Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
A state senator from Chicago Heights recently filed a bill that I think is long overdue. It would allow Illinois farmers to cultivate industrial hemp, but only as part of research projects approved by the state.
It's a start.
At least a dozen other states have begun the process of legalizing hemp for commercial purposes. It is, however, produced as a crop in more than 30 other countries, many of which ship it to the United States to be processed into a variety of products.
People usually claim the reason hemp is not grown here is because you can't tell it from the marijuana plant that is grown for its psychoactive products. I doubt that's true because I can tell them apart. The variety grown to be smoked is short, stubby and highly branched. The variety grown to make rope, clothing and other products is tall, slender and has relatively few branches.
The fact that two dissimilar varieties are part of the same species of plant is not that unusual. Bell peppers, jalapenos and most of the peppers we eat are all varieties of the same species.
I've been told the real reason farmers aren't allowed to grow hemp is because the owners of large tracts of trees for newsprint didn't like the competition from the easier to process hemp. Similarly, chemical manufacturers who made products using petroleum were worried that hemp would cut into their profits. So, in the late 1930s they talked the Congress into banning all varieties of the plant.
I have no way to verify that, of course, and it may not be true. But it sounds exactly like something the Congress would do, doesn't it? In fact, it's the same kind of thing they're still doing today. The rich special interests get the laws they want, regardless of whether they're good or bad for the rest of us.
And hemp would be extremely good for Illinois. Those of us who live in the Chicago area tend to forget Illinois is primarily an agricultural state with seemingly endless fields of corn, soybeans, pumpkins, wheat and sorghum. That's why you and I, and all residents of farm states have to speak out against things like the border adjustment tax.
I didn't think much about hemp until a Connecticut company hired me to deal with a problem in their factory. They made tea bags, hospital gowns, cigarette papers and similar products. Unfortunately, they had to import all their hemp from overseas, which greatly raised their costs and forced them to deal with irregular quality.
I was astonished how easy it was to digest and bleach hemp and how much it cut down on the number of toxic chemicals required. Hemp paper products last longer and can be recycled more often.
Hemp plants produce four times more paper per acre than trees and mature in 120 days as opposed to 20 years. Hemp is three times more productive than cotton, and supposedly yields fibers that are softer, stronger and more durable. Hemp requires only modest amounts of water, and no herbicides or pesticides. I've been told that half the world's herbicides and pesticides are used to grow cotton.
While you can't smoke hemp, you can eat it. The seed, which accounts for half the weight of a mature plant, is more nutritious and can be made into more kinds of foods than soybeans. Hemp oil can be used for lubricants, fuels and a wide variety of things we now make from petroleum.
If there ever were a good reason to ban the growing of hemp, which I doubt, it no longer exists. The plant could greatly benefit Illinois farmers and spawn the development of local companies to produce hemp products. I just hope our very frustrating Legislature can finally get their minds around the idea of raising something besides taxes.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Now Is The Time For Illinois To Legalize Industrial Hemp As A Crop
Author: Bill Mego
Contact: 312 222-3232
Photo Credit: Manitoba Harvest
Website: Chicago Tribune
It's a start.
At least a dozen other states have begun the process of legalizing hemp for commercial purposes. It is, however, produced as a crop in more than 30 other countries, many of which ship it to the United States to be processed into a variety of products.
People usually claim the reason hemp is not grown here is because you can't tell it from the marijuana plant that is grown for its psychoactive products. I doubt that's true because I can tell them apart. The variety grown to be smoked is short, stubby and highly branched. The variety grown to make rope, clothing and other products is tall, slender and has relatively few branches.
The fact that two dissimilar varieties are part of the same species of plant is not that unusual. Bell peppers, jalapenos and most of the peppers we eat are all varieties of the same species.
I've been told the real reason farmers aren't allowed to grow hemp is because the owners of large tracts of trees for newsprint didn't like the competition from the easier to process hemp. Similarly, chemical manufacturers who made products using petroleum were worried that hemp would cut into their profits. So, in the late 1930s they talked the Congress into banning all varieties of the plant.
I have no way to verify that, of course, and it may not be true. But it sounds exactly like something the Congress would do, doesn't it? In fact, it's the same kind of thing they're still doing today. The rich special interests get the laws they want, regardless of whether they're good or bad for the rest of us.
And hemp would be extremely good for Illinois. Those of us who live in the Chicago area tend to forget Illinois is primarily an agricultural state with seemingly endless fields of corn, soybeans, pumpkins, wheat and sorghum. That's why you and I, and all residents of farm states have to speak out against things like the border adjustment tax.
I didn't think much about hemp until a Connecticut company hired me to deal with a problem in their factory. They made tea bags, hospital gowns, cigarette papers and similar products. Unfortunately, they had to import all their hemp from overseas, which greatly raised their costs and forced them to deal with irregular quality.
I was astonished how easy it was to digest and bleach hemp and how much it cut down on the number of toxic chemicals required. Hemp paper products last longer and can be recycled more often.
Hemp plants produce four times more paper per acre than trees and mature in 120 days as opposed to 20 years. Hemp is three times more productive than cotton, and supposedly yields fibers that are softer, stronger and more durable. Hemp requires only modest amounts of water, and no herbicides or pesticides. I've been told that half the world's herbicides and pesticides are used to grow cotton.
While you can't smoke hemp, you can eat it. The seed, which accounts for half the weight of a mature plant, is more nutritious and can be made into more kinds of foods than soybeans. Hemp oil can be used for lubricants, fuels and a wide variety of things we now make from petroleum.
If there ever were a good reason to ban the growing of hemp, which I doubt, it no longer exists. The plant could greatly benefit Illinois farmers and spawn the development of local companies to produce hemp products. I just hope our very frustrating Legislature can finally get their minds around the idea of raising something besides taxes.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Now Is The Time For Illinois To Legalize Industrial Hemp As A Crop
Author: Bill Mego
Contact: 312 222-3232
Photo Credit: Manitoba Harvest
Website: Chicago Tribune
