Stoner4Life
New Member
The same day our nation commemorated the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I learned that the state of California had passed—and was now waiting for Governor Schwarzenegger to sign—a new measure legalizing industrial hemp crops.
This is very encouraging news. It's just unfortunate no one realizes this is part of the Hurricane Katrina story.
With all due respect for those who died or were stranded on their rooftops, if I were in charge of a cable news station, I would have made industrial hemp a main part of my anniversary coverage.
Hemp used to be a common thing in America. It also used to be an integral part of our nation's economy. This changed in the 1930s, when fear over its mind-altering cousin, marijuana, led to a national hemp ban. Except for a short reprieve during World War II, it's been illegal to farm the stuff ever since.
Today, many products—such as clothing, food, and rope—are made from hemp imported from Canada. Most Americans understand that owning such products in no way, shape or form makes them part of some underground drug culture.
Hemp remains illegal, however, for two important reasons:
1 ) because Washington insists hemp crops would serve as cover for marijuana growers
2 ) because the rest of us have accepted—or at least decided to live with—Washington's assessment
As a result, it is very difficult to have a rational industrial hemp discussion. Most people realize hemp isn't the same as marijuana.
However, most people think you'd have to be a paranoid stoner to so much as bring it up.
When you really start to consider this issue, you start to wonder, though: Who's paranoid here? The stoners who brag about hemp's many uses? Or the people too frightened by visions of stoners to have this conversation?
Hemp is a viable alternative fuel source.
It's clean.
It's renewable.
And it can be used in place of many synthetic, oil-based materials.
It's actually quite odd that we'd choose to import it rather than grow it—especially in light of our usual "Made In America" mentality.
Just think what this crop could do to ease our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Even if it was the same as marijuana, you'd still have to be crazy—or paranoid—not to use it.
This brings me back to Hurricane Katrina. By now, most people seem to agree Washington failed the city of New Orleans. Why this happened is up for debate, but one possible reason I don't hear many people discuss anymore is the fact that our soldiers were too busy overseas to help rescue all those folks on their rooftops.
Leaving aside whether disaster recovery is the military's job, I would say this is a fair argument.
Our men and women sign up to defend our country.
That's why they're "our" men and women.
Often, though, they end up defending other countries.
It's been this way since September 11th, but it was like this long before September 11th, too. America maintains a military presence of some size or another in roughly 130 countries.
This makes it hard for us to defend the only country that ought to matter to America, which, of course, is America.
Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you the Iraq War, for instance, was "all about oil." Like all conflicts, it was about many things—some more or less noble than others.
But if it's true our military was too busy in Iraq to help the people of New Orleans, then you have to ask yourself: Why does America maintain such a broad overseas presence to begin with? Why do we care what happens in the Middle East? Why should it even concern us? Oil isn't the only answer to these questions, but it is an answer for each of them. Oil is crucial to us. We need it. And this means we need to worry about other countries, because they're the ones who have it.
I'm not naive enough to think industrial hemp would cut our ties with the Middle East overnight.
If I had to guess, it wouldn't even cut our ties with the Middle East altogether. We would still need oil for something or another. But that's okay. There's nothing wrong with doing business.
Just imagine how things in New Orleans might have been different if we hadn't been draining our resources elsewhere, though.
Maybe the military would have been here to help rescue people more quickly.
Or maybe we would have simply fixed the levees before they broke and drowned the city.
Of course, this is all conjecture. There's no way to actually prove it. But before you complain about Washington failing New Orleans, just consider how industrial hemp would alter such problems as oil, war and pollution.
Until this useful crop becomes legal, I would argue Washington is failing us all.
[Sidebars]
WORD FROM THE STREET
Q: As many may already know, hemp can be used in place of many synthetic, oil-based materials. However, it's illegal to grow in the U.S. Do you think this is justified?
A: "Just because it looks like marijuana, doesn't mean it offers the same intoxicating effects.
You can also make rope/paper products from Kudzu, and our area can attest to the legal status of this plant."—Steve Gibbons
i think it is a shame to waste good hemp on synthetic, oil based materials."—George Bailey
The ban on growing hemp is patently absurd, as is the fact that marijuana, which is basically the same plant, is illegal.
Marijuana has been proven to be far less harmful than either alcohol or cigarettes, both of which are of course legal… and it is far less harmful than a whole range of addictive, prescription drugs that the government actively endorses. The only reason why hemp production ( and marijuana ) continues to be banned is so every blustering idiot of a congressman can pound his fat fist on a table and harrumph-harrumph about being ''tough in the war on drugs." Which 'war,' by the way, has been an abject failure.
And the only reason why the politicians keep making stupid laws like this one is that we voters are stupid enough to fall for them."—Joe Dougherty
Hemp—isn't that the stuff that is a gateway drug to ******* use, teen pregnancy and alcoholism?
Nevermind the truth, believe what the fat cats tell the politicians to tell you to believe.
Why should it be used as a cheap alternative to oil? Our government sat back and watched oil companies jack up prices then gloat their record profits.
What oil execs want, oil execs get. This is, after all, the US."*
Newshawk: Stoner4Life - 420 Magazine
Source: encore (NC)
Pubdate: Wed, 13 Sep 2006
Author: Jonathan David Morris
Copyright: 2006 Wilmington Media
Contact: wade@encorepub.com
Website: Welcome
This is very encouraging news. It's just unfortunate no one realizes this is part of the Hurricane Katrina story.
With all due respect for those who died or were stranded on their rooftops, if I were in charge of a cable news station, I would have made industrial hemp a main part of my anniversary coverage.
Hemp used to be a common thing in America. It also used to be an integral part of our nation's economy. This changed in the 1930s, when fear over its mind-altering cousin, marijuana, led to a national hemp ban. Except for a short reprieve during World War II, it's been illegal to farm the stuff ever since.
Today, many products—such as clothing, food, and rope—are made from hemp imported from Canada. Most Americans understand that owning such products in no way, shape or form makes them part of some underground drug culture.
Hemp remains illegal, however, for two important reasons:
1 ) because Washington insists hemp crops would serve as cover for marijuana growers
2 ) because the rest of us have accepted—or at least decided to live with—Washington's assessment
As a result, it is very difficult to have a rational industrial hemp discussion. Most people realize hemp isn't the same as marijuana.
However, most people think you'd have to be a paranoid stoner to so much as bring it up.
When you really start to consider this issue, you start to wonder, though: Who's paranoid here? The stoners who brag about hemp's many uses? Or the people too frightened by visions of stoners to have this conversation?
Hemp is a viable alternative fuel source.
It's clean.
It's renewable.
And it can be used in place of many synthetic, oil-based materials.
It's actually quite odd that we'd choose to import it rather than grow it—especially in light of our usual "Made In America" mentality.
Just think what this crop could do to ease our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Even if it was the same as marijuana, you'd still have to be crazy—or paranoid—not to use it.
This brings me back to Hurricane Katrina. By now, most people seem to agree Washington failed the city of New Orleans. Why this happened is up for debate, but one possible reason I don't hear many people discuss anymore is the fact that our soldiers were too busy overseas to help rescue all those folks on their rooftops.
Leaving aside whether disaster recovery is the military's job, I would say this is a fair argument.
Our men and women sign up to defend our country.
That's why they're "our" men and women.
Often, though, they end up defending other countries.
It's been this way since September 11th, but it was like this long before September 11th, too. America maintains a military presence of some size or another in roughly 130 countries.
This makes it hard for us to defend the only country that ought to matter to America, which, of course, is America.
Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you the Iraq War, for instance, was "all about oil." Like all conflicts, it was about many things—some more or less noble than others.
But if it's true our military was too busy in Iraq to help the people of New Orleans, then you have to ask yourself: Why does America maintain such a broad overseas presence to begin with? Why do we care what happens in the Middle East? Why should it even concern us? Oil isn't the only answer to these questions, but it is an answer for each of them. Oil is crucial to us. We need it. And this means we need to worry about other countries, because they're the ones who have it.
I'm not naive enough to think industrial hemp would cut our ties with the Middle East overnight.
If I had to guess, it wouldn't even cut our ties with the Middle East altogether. We would still need oil for something or another. But that's okay. There's nothing wrong with doing business.
Just imagine how things in New Orleans might have been different if we hadn't been draining our resources elsewhere, though.
Maybe the military would have been here to help rescue people more quickly.
Or maybe we would have simply fixed the levees before they broke and drowned the city.
Of course, this is all conjecture. There's no way to actually prove it. But before you complain about Washington failing New Orleans, just consider how industrial hemp would alter such problems as oil, war and pollution.
Until this useful crop becomes legal, I would argue Washington is failing us all.
[Sidebars]
WORD FROM THE STREET
Q: As many may already know, hemp can be used in place of many synthetic, oil-based materials. However, it's illegal to grow in the U.S. Do you think this is justified?
A: "Just because it looks like marijuana, doesn't mean it offers the same intoxicating effects.
You can also make rope/paper products from Kudzu, and our area can attest to the legal status of this plant."—Steve Gibbons
i think it is a shame to waste good hemp on synthetic, oil based materials."—George Bailey
The ban on growing hemp is patently absurd, as is the fact that marijuana, which is basically the same plant, is illegal.
Marijuana has been proven to be far less harmful than either alcohol or cigarettes, both of which are of course legal… and it is far less harmful than a whole range of addictive, prescription drugs that the government actively endorses. The only reason why hemp production ( and marijuana ) continues to be banned is so every blustering idiot of a congressman can pound his fat fist on a table and harrumph-harrumph about being ''tough in the war on drugs." Which 'war,' by the way, has been an abject failure.
And the only reason why the politicians keep making stupid laws like this one is that we voters are stupid enough to fall for them."—Joe Dougherty
Hemp—isn't that the stuff that is a gateway drug to ******* use, teen pregnancy and alcoholism?
Nevermind the truth, believe what the fat cats tell the politicians to tell you to believe.
Why should it be used as a cheap alternative to oil? Our government sat back and watched oil companies jack up prices then gloat their record profits.
What oil execs want, oil execs get. This is, after all, the US."*
Newshawk: Stoner4Life - 420 Magazine
Source: encore (NC)
Pubdate: Wed, 13 Sep 2006
Author: Jonathan David Morris
Copyright: 2006 Wilmington Media
Contact: wade@encorepub.com
Website: Welcome
