# Hemp **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 25, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365 "2007-06-25T18:10:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/61 "2007-07-04T01:59:16Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] Becuase it makes you high and can cause damage to your lungs. Lung Cancer aside, inhaling buring weeds into your lungs is rarely a good idea. [/QUOTE] Lucky we can ingest it. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/62 "2007-07-04T03:46:51Z")
[QUOTE=AHoosierMama] Seems like I’ve heard that it is easy to hide the marajuana plants among the rows of hemp, so opponents just want to keep all of it illegal. [/QUOTE] I used to wonder what would happen if a bunch of ultra-realistic fake, plastic pot-plants were crafted and then distributed and placed in gardens, forests, parks, etc. all over the U.S. Would fake pot plants be outlawed because they confused the DEA? (BTW, that would be the reason for such a stunt in the first place. To force the Feds to spend so much money trying to discern the fake from the real that they just gave up on the whole, silly War On Pot.) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/63 "2007-07-04T03:55:54Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Personally, I think it should be legalised (actually, I think it already is here), if only so that the claims being bandied about regarding its miraculous properties can be demonstrated to be bullshit. [/QUOTE] Bullshit? Not quite, in my opinion. Isn’t it more likely that pot, while not exactly “miraculous” still rates high enough in a cost-benefit analysis in terms of medical/social uses that it’s quite a nifty thing anyway? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/64 "2007-07-04T04:14:39Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] Here’s what I don’t get about this argument: even if the active ingredient could be synthesized, chemically processed, and packed into a FDA approved pill… _why do we need to, when it can be grown, dried, and smoked or ingested in natural form for the same effect_? If we agree that marijuana is medically useful, why must some absolutely insist on getting big pharma involved and the necessity of artificial production? [/QUOTE] Yeah dude, like right on. I chew willow bark instead of taking aspirin and drink foxglove tea instead of taking digitalis. Stick it to the man dude. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/65 "2007-07-04T06:11:50Z")
[QUOTE=I Love Me, Vol. I] I used to wonder what would happen if a bunch of ultra-realistic fake, plastic pot-plants were crafted and then distributed and placed in gardens, forests, parks, etc. all over the U.S. Would fake pot plants be outlawed because they confused the DEA? (BTW, that would be the reason for such a stunt in the first place. To force the Feds to spend so much money trying to discern the fake from the real that they just gave up on the whole, silly War On Pot.) [/QUOTE] You know they really don’t give a rats ass about one of two plants. So you’d have to buy thousands of them, then cut back some underbrush then emplace your platci. And citting and placing on public land is likely illegal. Now, sure you could put a few in _your_ yard, but after they break down your door, smash a bunch of your shit, book you, you make bail and pay lawyers fees, please tell me who “lost” that one. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/66 "2007-07-04T08:06:21Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] First an admission: like the narrator in Dar Williams’ song, I find that often, the most vocal proponents of legal hemp are those that are already blazin’ up doobies at any excuse. For me, this undercuts the sincerity of their arguments; I find myself asking why, if industrial hemp is so readily distinct from “true” marijuana, why many of the people that seeem so passionate about its acceptance are illegal marijanua users. [/QUOTE] Do you also feel that the fact that you don’t smoke pot undercuts the sincerity of your arguments against legalisation or are you simply comfortable to take a hypocritical stance on that point? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/67 "2007-07-04T08:11:17Z")
[QUOTE=I Love Me, Vol. I] Bullshit? Not quite, in my opinion. Isn’t it more likely that pot, while not exactly “miraculous” still rates high enough in a cost-benefit analysis in terms of medical/social uses that it’s quite a nifty thing anyway? [/QUOTE] I’m talking about hemp. You’re talking about pot. I certainly won’t deny that pot contains active components that are probably medically useful and interesting. What is bullshit is the vast sweeping list of miraculous properties of _hemp_. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/68 "2007-07-04T13:57:25Z")
[QUOTE=Blake] Before I’d believe any of this I’d have to see some damn convincing arguments as to why a weed is better at provinding these results than a carefully formyulated and dosed pill or powder containing _exactly_ the same active ingredients. [/QUOTE] Because “exactly the same active ingredients” can’t be patented as a drug… so a simple cannabis extract in pill form will never be profitable for big-pharma, regardless of efficacy. Whatever comes out of a pharmaceutical corporation as “a carefully formyulated and dosed pill or powder” would need to be different enough qualify for a patent and not be classed as a food additive, but “substantially similar” enough to avoid the FDA drug approval process. There is no clear “active ingredient” that would meet those conditions. Also, add in that the pill has to be cheaper than the just-as-effective marijuana available on the street or being grown on a windowsill. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/69 "2007-07-04T14:29:14Z")
[QUOTE=I Love Me, Vol. I] I used to wonder what would happen if a bunch of ultra-realistic fake, plastic pot-plants were crafted and then distributed and placed in gardens, forests, parks, etc. all over the U.S. Would fake pot plants be outlawed because they confused the DEA? [/QUOTE] There’s a long standing “plant your seeds” campaign. I remember a story last year about marijuana being found growing in the landscaping of a police station in MN. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/70 "2007-07-04T14:36:13Z")
[QUOTE=buns3000] > [@Bricker](#): > > First an admission: like the narrator in Dar Williams’ song, I find that often, the most vocal proponents of legal hemp are those that are already blazin’ up doobies at any excuse. For me, this undercuts the sincerity of their arguments; I find myself asking why, if industrial hemp is so readily distinct from “true” marijuana, why many of the people that seeem so passionate about its acceptance are illegal marijanua users. Do you also feel that the fact that you don’t smoke pot undercuts the sincerity of your arguments against legalisation or are you simply comfortable to take a hypocritical stance on that point? [/QUOTE] Not at all. Someone that smokes pot obviously has a vested interest in seeing it legal for all to smoke. Someone who does not smoke it has no particular vested interest one way or the other. If I were, say, making money from the fact that pot was illegal, then perhaps you could impute some similar motives to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/71 "2007-07-04T15:02:52Z")
Just out of interest, do fibre hemp varieties lack the potential to be selectively bred into drug-producing strains? I’d think it was possible to do this, unless the fibre varieties have completely lost the trait. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/72 "2007-07-04T16:42:20Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Just out of interest, do fibre hemp varieties lack the potential to be selectively bred into drug-producing strains? I’d think it was possible to do this, unless the fibre varieties have completely lost the trait. [/QUOTE] In theory, yes, it could be done. In practice, you’d be re-inventing the wheel, why bother? Fiber plants still have THC, just less THC than their destined-to-be-consumed-by-humans brethren because they’re selected for traits that have nothing to do with (and generally are antagonistic to) THC production. Trying to select for both good fiber and THC content will find you working at cross purposes and, again, reinventing the wheel. The main problem I’d foresee are infertile hybrids and “Johnny Marijuana Seed” growing plants in your field and pushing your THC content above the gate for “industrial hemp”. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/73 "2007-07-06T04:40:27Z")
[QUOTE=DanBlather] Yeah dude, like right on. I chew willow bark instead of taking aspirin and drink foxglove tea instead of taking digitalis. Stick it to the man dude. [/QUOTE] 😕 Sorry, my sarcasm meter seems to be broken tonight. Is this humor, or sarcasm, or are you just being a jerk? It’s not necessarily that I care about sticking it to any hypothetical man, I just don’t see much reason to pay Merck some absurd number of dollars for a prescription pill when the plant is just as effective. Incidentally, I do often drink willow bark tea. It’s just as effective for me as asprin and doesn’t make my stomach hurt the way swallowing a couple asprin does. ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/74 "2007-07-06T08:43:36Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] Here’s what I don’t get about this argument: even if the active ingredient could be synthesized, chemically processed, and packed into a FDA approved pill… _why do we need to, when it can be grown, dried, and smoked or ingested in natural form for the same effect_? If we agree that marijuana is medically useful, why must some absolutely insist on getting big pharma involved and the necessity of artificial production? [/QUOTE] Well, it makes consistent doing much more difficult because different plants can have vastly different THC content. With a manufactured pill you should know exactly what dose you’re getting every time. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365/75 "2007-07-07T08:34:18Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] Not at all. Someone that smokes pot obviously has a vested interest in seeing it legal for all to smoke. Someone who does not smoke it has no particular vested interest one way or the other. If I were, say, making money from the fact that pot was illegal, then perhaps you could impute some similar motives to me. [/QUOTE] It’s a fair point you make. Also, please accept my apology for the snarkiness of my question earlier which was obviously half-cocked anyway. I must’ve been having a bad day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp/409365.md?page=3)