Ugh. Here we go again. You know, at least I can almost understand criminalization of recreational marijuana, since it gets you high (despite its more dangerous competition, alcohol, being legal), but this is just fucking ridiculous!
Hello? Department of “Justice”? You cannot get high off this stuff. It’s physically impossible! You KNOW this! What, in god’s name, is the fucking problem?!
Their lame-ass excuse is that since hemp contains teensy, tiny trace amounts of THC, edible forms of it need to be banned, since it is possible (but highly unlikely) that it will show up on a drug test. Hmmm, you know that sounds vaguely like something else. Oh yeah! Poppy seeds! Why the fuck aren’t they banning poppy seed muffins if this is such a huge goddamn concern?!
Hemp seed oil is actually quite nutritious, high in protein, and nobody can deny that it has a taste all its own.
Good god, I need to get out of here. What’s the job market like in British Columbia? I’ve never even been there, but I’m feeling more and more Canadian every day.
My theory is the Dept of Justice gets bored and feels like they just gotta ruin somebody’s fun now and then. And, since we had a democrat in the white house for a while, they were a little aprehensive trying to sneak by some crippling legistlation, so they just threw in something that will only piss off about 100 dirty flag-burning hippies.
That, and it’s been obvious that these folks are themselves rather high, on something.
that my Dr. Bronner peppermint soap is “new and improved”. Now it’s called “magical with hemp”. Guess I’d better keep an eye out for the police while I’m in the shower! Yup, this is the kind of bullshit we can expect to keep flowing our way.
I think this is an important first step. How can you expect to make room for all the varieties of genetically modified crops that need to be grown with all this natural stuff taking up space ?
Ah hem! It would compete with U.S. products. End it there and get a clue. The fact that it “may contain THC” is a minor issue because the real problem is that it competes with already established U.S. markets. Like cotton. And tobacco.
The THC factor is a very nice, very convenient excuse. Welcome to the U.S. If we can’t honestly beat you in trade we’ll find a savvy, lame but LEGAL way to do so. And this must just be the height of U.S.A. bullshit.
Umm, Byz- the Master (ie Cece) has already spoken on the “usefullness of hemp, and it’s ability to save the world”. Hemp is no competition to cotton. The only reason why some folks wear it- is because it is- “hemp”. It is just “OK” as a clothing material. And I m afraid that hemp, having little THC in it- is useless for smoking. Even it’s much more smokable cousin is no threat to tobacco- as it is NOT addictive, and contains no nicotine. Folks very rarely smoke for the “taste”- they smoke for the drug fix. Hemp & co does not have the right drug for that “fix”.
Dear Dan… honey, you help make my point. It’s a competing issue. It has nothing to do with value, smoke-ability or any of that… but WHY is any hemp product immediately excluded? We all see the VIABILITY of it, even Uncle Cece but the fact that these products are excluded from US markets… that’s what I’m talking about hon. They get automatically excluded because of THC even though it’s not a LEGITIMATE factor because it’s just another way to protect the markets we ALREADY have. Sorry if I wasn’t clear. Perhaps you weren’t?
Whatwhatwhat? You’ve got some amazing faith in politicians, doncha, Danny-boy? Your WAG is so wild-assed it really blows me away. When was the last time the government banned something because it isn’t nutritious? Last I checked, McDonalds and Burger King were not being closed by order of the federal government. Candy manufacturers were not being shut down en masse.
The only reason such a regulation would be put in place would be the same reason industrial hemp is banned, (it may not be a “miracle crop,” but it still has its uses) politics!
Hemp food uses. It looks like it’s mainly the seeds and the oil you can press out of them. You can also apparently use the leftover “presscake” to make things like burgers. I imagine they’re much like TVP burgers, in other words, about as un-meatlike as you can get. http://www.santabarbarahempco.com/hempuses.html
It doesn’t look like it’s one of those “surprise” food substances, by which I mean, you’re “surprised” to discover that it’s in something. Judging from the hysteria surrounding the whole THC thing, I doubt if any manufacturer would dare to put hempseed cake into his granola bars.
But take heart, hemp lovers! Illinois State Representative Ron Lawfer is going to the mattresses yet again, for his bill to make it legal for two state universities, the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, to grow enough industrial hemp to study it. One small step for a legislator, one giant leap for hemp-loving mankind.
It’s been passed twice in the Senate already, but keeps getting shot down in the House. The biggest opponents of it are the Illinois State Police, who claim that if industrial hemp is legalized (making a huge leap here from “letting the U of I study it” to “having it legal everywhere”), every time they stop some druggie and search him and find funny green leaves, he’ll just claim it’s industrial hemp and they won’t be able to arrest him after all. And they’ll have to send it off to a lab to be tested, and that will take weeks, and will cost the taxpayers lots and lots of extra money…
This time around, the bill only missed passing in the House by two votes. Rep. Lawfer says he has great hopes for the lame duck legislature next week.
And there is a small but growing movement here to find alternative crops for farmers, corn and soybeans having their ups and downs. However, as long as we have people like the Illinois Drug Education Alliance, we can sleep safe in our beds, knowing that no babies with THC-induced birth defects will be born. http://www.bestofidea.com/ It’s an oddly empty and pointless website. Too busy handing out Red Ribbons at the State Capitol to maintain the Web page, I guess.
Really? :eek: That’s a mighty big assumption, ain’t it?
Yes, but notice how she doesn’t make it clear about the differing amounts.
Um, the idea is not merely to supply today’s hemp needs–the idea is to give Illinois farmers a new cash crop.
Okay.
Granted.
Um–huh?
Yes, but they bring it on themselves, dearie.
And this proves, what? That all those long-haired hippies were getting high from the placebo effect? If this factoid is indeed true, which I doubt it is.
So there’s not much else to do out there at night except drink and get stoned. Did the study mention alcohol was a drug, too, or are you just ignoring that part?
Um, this is because there’s marijuana all around, left over from when it was legal to grow it. It grows beside the railroad tracks all over Illinois.
Meth labs in rural Illinois are the #1 growth industry. No wonder the farmer’s kids are using–it’s right there. But what’s that got to do with hemp?
So, again, what do meth labs have to do with hemp?
Oh, of course, I see. Her basic assumption is that hemp IS a drug. “We already have a big problem with meth labs, why add to the problem by allowing people to grow hemp, that nasty dangerous addictive DRUG!”. This is just stupid.
Oh, honestly. It’s the Evil Illuminati Drug Conspiracy. And besides, “If you even LOOK at a reefer, you will be instantly addicted.”
Okay, I’m with her on the issue of cost. I can think of more interesting ways to spend $375,000.
There’s no market because nobody will let there BE a market. If you’d give it a chance, there might BE a market.
Saffron also has no nutrional properties. Mendocino Brewing company makes a Hemp Ale. While not my favorite, it is tasty. Hemp acts as a perfectly legitimete flavoring agent.
Umm, even in nations where hemp is legal- it hardly competes with anything as a FOOD product. Hemp, for paper, clothing, cloth- is all legal to sell & import into the USA. You can buy all you want from Real Goods. So, no- “any hemp product” is NOT “immediately excluded”. Just FOOD products with hemp in them. And, food hemp products are not competeing with anything- anywhere.
Hi,Ditwd. you might want to do a little research before making such a sweeping generalization.
According to this site hemp seeds and hemp seed oil are high in protein, low in saturated fats, contains all eight amino acids needed by the human body in the correct proportions needed, an excellent source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and high in calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
I would say those are pretty significant nutritional properties.
Er, what Daniel~ probably meant to say was something like, “Hemp has no significant nutritional properties that are recognized by the American ruling elite, and so it has been marginalized as a food substance.”
What I say is, just wait until somebody discovers a way to use a compound from industrial hemp to cure erectile dysfunction for half the cost of Viagra. Oh baby.
