additional uses for cannabidiol oil, which can be derived from hemp. There are also concerns, however, that the industry may grow too quickly, forcing the price of hemp down to unsustainable levels before there’s adequate demand for it.
“There’s no question that industrial hemp is economically viable,” said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., an architect of the legalization plan. “I get a call from a farmer every other day. More and more farmers want to grow it.”
The saga of American hemp is essentially one of mistaken identity, farmers say....
(Excerpt) Read more at durangoherald.com ...
Will Rip-Van-Winkle, Keebler Elf, Magoo, Elmer Fudd, etc. Sessions resign in disgust?
We can hope.
Rope-a Dope?
Hemp far superior to cotton
Lifting the ban is long overdue. The plant has miniscule THC ingredients in it. You'd have a smoke a telephone pole in order to even get a buzz.
Never leave on a transatlantic voyage without 497 1/2 feet of rope...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XFYMjkFYPg
Smokin’ rope.
I thought hemp was legal.
Acosta of CNN is probably afraid it is related to this:
Why hasn’t anybody been able to commercialize Kudzu?
Apparently, but not enough:
“...Henry Ford built a car out of hemp....”
In the Cheech and Chong movie “Up in Smoke”, they had a van made of “Fibergrass”.
Acosta should be afraid that hemp rope may be affordable to everyone in the near future.
For your interest.
“Hemp far superior to cotton”
Hemp has been touted as a miracle substance, but it’s waaayyy overhyped, particularly by potheads too stoned to know it won’t get you high. The Ford car made from hemp is a case in point:
http://theangryhistorian.blogspot.com/2010/10/hemp-car-myth-busted.html
Another example was hemp rope. It was stronger than cotton, but it was also prone to rot, and required frequent tarring, which other types of rope did not. Hemp has a lot of uses, but like everything else it’s got both benefits and drawbacks.
Actually, Sessions has been pretty consistent in arguing that the answer to laws we don't like is to change them rather than choose not to enforce them.
Hemp has one great industrial use: hemp fiber composites. Almost as strong as carbon fiber composites, but with far lower production cost and lower environmental impact when produced. It may make it possible to dramatically lighten the body weight of an automobile, and that means we rely less of over-sized battery packs for long range per charge.
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