Sheesh man…not only did I link to it but I posted most of the highlights. It won’t take you very long to get through it and may give you some perspective.
As for a consensus from 'dopers…no such animal exists! However, I’d have to say that, based on my experiences here on the 'dope, that on this subject there is a pretty good consensus on this particular subject. Of course, there is a pretty good consensus on the various 9/11 CT’s as well, as you saw in the thread you started, yet that didn’t seem to phase you much, so I’m unsure why it would on this either.
I rattled off some responses before I went to work, where I don’t spend a lot of time on message boards. Forgive me, and I hope I can get some slack in the hemp thread :rolleyes:
I hadn’t read Cecil’s article, but now I have. Here is an interesting quote:
Thanks for posting such an informative link. It cleared up one of my misconceptions right away:
I thought they were more distantly related than that. This helps me understand the hemp=pot mentality better, though the article goes on from this point to explain how the adults in Canada nevertheless manage to keep the THC levels of industrial hemp low.
Doesn’t look like a blockbuster. Combined with the hemp=pot meme, there are small profits and some headaches with hemp legalization. Makes some sense that it would remain illegal, even though its outlaw status is rooted in racism. Faulty on more than one count, but makes some sense.
Still- I would like to see reliable numbers for hemp in ethanol production. I know other crops might produce yet more ethanol- switchgrass, algae, heck even sugar cane- but I’d still like to know how hemp stacks up against legal crops in this regard. I suspect hemp’s tenacity may allow for fuel yields under conditions that produce zilcho using other methods.
And this would damage the reputation of a fly-by-night dealer how, considering the original plant would be unaffected by the adulteration of its offspring?
The parts of the plant harvested for drug production are the shoot apexes and the sap. The makeup of those parts is determined entirely by the seed that the plant is germinated from. It doesn’t matter how much cross pollination you get, it own;t affect the drug quality of the plant one iota. The only thing that cross pollination will affect is the seed, but since commercial plants aren’t allowed to set seed anyway that’s no loss.
I don’t necessarily disagree with you. What upsets me is this pushing for the legalization of hemp cultivation by people who obviously don’t give two whits about any type of crop use. It is undeniable that they want hemp legalization to make the marijuana laws even harder to enforce.
That is another debate, but let’s have that one instead of being disingenous about being Farmer John and wanting a good crop yield for paper and clothing purposes.
I’ve actually been in the hemp business, including the hemp paper business. I was a member of two international boards involved with industrial hemp, as well as a frequent speaker at international hemp symposiums. I know that there has been a lot of interest from major paper companies in hemp (they like to fly below the radar, but I can say they have names that you would recognize) I also know that hemp does in fact, make a very fine paper. On the other hand, given current supplies and technology, it’s expensive. (and there would be a shortage of hemp pulp if it ever really took off).
Otherwise, both sides are basically right. It’s a very good crop, but not a miracle. Farmers can (and do) make money growing it. Fabric made from hemp has “problems” but still holds promise. Same for hemp seed food and cosmetic products. There are, as others have pointed out, some industrial applications for the fiber (in the auto industry for example).
Hemp is a useful crop that should not be illegal. Marijuana woudl not be hidden in hemp fields. See Dr. David West and his work:
Myth: Hemp fields would be used to hide marijuana plants.
Reality: Hemp is grown quite differently from marijuana. Moreover, it is harvested at a different time than marijuana. Finally, cross-pollination between hemp plants and marijuana plants would significantly reduce the potency of the marijuana plant.
Almost 100%-- except that the growing conditions also exert a powerful influence. Adequate water at the correct times, sufficient nutrients, and sunlight (including proper photoperiod for this short-day plant) all help determine the final crop. Give a seed lots of water, fertilize it heavily, and allow for long days of full sun followed by day lengths decreasing (like in the fall) and it will produce big, gooey buds. Put the same seed in poorer conditions, and not so much.
Either way though, as **Blake **says, pollination will have zero effect on drug quality.
Unless we want to argue the esoteric point that “seedless” buds are superior for drug use.
Thus far in my experience I have seen the opposite. I have not been on international boards but I have talked with people in the papermaking industry (at least they were 10 years ago). At the time, they weren’t exactly thrilled.
Historically, hemp was crappy paper. I won’t say I have seen everything but to date the only decent hemp paper I saw was using other fibers, everything else looked either like something a hippy made with his home wire-mesh papermaking kit or something that felt like a dollar bill gone wrong.
The 90’s were the heyday of hemp advocates and frankly they were trying to sell us a bill of goods. They told us hemp paper did not need bleaching (true…if you wanted beige colored paper) they told us it was more environmentally sound (it usually fails vs tree farms) - in effect they were ignoring the harvesting and industrial realities. Quite frankly, if you were going to look for a non-wood source for pulp there were other plants that might do the job better.
It doesn’t seem terribly promising at this point. Harvesting is still a bitch and the overpromotion in Canada made for a glut. Australia balked at setting up a hemp industry when they looked at the realities.
I’m not saying it should be illegal, I’m just saying its looking a lot like a non-starter.
Fabric made from hemp has “problems” but still holds promise. Same for hemp seed food and cosmetic products. There are, as others have pointed out, some industrial applications for the fiber (in the auto industry for example).
Hemp is a useful crop that should not be illegal. Marijuana woudl not be hidden in hemp fields. See Dr. David West and his work:
Myth: Hemp fields would be used to hide marijuana plants.
Reality: Hemp is grown quite differently from marijuana. Moreover, it is harvested at a different time than marijuana. Finally, cross-pollination between hemp plants and marijuana plants would significantly reduce the potency of the marijuana plant.
(checking the statute of limitations) The test tube had an etched metal strip, noting a DEA lot number and a rating at “moderate paranoia.” My BIL was willing to pay more than I, but this was impressive, even for him.
'On small acreages, good quality sickle-bar mowers and hay swathers have been used to cut hemp. Frequent plugging has been a constant problem with this equipment. It is important to keep knives sharp and in good repair at all times. As acreage increases, more sophisticated equipment may have to be imported or developed."
We were taught in agricultural classes about 1950s that the government decided, for some reason, to ban all cannabis species and thus the useful industrial hemp got banned too. - (This way useful industrial hemp from other countries got banned or at least sorely incumbered.) - For reasons of political rhetoric it is hard to unravel such laws.
Furthermore, we currently harvest forests to produce paper. You {Mr. Miskatonic} need a detailed description of the problem to convince me that hemp harvestation is too difficult to attempt.
*Other things I still need to be convinced in detail before I drop it:
-Hemp can’t replace wood for paper. Gimme details. So what if it is hemp+20% linen? If the ecological result is better, why don’t we do that?
-Hemp isn’t better than corn for ethanol. The number I know from hearsay is that hemp is 4x better than corn in producing ethanol. Show me some reliable numbers!
-Cecil’s column has aged well. C’mon dude, I thought I set the bar pretty low for bad google-fu, but here you go: Deforestation.
So, it’s the opposite, hemp yields 1/2- 1/3 of what Corn does. Which makes sense, corn has a lot more sugar than hemp does. OTOH, sugar cane yields 727 to 870 gal/acre
Hemp just isn’t that special, there are a number of other plants that yield higher biomass. For example switchgrass. http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/re_biomass-crops.htm#switchgrass As a fast growing energy crop, or closed loop biomass, switchgrass yields over 1,000 gallons per acre, more than 3 times the yield of corn. Switchgrass and sorghum are from the same family; both are short term crops and produce prolifically with limited water, insecticides or fertilizer needs.
So, nearly 10x the yield of hemp, with all the same benefits.
The only dudes heavily promoting hemp are those who also want to smoke it.