Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Over the past few weeks I have published two articles addressing the medical benefits of marijuana and asking whether or not it's time to legalize and tax the drug. Those articles have elicited many comments and while I'm still mulling over my position respecting the legalization of marijuana, I do intend to publish my position on this issue sometime next week. While part of me feels that it's time to update the law and take advantage of a new source of tax revenue; the other part of me questions the wisdom of putting a public seal of approval on a drug that may adversely affect its user along with his/her family and community.
During my research on marijuana, I came across several interesting reports regarding the ban on a distant relative of marijuana that should definitely be lifted. I'm talking 'bout Hemp.
This article will discuss hemp's history, its many practical uses and; in what appears to be a fascinating mid 20th century conspiracy, the efforts leading up to the effective prohibition of the cultivation and use of this ubiquitous product.
What is Hemp?
To the untrained eye, hemp looks somewhat like marijuana. Both hemp and marijuana are classified by scientists as Cannabis sativa, a species with hundreds of varieties. Cannabis's major psychoactive ingredient is THC (delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol) and, while Industrial hemp has a THC content of between 0.05 and 1%, Marijuana has a THC content of 3% to 20%. In other words, in order to receive a standard psychoactive dose, a person would need to smoke 10-12 hemp cigarettes over a short period of time.
While it is possible for a hemp plant to pollinate a nearby marijuana plant, genetically, the result will always produce lower-THC marijuana, not higher-THC hemp. So the notion that hemp will act as a catalyst for the production of stronger marijuana does not comport with the science.
What are some of hemp's many uses?
Hemp fibers are longer, stronger, more absorbent and more mildew resistant than cotton. Hemp can be made into clothing, turned into plastics and made into a products similar to petroleum without petroleum's adverse CO2 effects.
Until the late 1800's, 75 to 90% of all paper in the world was made from hemp (Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper).
Automobile manufactures from Ford to BMW experimented with hemp materials as part of an effort to make automobiles more recyclable.
Hemp oil once greased machines and, before its Prohibition, hemp was used in combination with linseed (flax) in the manufacture of paints, resins, shellacs and varnishes.
Building materials such as fiber board and even beams, studs and posts could be made out of hemp.
Hemp has also been used for rope and sails for ships (the word "canvass" is rooted in "cannabis")
A very short history of Hemp.
Hemp's cultivation began at least 10,000 years ago and, for centuries, it has been used for its fiber as well as for food.
Due to harvesting difficulties associated with large quantities of industrial hemp, many 19th century industries developed alternative technologies to replace hemp's practical applications. Despite the fact that the earlier harvesting difficulties were overcome with the development of the automated harvester in the 1930s, hemp's cultivation was non the less effectively prohibited in the United States in the 1950's.
Now, about that conspiracy.
Many hemp aficionados claim that between the late 1800s and the 1930s when the automated harvester was developed, new industries that exploited hemp's harvesting problems had a vested interest in seeing to it that industrialized hemp did not make a comeback. Oil was drilled from the ground, trees were used for paper and new sources of cloth were developed. Hemp's boosters claim that it was these new industries that conspired with the federal government to insure that hemp was made illegal.
According to several " hemp historians", President Herbert Hoover's secretary of the treasury, Andrew Mellon, was DuPont Chemical's chief financial backer. Seeing hemp's resurrection as a threat to DuPont, Mellon appointed his nephew, Harry J. Anslinger, to a high ranking position in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. In his new post with the Bureau, Anslinger started a scare campaign about hemp by referring to it as marijuana so that folks would begin to associated hemp with marijuana. During the zenith of this orchestrated smear campaign, films such as Reefer Madness were made, marketed and distributed to further fan the panic flames.
At the same time DuPont was working the refs, publisher William Randolph Hearst, who owned thousands of acres of forests along with pulp mills capable of producing paper for his and other newspapers, initiated his own personal campaign to outlaw marijuana. News stories in Hearst publications were manipulated to exaggerate the "horrors" of recreational marijuana use. The story of an auto accident where one marijuana cigarette was found would dominate the front page headlines for weeks while alcohol related accidents which vastly outnumbered marijuana related accidents were conveniently buried in the back of the paper. In another news story, the rape of a white woman by a "Negro", previously attributed by Hearst papers to co*caine use was, by these same papers, suddenly attributed to the use of marijuana.
Finally, with the public in a panic, industrial hemp was doomed by the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 which placed an extremely high tax on marijuana. Apparently, when congress passed this marijuana act, it did not intend for it to include hemp. However, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics "conveniently" lumped industrial hemp with marijuana and the Bureau's successor, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), does to this day. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, coupled with the DEA's conflation of hemp with marijuana, rendered the profitable cultivation of industrial hemp impossible.
A DEA clarification in the federal register attempts to explain the difference between hemp and marijuana and states that so long as the product does not allow any THC to enter the body, it will not be considered a controlled substance. This is like saying that so long as your poppy seed bagel does not allow any opiates to enter your system it will not be treated as a controlled substance.
Fortunately, over 30 industrialized democracies now distinguish hemp from marijuana and international treaties regarding marijuana make an exception for industrial hemp.
Do I believe in the alleged conspiracy to outlaw industrial hemp? I'm usually not into conspiracies and some people argue that this is just like the JFK and the grassy knoll conspiracies that are not supported by the facts. Unfortunately, the folks who argue against a conspiracy fail to recognize the obvious two facts.
1. Making hemp effectively illegal because of its anemic THC levels makes no sense unless you believe it was done in order to benefit people and institutions that would gain financially from its prohibition.
2. History has shown that private corporations and greedy individuals will do whatever it takes to promote their own interests above the public's interest.
It seems that those who are focused on debunking the conspiracy argue the rational for the banning of marijuana which is all well and good. However, I've found vary few sources that have proffered a reasonable rational for outlawing the cultivation of industrial hemp.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Examiner.com
Author: Fred Gober
Copyright: 2009 Clarity Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Marijuana's distant cousin - America's war against Hemp
During my research on marijuana, I came across several interesting reports regarding the ban on a distant relative of marijuana that should definitely be lifted. I'm talking 'bout Hemp.
This article will discuss hemp's history, its many practical uses and; in what appears to be a fascinating mid 20th century conspiracy, the efforts leading up to the effective prohibition of the cultivation and use of this ubiquitous product.
What is Hemp?
To the untrained eye, hemp looks somewhat like marijuana. Both hemp and marijuana are classified by scientists as Cannabis sativa, a species with hundreds of varieties. Cannabis's major psychoactive ingredient is THC (delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol) and, while Industrial hemp has a THC content of between 0.05 and 1%, Marijuana has a THC content of 3% to 20%. In other words, in order to receive a standard psychoactive dose, a person would need to smoke 10-12 hemp cigarettes over a short period of time.
While it is possible for a hemp plant to pollinate a nearby marijuana plant, genetically, the result will always produce lower-THC marijuana, not higher-THC hemp. So the notion that hemp will act as a catalyst for the production of stronger marijuana does not comport with the science.
What are some of hemp's many uses?
Hemp fibers are longer, stronger, more absorbent and more mildew resistant than cotton. Hemp can be made into clothing, turned into plastics and made into a products similar to petroleum without petroleum's adverse CO2 effects.
Until the late 1800's, 75 to 90% of all paper in the world was made from hemp (Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper).
Automobile manufactures from Ford to BMW experimented with hemp materials as part of an effort to make automobiles more recyclable.
Hemp oil once greased machines and, before its Prohibition, hemp was used in combination with linseed (flax) in the manufacture of paints, resins, shellacs and varnishes.
Building materials such as fiber board and even beams, studs and posts could be made out of hemp.
Hemp has also been used for rope and sails for ships (the word "canvass" is rooted in "cannabis")
A very short history of Hemp.
Hemp's cultivation began at least 10,000 years ago and, for centuries, it has been used for its fiber as well as for food.
Due to harvesting difficulties associated with large quantities of industrial hemp, many 19th century industries developed alternative technologies to replace hemp's practical applications. Despite the fact that the earlier harvesting difficulties were overcome with the development of the automated harvester in the 1930s, hemp's cultivation was non the less effectively prohibited in the United States in the 1950's.
Now, about that conspiracy.
Many hemp aficionados claim that between the late 1800s and the 1930s when the automated harvester was developed, new industries that exploited hemp's harvesting problems had a vested interest in seeing to it that industrialized hemp did not make a comeback. Oil was drilled from the ground, trees were used for paper and new sources of cloth were developed. Hemp's boosters claim that it was these new industries that conspired with the federal government to insure that hemp was made illegal.
According to several " hemp historians", President Herbert Hoover's secretary of the treasury, Andrew Mellon, was DuPont Chemical's chief financial backer. Seeing hemp's resurrection as a threat to DuPont, Mellon appointed his nephew, Harry J. Anslinger, to a high ranking position in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. In his new post with the Bureau, Anslinger started a scare campaign about hemp by referring to it as marijuana so that folks would begin to associated hemp with marijuana. During the zenith of this orchestrated smear campaign, films such as Reefer Madness were made, marketed and distributed to further fan the panic flames.
At the same time DuPont was working the refs, publisher William Randolph Hearst, who owned thousands of acres of forests along with pulp mills capable of producing paper for his and other newspapers, initiated his own personal campaign to outlaw marijuana. News stories in Hearst publications were manipulated to exaggerate the "horrors" of recreational marijuana use. The story of an auto accident where one marijuana cigarette was found would dominate the front page headlines for weeks while alcohol related accidents which vastly outnumbered marijuana related accidents were conveniently buried in the back of the paper. In another news story, the rape of a white woman by a "Negro", previously attributed by Hearst papers to co*caine use was, by these same papers, suddenly attributed to the use of marijuana.
Finally, with the public in a panic, industrial hemp was doomed by the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 which placed an extremely high tax on marijuana. Apparently, when congress passed this marijuana act, it did not intend for it to include hemp. However, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics "conveniently" lumped industrial hemp with marijuana and the Bureau's successor, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), does to this day. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, coupled with the DEA's conflation of hemp with marijuana, rendered the profitable cultivation of industrial hemp impossible.
A DEA clarification in the federal register attempts to explain the difference between hemp and marijuana and states that so long as the product does not allow any THC to enter the body, it will not be considered a controlled substance. This is like saying that so long as your poppy seed bagel does not allow any opiates to enter your system it will not be treated as a controlled substance.
Fortunately, over 30 industrialized democracies now distinguish hemp from marijuana and international treaties regarding marijuana make an exception for industrial hemp.
Do I believe in the alleged conspiracy to outlaw industrial hemp? I'm usually not into conspiracies and some people argue that this is just like the JFK and the grassy knoll conspiracies that are not supported by the facts. Unfortunately, the folks who argue against a conspiracy fail to recognize the obvious two facts.
1. Making hemp effectively illegal because of its anemic THC levels makes no sense unless you believe it was done in order to benefit people and institutions that would gain financially from its prohibition.
2. History has shown that private corporations and greedy individuals will do whatever it takes to promote their own interests above the public's interest.
It seems that those who are focused on debunking the conspiracy argue the rational for the banning of marijuana which is all well and good. However, I've found vary few sources that have proffered a reasonable rational for outlawing the cultivation of industrial hemp.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Examiner.com
Author: Fred Gober
Copyright: 2009 Clarity Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Marijuana's distant cousin - America's war against Hemp
