My state is trying to produce industrial hemp

[spidey07]

I don't get it. We've got a state senator trying to work legislation to legalize the growing/production of industrial hemp. Kentucky is a prime state for it because of our climate and there are plenty of former tobacco farmers it could help. Not to mention the state revenue in could bring. But he's meeting "resistance". States nearby already have plants to process it.

So why is this not such a simple thing? What on earth is the negative to growing/selling industrial hemp? I simply cannot see any downside to this, only positive.

 

[waggy]

nope. hemp is a great product.

 

[JS80]

can someone cliff me on what industrial hemp is? too lazy to look up.

 

[Modelworks]

Hemp is wonderful, so many uses. People grow it for rope, food, paper for years until the drug laws. The only problem I see with it is distinguishing hemp with next to no THC from the THC loaded stuff people smoke. The plant species are very very close . So someone could grow a row of it in with the other and you wouldn't know it. They actually spread it all over the USA before the drug laws because it would grow anywhere and helped stop erosion. Right now we import hemp to make products, stupid when we could grow it here in bulk.

 

[Juddog]

Hemp is awesome, I bought my wife a pair of hemp blue jeans something like 8 years ago and they are still in great shape.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: JS80
can someone cliff me on what industrial hemp is? too lazy to look up.

its pot plants without the THC

 

[MiniDoom]

i use hemp lotion.

 

[sdifox]

I still don't understand why there is such restriction on hemp.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Hemp is wonderful, so many uses. People grow it for rope, food, paper for years until the drug laws. The only problem I see with it is distinguishing hemp with next to no THC from the THC loaded stuff people smoke. The plant species are very very close . So someone could grow a row of it in with the other and you wouldn't know it. They actually spread it all over the USA before the drug laws because it would grow anywhere and helped stop erosion. Right now we import hemp to make products, stupid when we could grow it here in bulk.

In this proposal you'd register with the state to grow it and pay a small fee like 5 bucks per acre. That 5 bucks would fund an enforcement program in coordination with local sherifs departments.

 

[MikeMike]

Originally posted by: sdifox
I still don't understand why there is such restriction on hemp.

because marijuana is illegal in all forms... and hemp is just the male form of marijuana... if you believe family guy, hemp was illegalized because it was poised to overtake the paper industry and well, the paper industry had more $$ to influence the gov't

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: sdifox
I still don't understand why there is such restriction on hemp.

More reading says it's a federal law thing. A lot of states seems to be pushing to have that ban lifted though.

 

[SagaLore]

I think NC is trying to do something similar.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Hemp is wonderful, so many uses. People grow it for rope, food, paper for years until the drug laws. The only problem I see with it is distinguishing hemp with next to no THC from the THC loaded stuff people smoke. The plant species are very very close . So someone could grow a row of it in with the other and you wouldn't know it. They actually spread it all over the USA before the drug laws because it would grow anywhere and helped stop erosion. Right now we import hemp to make products, stupid when we could grow it here in bulk.

In this proposal you'd register with the state to grow it and pay a small fee like 5 bucks per acre. That 5 bucks would fund an enforcement program in coordination with local sherifs departments.

I could see that working if people really got behind it. I'm sure that some would still abuse it, but hopefully not enough to stop production.

I am all for it, hemp blows cotton away for uses. One benefit of hemp over cotton is it doesn't rot anywhere near as fast. That is why sailing ships used it for hundreds of years for rope.

 

[Glitchny]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Hemp is wonderful, so many uses. People grow it for rope, food, paper for years until the drug laws. The only problem I see with it is distinguishing hemp with next to no THC from the THC loaded stuff people smoke. The plant species are very very close . So someone could grow a row of it in with the other and you wouldn't know it. They actually spread it all over the USA before the drug laws because it would grow anywhere and helped stop erosion. Right now we import hemp to make products, stupid when we could grow it here in bulk.

In this proposal you'd register with the state to grow it and pay a small fee like 5 bucks per acre. That 5 bucks would fund an enforcement program in coordination with local sherifs departments.

I could see that working if people really got behind it. I'm sure that some would still abuse it, but hopefully not enough to stop production.

I am all for it, hemp blows cotton away for uses.

Yea hemp has a ton of uses beyond clothing etc. It's also incredibly easy to maintain (grows damn near anywhere).

 

[spidey07]

Heck this state senator is saying it makes great livestock feed.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: sdifox
I still don't understand why there is such restriction on hemp.

because marijuana is illegal in all forms... and hemp is just the male form of marijuana... if you believe family guy, hemp was illegalized because it was poised to overtake the paper industry and well, the paper industry had more $$ to influence the gov't

Hemp is just a great plant, the uses for it is just unbelievable and it's a fucking weed, you don't have to do shit for it to grow. Maybe this should be legalised so that the trees can catch a breath and grow old.


I would not be surprised if the pulp industry had something to do with banning hemp.

I miss the good old day of tug of war with a hefty hemp rope.

 

[MikeMike]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: sdifox
I still don't understand why there is such restriction on hemp.

because marijuana is illegal in all forms... and hemp is just the male form of marijuana... if you believe family guy, hemp was illegalized because it was poised to overtake the paper industry and well, the paper industry had more $$ to influence the gov't

Hemp is just a great plant, the uses for it is just unbelievable and it's a fucking weed, you don't have to do shit for it to grow. Maybe this should be legalised so that the trees can catch a breath and grow old.


I would not be surprised if the pulp industry had something to do with banning hemp.

I miss the good old day of tug of war with a hefty hemp rope.

It's technically a flower, but grows like a weed. It does however have a LOT of pros, way more than Con's afaik... i believe in the wild, its root system is also good for reducing erosion and stabilizing soils...

 

[HardcoreRobot]

there are plenty of cons

if you are the cotton industry

 

[Joemonkey]

so what people are saying is that hemp can be turned into wonderful products easier and cheaper than cotton or wood, but since those industries have a lot of $$$ to lobby with growing hemp is illegal

go go capitalism and corruption!

 

[Modelworks]

From the wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp

Henry Ford grew industrial hemp on his estate after 1937,possibly to prove the cheapness of methanol production at Iron Mountain. He made plastic cars (the so-called Hemp Car) with wheat straw, hemp and sisal.

Filtered hemp oil can be used directly to power diesels. In 1892, Rudolph Diesel invented the diesel engine, which he intended to fuel "by a variety of fuels, especially vegetable and seed oils.

Hemp is being used to clean contaminants at Chernobyl nuclear disaster site
Hemp shives are the core of the stem. In EU, they are used for bedding (horse bedding for instance), or for horticultural mulch.
A mixture of fiberglass, hemp fiber, kenaf, and flax has been used since 2002 to make composite panels for automobiles
In Europe and China, hemp fibers have been used in prototype quantities to strengthen concrete
It was used to make canvas, and the word canvas derives from cannabis.
Hempseed is an adequate source of calcium and iron. Whole hempseeds are also a good source of phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, copper and manganese.
Hempseed contains no gluten and therefore would not trigger symptoms of celiac disease.
Hempseed is also widely used as a fishing bait.
haracteristics of hemp fiber are its superior strength and durability, resistance to ultraviolet light and mold, comfort and good absorbency (8%

And it seems many states have made it legal, but the DEA is stopping them

While more hemp is exported to the United States than to any other country, the United States Government does not consistently distinguish between marijuana and the non-psychoactive Cannabis used for industrial and commercial purposes.

Some states have defied federal law and made the cultivation of industrial hemp legal. These states ? North Dakota, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, West Virginia, Vermont, and Oregon ? have not yet begun to grow hemp due to resistance from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration

So it looks like a battle between state and federal law that will be the decider on what happens. So we lose out on a crop that could help many areas because they dont want someone to smoke a joint.

 

[Jittles]

Hemp could easily be argued as the single most useful and beneficial plant on Earth.

It grows nearly anywhere, and it has an incredible amount of uses. The best part is that all parts of the plant are useful, so producing it and processing it leads to little to no waste product left over.

The fact that hemp is illegal in the US is just an illustration of how this country's laws can be influenced purely by money and greed vs pure common sense and logic.


If you are looking for good info on the subject, watch The Union, it's actually more so about legalizing marijuana in all forms, but it delves into hemp also.

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE

Originally posted by: sdifox
I still don't understand why there is such restriction on hemp.

because marijuana is illegal in all forms... and hemp is just the male form of marijuana... if you believe family guy, hemp was illegalized because it was poised to overtake the paper industry and well, the paper industry had more $$ to influence the gov't

a certain politically mischievous newspaper owner from the west coast is alleged to have been involved :thumbsdown:

said gentlemen was also alleged to have 'promoted' the spanish-american war and kept the united states out of the spanish civil war by reprinting atrocities by the facists as being atrocities by the republicans.

Text

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Is there a single con to this?

Are you looking for a reason to be outraged?

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff

Originally posted by: spidey07
Is there a single con to this?

Are you looking for a reason to be outraged?

just tell him obama is in favor of it and he'll change his tune.

 

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Is there a single con to this?

The downside is that industrial hemp crosses with marijuana, diluting the THC content in the pot plants. Kentucky pot growers stand to lose big if industrial hemp is grown near their crops.