Hemp Farming in America
Oregon’s House of Representatives voted Monday night to legalize the cultivation of hemp, becoming the sixth state to do so just this year.
Oregon’s Senate voted 27 to 2 in favor of the new law last week. Monday’s 46 to 11 House vote means that the measure will become law, barring an unlikely veto by Governor Ted Kulongoski.
The move is part of a rapidly growing nationwide trend to liberalize laws relating to marijuana. Hemp is a botanical cousin of marijuana, traditionally used to make clothing, rope and other durable fiber goods.
“Hemp is a versatile, environmentally-friendly crop that has not been grown in the U.S. for over fifty years because of a misguided and politicized interpretation of the nation’s drug laws by the Drug Enforcement Administration,” Vote Hemp President Eric Steenstra said in a statement.
“While a new bill in Congress, HR 1866, is a welcome step, the hemp industry is hopeful that President Obama’s administration will recognize hemp’s myriad benefits to farmers, businesses and the environment.”
According to Vote Hemp, this year Maine, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and Vermont and ”all passed resolutions or memorials urging Congress to allow states to regulate hemp farming.”
California is at the forefront of the marijuana debate, with a movement growing to decriminalize marijuana for personal use in the state by 2010.
But in Oregon’s debate, politicians were careful to distinguish between hemp and weed, and to highlight the fact that the new law would allow farmers to cultivate hemp, not grow marijuana.
Some members of Oregon’s legislature displayed t-shirts reading “Senate Bill 676 is about rope, not dope.”
SOURCE: RAW STORYIn 1938, Popular Mechanics Magazine declared that Hemp was the next billion dollar industry and a boon for farmers across America. However, the corporate influence of men like Hearst and DuPont stepped in. The Marijuana Tax Act is passed and forbids hemp farming in the US. Dupont files a patent for nylon.
In 1991, Willie Nelson issued a plea to America to come to its senses and legalize Industrial Hemp, a product that was mandatory for the farmers of the Colonies, and for which the United States Government made a movie entitled, "Hemp for Victory". Why is it illegal? To protect the financial corporate interests of the textile, petrochemical, and lumber (paper) industries. How long will America stand for corporate America sticking it to the little guy?
Hemp, Natures Perfect Plant
| Industrial hemp is an incredible resource. Hemp is harvested for its fibers for hemp clothing and seeds for hemp oil. With a relatively short growth cycle of 100-120 days, it is an efficient and economical crop for farmers to grow, however, industrial hemp cannot be commercially grown in the United States because it is erroneously confounded with marijuana. In fact, industrial hemp and marijuana are different breeds of Cannabis sativa. Smoking large amounts of hemp flowers can produce a headache but not a high! |
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