Hemp Is The Answer

[Jim Finnel]

The oil spill in the Gulf has presented America with another reason to demand that our government put the welfare of this country ahead of oil and coal company profits.

According to the North American Industrial Hemp Council:

If 6 percent of our country were planted in industrial hemp, it would supply 100 percent of our fuel and oil needs. Today we pay farmers not to grow on 6 percent of the farming land (around 90 million acres), while another 500 million acres of marginal farmland lie fallow. This land could be used to grow hemp as an energy crop. Growing hemp for fuel would be a tremendous boon for farmers and the agricultural industry.

Rudolf Diesel designed his engine to run on vegetable and seed oils like hemp. Hemp grows in any type of soil and, unlike gasoline, is renewable. Hemp fuel is biodegradable, so oil spills become fertilizer, not eco-catastrophes. Wood products are stronger when made from hemp fiber. Paper made from hemp can be bleached with hydrogen peroxide, reducing the toxins in our drinking water.

Hemp fuel doesn't contribute to sulfur dioxide air poisoning. Charcoal made from hemp can replace the burning of coal, further reducing the amount of sulfur pumped into the air. The coal industry is another ecologically hazardous one with enough money to keep our elected officials on their leashes for years to come.

There are more than 25,000 uses for industrial hemp, and each provides a superior product compared to oil and pulpwood-based products. All of this is of little concern to Sen. Lindsey Graham when compared to his need to protect oil and coal company profits.

Keep voting for Mr. Exxon Graham, and very soon Myrtle Beach and Charleston will have their very own oil spill to enjoy for years to come.


NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: goupstate.com
Author: Rick "Stump" Parrish
Copyright: 2010 GoUpstate.com
Contact: GoUpstate.com
Website: Monday's letters: Hemp is the answer

• Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article

 

[michaelkaer]

Where did you get that 6 % figure? I am not saying it is incorrect, it just sounds very low. Can it be backed up by some study?

 

[Purple Goose]

Where did you get that 6 % figure? I am not saying it is incorrect, it just sounds very low. Can it be backed up by some study?

I read an article that stated back before hemp was made illegal in america they had figured out that if they took 100,000 acres of clear cut forest land and turned it into hemp fields they would never have to cut another tree down again ever to make any paper or pulp product so basically the war on cannabis is also responsible for the destruction of our rainforests and many national forests since. So this would make the politicians who passed the original laws against cannabis as well as those who continue to enforce them responsible for the current ecological problems we are facing today.

 

[michaelkaer]

The biggest stumbling block is the mis-informed people who keep on insisting that cannabis is a gateway drug and gangs are just waiting for it to be legal to jump all over the small children lining up to buy from them... the insane thoughts that pass for critical thinking in the U.S. and Canada (I prefer Canna- da) is just a big joke. Once it is explained to the prohibitionists AND THEY UNDERSTAND IT, they tend not to use the same tired talking points. What they have come down to is "Drugs are bad!" period. that is it. they do not want any more conversation than that. if you are talking about Meth and Crack, then yes, Drugs are bad. You CAN NOT lump Cannabis in with the other drugs (even if you do) but you would be completely wrong. ALL the other drugs have killed a person at one time or another. Cannabis can not kill. It can not even do much harm! if you are worried about smoking it, then just switch to a vape system or eat the stuff. Problem solved.

 

[Purple Goose]

My god I know it the so called gateway theory is such a laughable concept when you consider that cannabis contains no psychoative chemicals that are even found in any other drug in higher or more potent doses. To me for the gateway theory to have any founding there has to be some comparison now if there was a drug that contained a super concentrated thc and then some alkoloid from the coca plant then there could be a gateway as there would then be something in common with each other.

But the truth is that the only gateway from cannabis is because of prohibition it becomes more likely that the people we have to deal with to get decent pot may and quite often do sell harder drugs and for kids who are experimenting with pot the dealer may offer them something stronger and being kids they are less cautious and more curious by nature, where adult are less likely to move on from cannabis because we have more wisdom or life experience to a harder drug. But by legalizing cannabis for adults and make the fine for supplying it to minors a far more severe penalty than trafficking is with todays standards , because when you consider that in a legal market the price of cannabis would not be artificially inflated and the black market sales of it would no longer be worth penalty. Just think of it this way if it were legal then the only people that an illegal dealer would have to sell to is kids between 15-20 say and that is going to seriously limit the market for a black market dealer and make him far more visible to society especially considering how much kids like to talk.

 

[SamTHorn]

Interesting read. I have much to contribute. I'll gather my info and be back. Thanks for sharing.

 

[michaelkaer]

Cannabis does have psych type chemicals, but the problem is is was mis -classified as a narcotic and was lumped in with opiates. It is a Euphoric ( which is just a fancy name for saying it is a substance that induces Euphoria which means happiness), it is something that makes you happy! Cannabis deserves to be in a drug class all it's own.

 

[michaelkaer]

I also wanted to add that along with the mis-classification came the idea that you can be addicted to cannabis. Like the gateway nonsense, the idea that you can be addicted to Cannabis is nonsense in the strictest sense. I will add that there is such a thing as cannabis addiction, BUT (and that is a big but) The addiction is the same as an overeater. There is nothing in food per se that an overeater is addicted to, so it is a mental illness, not a craving like you get with Alcohol, Nicotine and ******. There is nothing in the chemical makeup of cannabis that is toxic or addicting. There should be a warning that it can be habit forming like coffee. That is where it should be as far as drug classes go. It is less harmful than coffee.

 

[Purple Goose]

I personally feel cannabis should be ranked below tylenol in the scheduling when you consider that people still die across the world every year presently I believe the number of deaths is 450 per year from tylenol alone so that would make it far more deadly then cannabis considering nobody dies from cannabis use alone.