Posts with the tag hemp

A Miracle for President Obama

mtnwizard — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:40:05 EST

This is an open letter to our President with a simple suggestion that will create several billion dollar industries at once and go a long way toward fixing our economy and stimulating growth and excitement. It needs to be forwarded to him ASAP.

http://candidblogger.blogspot.com/2009/01/heres-your-miracle-president-obama.html

Please pass this on. It is too important no to do so.

Cannabis Legalization Top Demand on Change.gov

Mark from Montpelier, VT — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:33:10 EST

According to this report, the top concern of citizens is changing cannabis laws. Does Obama have the cojones to do this or will he politic out of responsibility?

What do you think?

Scannabis.com - Cannabis News and Reports

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

WEBMASTER — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 02:26:14 EST

The Pickens Plan: For those who would like to become an active participant in a solution for our nations energy needs I urge you to join with T.Boone Pickens in his quest for a cleaner planet through alternative energy.

Also see Green Wave Energy: Green Wave was founded by Mark Holmes and was formulated for viable alternative energy solutions. Green Wave Energy is promoting state-of-the-art energy-saving products and services throughout the country.

Green Wave Energy understands alternative energy technology will become “main stream” when

individuals and organizations understand that alternative energy technology exists and
when people see the economic benefits of using alternative energy technologies

Call 949.645.1701 for information on how Green Wave Energy can help you save the planet.

Alternative Energy
Source: David Apperson

url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy

What is the leading cause of death for age 18-44?

Ricky Grubb — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:54:06 EST

What is the leading cause of death for all (north American) adults aged 18 to 44?
According to research commissioned by the (eastern) Canadian equivalent of our Surgeon General, the War on Drugs kills more 18 to 44 year olds than anything else! Not killed by the usage of drugs mind you, but by the waging of war on them. Most are (Homicides) by law enforcement, and next is gangster deaths (Homicides), over drug sales. This is very reminiscent of the criminal gangs created by Prohibition of Alcohol in the 1920s.
Most drug arrests are for marijuana possession. Packing our jails and prisons with the young men of inner city communities (mostly young men of color), has not slowed the rise of drug use in America at all, it has only served to deprive us of the many legitimate uses of the hemp plant. We are deprived of all uses except the recreational drug use this drug war purports to be stopping at great expense.
Industrial hemp is the best plant source for the bio fuel industry, and if the bio fuel industry in America is forced to use corn instead of Hemp to make Bio fuel, it's production will be less profitable, less efficient, and the American bio fuel industry will probably fail, thus hemp is needed for America's energy needs and the success of any transition to green fuel and the green economy.

The ban on hemp cultivation can be lifted and control of hemp transfered to the Agriculture dept.

The DEA's highest administrative law judge ruled there was no evidence to support placing Marijuana (Hemp) on schedule 1. This ruling was overturned by presidential decree I believe.

President Barack Obama can change this unjust and cruel ban by writ ?

This change for the better can lay the foundation for and gather the support needed to address more intractible problems like health care.

Common Sense Energy and Economic Prospects

themastercraftsmen — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:15:59 EST

Common Sense Energy and Economic Prospects – Hemp Plant
Six Reasons that Industrial Hemp is a New Future for America

While I have never been an advocate for the growing, consumption or use of the drug more commonly known as Marijuana, I am an advocate for the more common variety known as Hemp. Hemp is part of the Cannabis Family, and is primarily what is called the Fiber Chemotype. In order to distinguish the three Chemotypes, you need to understand how the levels of THC and CBD are broken down. While THC gives the psychoactive portion of the plant (the high), CBD is found to be the portion that gives the anti-inflammatory effect, thus the relief of muscle strain, joint pain and cramps reported in medicinal uses.

Creating an Industry

David — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 08:30:19 EDT

So many countries are awaiting the USA to help them have the means to care for their lives by providing the technology to do so.

Providing the knowledge and ability to sell goods internationally is such a step. Growing bamboo and hemp in these impoverished countries then promote those products in the Green Revolution to support income for those people doing the harvesting of these Earth Friendly products.

My belief is that the haves should be aiding the have nots

There are no problems Only Solutions

only good may come of the hemp plant

Jordan from Gig Harbor, WA — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:04:52 EDT

only good may come of it. fear not the hemp plant, for it is good in many ways, with many uses, including a more efficient source of paper.

Will Senator Obama address the HIA 2008 Convention ?

Richard Owl Mirror — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:29:50 EDT

The 15th Annual HIA Convention & Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday and Monday, October 19-20, 2008 at the Best Western Roundhouse Suites in Boston, Massachusetts, USA - directly after Natural Products Expo East & BioFach America. (Directly after Natural Products Expo East & BioFach America.)

Please click here for more information.

This schedule is preliminary and subject to change as plans develop.

Featured Speakers:

Mario Machnicki, Managing Director, American Limetec: Hemcrete® and the Potential Market for Hemp in Building Construction
Adam Eidinger, Mintwood Media: PR Tactics for Small Businesses
Bernd Frank, Managing Director BaFa GmbH, Malsch, Germany: Industrial Hemp in the EU: Experiences and Future Prospects
Barbara Filippone, Envirotextiles: Hemp Textiles Update
Carl Hedberg, Consultant & Editor: The Entrepreneurial Mindset in Mission-Driven Enterprises (based on the top-selling book on entrepreneurship of the same name)
Gero Leson, Leson & Associates, Berkeley, CA: Nutritional Assessment of Hemp Foods and the TestPledge Program
Amy Shollenberger, Rural Vermont: The "Hemp for Vermont" Bill: How to Successfully Pass State Hemp Legislation
Christina Volgyesi, Living Harvest: The Hemp Foods Market & Consumer Studies Update

For Hemp Industries Association members only.

Please join now if you are not yet a member.

Please support Vote Hemp, our sister organization and Co-op America

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Industrial Hemp Legislation to Cultivate, Study and Support

Industrial Hemp is currently legal to grow in more than 30 countries including Canada, Germany, England, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, China, Hungary and Romania. For more information on where hemp is being grown today, click here.

Many U.S. states have passed legislation to grow, study or request changes in U.S. government policy on industrial hemp. To date, twenty-six states have introduced hemp legislation and fourteen have passed legislation; seven (Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia) have removed barriers to its production or research.

Hawaii has not only passed hemp legislation allowing for hemp trials but has actually planted the first legal hemp crop since the 1950s! The Hawaii Industrial Hemp Research Project was authorized for research under the direction of Dr. Dave West. It has since been closed due to DEA shenanigans and problems renewing the DEA permit.

For the first time since the federal government outlawed hemp farming in the United States, a federal bill has been introduced that would remove restrictions on the cultivation of non-psychoactive industrial hemp. H.R. 3037, the "Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005," was written with the help of Vote Hemp by chief sponsor Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), and several original co-sponsors have already signed on. The bill defines industrial hemp and assigns authority over it to the states, allowing laws in those states regulating the growing and processing of industrial hemp to take effect.

For more information and a complete summary of state and federal hemp legislation, click here to visit the Vote Hemp Web site.

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Hemp is Business: A Wealth of Products & Supreme Versatility

Click here for a listing of products from HIA companies. These represent just the beginning of a huge wealth of possible items that can be manufactured from hemp.

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The American economy is losing out on a huge opportunity because of bias by the American Federal Government. Industrial Hemp Farming could offer our nation a domestic agricultural bonanza with this one crop being usable by a wide-randing manufacturing customer base.

Last night I made a series of purchases of the products displayed below.

Sashmill: 100% Hemp Button Down Shirt

Horizon Long Sleeve Tee

Hemp Jean in 100% Hemp...True Yarn Dyed Denim

The products above are constructed from Hemp, imported from countries such as Canada and England.

California Hemp Legislation 2007
Hemp Bill AB 1147 Vetoed by the Gubernator in Oct. 2006, but has been re-introduced as AB 684 in 2007. He vetoed this one as well.

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No Sweat Hemp High-Top

100% vegan, sweat-shop free and environmentally-friendly as well. The 100% hemp upper of this sneaker was organically grown, then thoroughly washed to give it a smooth and bright look and feel. No Sweat brand manufactures union-made footwear.

Hemp Tri-fold Wallet with Inca Design

This wallet is 100% hemp and comes in natural with a tribal band design.

~@~

Each of the products above cost me equal to any comparable product. Each of these products are made by imported Hemp, except for the shoes as those are manufactured in Europe.

The American Farmer, as well as every citizen who would be willing and able to start a small business which could utilize this domestically grown commodity are being deprived of their opportunity to produce this LIST of PRODUCTS below.

Accessories back packs, bags, beanies, belts, briefcases, caps, checkbook covers, gloves, guitar straps, hair ties, hats (knit, crocheted & fabric), hip packs, jewelry, luggage, purses, scarves, shawls, shoe laces, shoes, socks, ties, travel kits, wallets, watchbands

Animal Care beds, bedding, feed, leashes & collars, treats

Apparel baby clothes, bathrobes, dresses, jackets, jeans, lingerie, overalls, pants, shirts, shorts, skirts, suits, sweaters, tees

Body Care hair conditioners, lip balms, lipsticks, lotions, massage oils, nutritional oils, salves, shampoos, soaps, tanning lotions

Foods beer, breads, brownies, burgers, chips, chocolate bars, coffees, cookies, defatted hempseed meal, shelled hempseeds, dry mixes - cake, cookie, pancake & pizza dough, energy bars, flour, hummus, ice cream (non-dairy desserts), nut bars, nut-butter, oil, pasta, pretzels, protein powders, roasted seeds, salad dressings, spiced hemp seeds

Housewares aprons, blankets, curtains, couch covers, dish cloths, furniture, hammocks, potholders, pillows, placemats, napkins, shower curtains, tablecloths, towels, washcloths

Paper art papers, bond, bookmarks, books, cigarette papers, corrugated board, envelopes, invitations, journals, magazines, postcards, posters, stationery, writing pads, books, magazines, newsletters, research papers

Raw Hemp bast fiber, batting (tow), long fiber (line or sliver) for industry & craft use, hurds (core), seed stock, seed grain

Sports Equipment basketball nets, frisbees, hackie sacks, skateboards, snowboards, surfboards

Spun Hemp twine, rope, yarn, webbing, thread

Textiles hand-woven & mill-loomed fabrics: blended silks to canvas, various weights & textures, colors, patterns, stripes & plaids; knits; finishing services; non-woven matting (replacing fiberglass); carpets & rugs

Other dolls, candles, coffee filters, drums, picture frames, teddy bears, toys

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Please contact your Representative and assure them it is OK to talk about a revival of the Industrial Hemp Industry in America. I believe Representatives in Congress keep this subject at arms length simply because they believe it is linked to it's cousin, Marijuana and, they are fearful of a backlash from the voters for a perception of being Pro-marijuana.

Here is an interesting and enlightening assortment of hemp facts:

Questions about Industrial Hemp?

How is industrial hemp used?

Basic Uses of Industrial Hemp: Food, Fuel, Fiber
by Mari Kane

Does the U.S. allow hemp farming?Only non-viable seeds are legal in the U.S. without a DEA permit, and thus our farmers cannot realistically grow hemp. To see what is being done by the industry, and what you can do, to allow our farmers the economic opportunity to grow industrial hemp, click here.

Yes We Can Grow Our Way Out Of The Energy Crisis

Nayer — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:36:05 EDT

One of the many reasons I'm voting for Barack Obama is his wisdom regarding alternative energy like hemp biofuel. Senator Obama supported an industrial hemp bill when in Illinois, and does not seem afraid to actually solve problems. If the Industrial Hemp Farming Act ever gets out of congress, I suspect he'd take a leadership role in using nature to solve our problems of energy and global waming.

Yes we can use hemp to grow our way out of our energy crisis.

Hemp 4 Fuel - a roll-in from 'Time 4 Hemp'

"According to World War II production rates of hemp per acre, we can produce the equivalent of 10 - 15 barrels of oil from one acre of hemp.

If we use the production rates that are in evidence in countries currently producing hemp, we could produce the equivalents of 20-30 barrels of oil per acre of hemp.

Can we fuel the nation with hemp?

The answer is YES!

According to United States Agricultural statistics, in the United States we have an excess of 950 million acres of farm land.

Of that land we planted in 1987 some 450 million acres.

This leaves some 450 to 500 million acres un-planted."

Though the piece above was from the early to mid 90's and the size of the nation has grown, we still have enough unused land to grow the hemp needed to both scrub the air of excess CO2 and provide a clean, easily renewable energy source.

Oil, nuclear and coal make no sense with hemp biofuel, magnetic, solar, hydro, wind and other safe, clean energy sources. Toxic and dangerous energies are not effective strategies as they leave horrors for future generations to deal with. What good is a strong economy if we're all dead from global warming drama.

Hemp is nature's way to remove the oil from the land and change it into useful items like energy. Our greed got the best of us and we pulled the oil at a rate faster than natural. The result, global warming.

Hemp is a biomass champion that is 4 times more efficient than corn as biofuel.

Hemp energy pellets burn clean as biomass to fuel the nation's electric plants.

For more information from the film THE BILLION DOLLAR CROP

Hemp 4 Fuel - a roll-in from 'Time 4 Hemp'

Artist Statement From Youtube:

Added: October 11, 2006 (Less info)

"This is a segment from the film, 'The Billion Dollar Crop' created by John Birrenbach. It was used as a roll-in on the television series, 'Time 4 Hemp' hosted by Casper Leitch. To find out more about the first television series to ever focus on the topic of marijuana, check out http://www.time4hemp.com/ where you can find over 80 free video and 100 free audio downloads. Time 4 Hempcable access © Casper Leitch - 1991 "

Text of webeo:

"Fuel. Hemp can also be used for the production of methanol.

According to World War II production rates of hemp per acre, we can produce the equivalent of 10 - 15 barrels of oil from one acre of hemp.

If we use the production rates that are in evidence in countries currently producing hemp, we could produce the equivalents of 20-30 barrels of oil per acre of hemp.

Can we fuel the nation with hemp?

The answer is YES!

According to United States Agricultural statistics, in the United States we have an excess of 950 million acres of farm land.

Of that land we planted in 1987 some 450 million acres.

This leaves some 450 to 500 million acres un-planted.

In order to produce the amount of methanol to fuel all of our transportation needs, we would need to plant some 12-34 million acres of hemp.

This would produce the biomass necessary to fuel our country."

For more information on hemp please visit the USA Hemp Museum, http://www.hempmuseum.org/, a private museum with a virtual wing. Richard M. Davis is the museum's founder and curator and he has a book called HEMP FOR VICTORY: A GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTION.

To restore wisdom to the White House, I'm voting for the person who wants to help us solve our problems without creating new problems for future generations, like nuclear waste under a mountain on a fault line (Yukka Mountain, Nevada).

Gobama. Gobama. Obama '08.

Obama and Hemp

Ben Masel — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 02:41:58 EDT

The record's thin, but he did vote for as Hemp bill as an Illinois State Senator in 2000. Representing an urban district, it's not surprising he did not take a leading role. The measure psassed overwhelmingly, but was vetoed by Governor Ryan. No overide vote was taken.

As Long As I've Been Here...

Nickie — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:01:47 EDT

As long as I have been here I have never been insulted by an Obama supporter until today. Yep...today. I've written blog posts, and the majority of the responses I get are from people are wonderful. There is a large support network, and there is a great bunch of people here. I'm not about to get angry and leave this site over one small slight, but I have to question the persons motives for what they did to me today.

I wrote a blog citing an article about Hemp not Corn. The issue I'm addressing of course is biofuel. We all know that there are serious problems with using a food crop, especially in the growing wake of food shortages around the world for biofuel. The article was a bit long, but no longer than some other posts that I've seen here. Shorter than most I think. Anyway the comment I got was that I should use the extended post for the longer blogs. No mention of the idea that I proposed, just that. I have to question if this person cared that my post was long, or that it was about hemp for biofuel. Please don't try and squelch free speech if you don't agree with a posters view. And don't couch your criticism in disengenuous ways. If you think I put forward a bad idea to deal with a national crisis, or am wrong on any issue, feel free to disagree...but don't tell me my post is too long and I should hide it from view.

Hemp Not Corn

Nickie — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:48:21 EDT

In the wake of massive food shortages and rising prices in fuel. May I humbly suggest we do something FINALLY about legalizing Hemp?

Here is an excellent article on the subject.

A hemp-fueled car scheduled to begin a record-breaking 10,000-mile trip around North America July 4 debuted Thursday in Washington at a conference devoted primarily to legalizing marijuana.

The car is a white, modified 1983 Mercedes diesel station wagon festooned with colorful hemp-related logos and the Virginia license plate "HEMPCAR." It is the creation of Grayson and Kellie Sigler, who plan to use roughly 400 gallons of hemp biodiesel during their trip. The trip will take the Siglers through 40 cities over three months, to the West Coast and then back east through Canada.

The drive should set a world distance record for a vehicle using hemp for fuel. Hemp oil converts into a biodiesel fuel fairly simply once mixed with caustic lye dissolved in methanol, a technique which makes the oil less viscous and more combustible.

"Hemp oil can be burned directly, but this is much cleaner," explained environmental defense attorney Don Wirtshafter, proprietor of the Ohio Hempery, the Athens,Ohio-based company providing the oil. "You get fuel and glycerine from the process, and the glycerine can be used to make soap or candles. We like to use potassium hydroxide as the caustic agent, because it results in a beautiful fertilizer."

Biodiesels can be made from any vegetable oil or animal fat and burn in any unmodified diesel engine. The only modification made to the hemp car was the replacement of rubber hoses with synthetic rubber tubes -- biodiesels erode rubber.

"Hemp oil has the same energy as diesel," Wirtshafter said. "Whatever your car does on diesel, it'll do on hemp. It's even possible to process hemp for a gasoline engine, but it's more complex."

When asked why one should use hemp for fuel, Wirtshafter responded, "What humanity is doing on a massive scale right now is pulling carbon out of the ground in the form of fossil fuels and spewing it out as carbon dioxide gas, adding to global warming. Biofuels, hemp included, give us the chance to grow our fuel, thereby living off the energy from the sun rather than spending our 'savings bank' of hydrocarbons. At the same time, like all plants, hemp would absorb carbon dioxide as a natural life process."

Hemp is legal in some 30 countries, including all of Europe, Canada and China. As a crop, its fiber yields textiles such as paper, cloth and rope, while its oil is used for paint, varnish, lubricants and highly nutritious food. Cultivating hemp has been illegal in the United States since 1937, because marijuana is made from hemp's flowers, buds and leaves. This ban was briefly suspended during World War II, when the United States could not import hemp fiber from the Far East for use in rope.

Hemp legalization advocates argue that the plant is ideal for biofuel use. "It yields about four times more seed oil than soybeans," Greyson Sigler said. "It grows widely in all climates with little fertilizer or pesticides needed than most crops. It's cheap, drought-resistant and very easy to cultivate. Hemp is, in my opinion, the world's most prodigious renewable resource. It could help California out with its power problems and keep the U.S. from drilling for oil in Alaska."

Sigler added that biodiesel releases 80 percent less emissions on average than gas.

"There are no sulfur byproducts, although there are slightly increased nitrogen oxide emission, most of which can be tuned out," he said. Sulfur and nitrogen oxides are pollutants and common byproducts of combustion.

While the conference at which the hemp car debuted was more focused on legalizing marijuana for responsible adult recreational use, the meeting's director, Allen St. Pierre, stressed the hemp legalization debate should expand to include the plant's industrial applications.

"It's just so hard to get beyond the giggle, the public trivialization of this," said St. Pierre, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "We call it the 'rope vs. dope debate.'"

"But I have great faith that the pragmatism of big oil companies will move legalization forward," he added. "You'll start to see a cultural eraser -- it's not the hippies in the park that are asking for it to be legal, but people who will note at least six or seven of the founding fathers were prolific hemp growers, including Jefferson and Washington."

The hemp oil used for the record-setting trip comes from Canada. Though hemp oil currently costs some $50 per gallon, Wirtshafter hopes legalization could drive the cost down in the United States to as low as pennies per gallon. "We're not going to be economical until we're able to produce hemp oil without our handcuffs on," he said.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws gave $1,000 to subsidize the hemp car and may sponsor more funds in the coming months. "We were very impressed. We thought they were very well-versed and serious-minded. They weren't full of hyperbole, and they weren't naïve -- they knew this was going to be difficult."

The Sigler's car is not the first hemp-fueled vehicle. In fact, Gatewood Galbraith, who ran for governor of Kentucky in 1991 on a pro-hemp platform, drove around in a retrofitted Mercedes Benz during his election campaign.

The Siglers expect to get a warm reception during their trip. "Most people are really happy about it," Grayson Sigler said. "We got truckers blowing their horns and people flashing their lights on the way here. We even ran into some police officers who think it's fun."

St. Pierre noted that the only distinctive side effect bystanders may experience from the car is "a funky odor. Most people who are familiar with the smell of burning seeds of marijuana will sniff and say, 'Hey, it's an odd smell.'"

Note: Hemp car to make record 10,000-mile trip.

Source: United Press International
Author: Charles Choi, UPI Science Writer
Published: Thursday, April 19, 2001
Copyright: 2001 United Press International
Website: http://www.upi.com/

Criteria for reasonable biofuels: Seven points

Glenn Lieding — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:37:59 EST

I think biofuels only makes sense if they are made from non-food sources that are grown in areas unsuitable for food production. I think it's a sin to use up a whole village's worth of food just so that you can keep a Hummer fueled up. Also, the source should yield several times more energy than it takes to produce it. Corn-based ethanol fails badly on all of these criteria.

However, there is another plant that has been with mankind since the beginning that would solve our biofuel needs while at the same time help to solve worldwide hunger and malnutrition.

The War on Some Drugs Must End

Derek — Thu, 24 May 2007 01:57:30 EDT

I am not going to write a 2000 word essay. I will say only this: Obama would be extremely smart to embrace ending the War on Drugs, pushing for a legalize-and-regulate approach to the drug problem. The drug war is the problem, not the drugs themselves. Prohibition didn't work for alcohol, and it doesn't work for marijuana, LSD, cocaine, heroin, or any prescription drug either.

The Republicans' Ron Paul already supports this position, and he is probably going to end up winning their primary. The Democrats NEED someone who supports legalization this 2008, and Obama should have plenty of reasons to want to support it too.

Want to get rid of gangs and some of the violence in the streets? Legalize and regulate drugs! Take the control of supply away from the criminals and put it into the hands of responsible citizens and local government. This will allow the police to focus their efforts and resources on stopping violent crimes.

Want to help the economy? Legalize and regulate drugs! Tax it and make billions of dollars. Let US farmers grow acres upon acres of hemp for the 25,000 things it can be used for. Legalizing and regulating it would also completely remove the medical marijuana issue from this conversation, allowing researchers full autonomy in developing products and treatments based off of the marijuana plant, and doctors full authority to again prescribe this invaluable plant. Sure, a bunch of jailors, the DEA, a bunch of cops, and a lot of other people will lose their jobs, but that doesn't matter. A whole new industry will start, giving Americans a wide range of legal drugs with which to enjoy their lives. Hemp itself was considered a billion dollar industry back in the 1930's... I wonder what that translates to today. The market for hand blown glass, rolling papers, blunts, and other paraphernalia will likely grow as well.

Want to help the environment? Legalize and regulate drugs! Hemp is the best biomass ethanol fuel available - much better than corn - and the plant itself can not get enough carbon. It's like the silver surfer of the plant world - it converts all the CO2 it can get into heady goodness for anyone involved.

Want to help stop terrorism! Legalize and regulate drugs! Allow Americans to grow coca plants and poppy plants, to produce the cocaine and heroin locally. Stop forcing Americans to give their money to Afghanistan or al-Qaeda, when they could be buying pure 100% American grown and produced stuff instead.

This post turned into a longer one than I had anticipated, but my point remains. Barack Obama - Please support the legalization and regulation of drugs, especially marijuana!

Barack Obama Should Openly Support Ron Paul's H.R. 1009

Groverblue — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:50:07 EDT

Yes, I know it's a House Resolution, but vocally he should support it.

INDUSTRIAL HEMP FARMING ACT OF 2007

The bills co-sponsors (Rep):

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)         Barney Frank (D-MA)
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)            Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)       Jim McDermott (D-WA)
George Miller (D-CA)            Pete Stark (D-CA)
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

"It is indefensible that the United States government prevents American farmers from growing this crop. The prohibition subsidizes farmers in countries from Canada to Romania by eliminating American competition and encourages jobs in industries such as food, auto parts and clothing that utilize industrial hemp to be located overseas instead of in the United States," said Dr. Paul. "By passing the Industrial Hemp Farming Act the House of Representatives can help American farmers and reduce the trade deficit -- all without spending a single taxpayer dollar."

Milton Friedman [founding father of the Reagan Revolution] leads a list of more than 500 economists from around the U.S. who today will publicly endorse a Harvard University economist's report on the costs of marijuana prohibition and the potential revenue gains from the U.S. government instead legalizing it and taxing its sale. Ending prohibition enforcement would save $7.7 billion in combined state and federal spending, the report says, while taxation would yield up to $6.2 billion a year.

Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcoholic beverages would produce combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion and $14 billion per year, finds a June 2005 report by Dr. Jeffrey Miron, visiting professor of economics at Harvard University.

Criminalizing marijuana causes problems:

Unnamed Florida college student
On June 6, 2003, a 19-year-old Alachua County, Florida, college student was raped by his cellmate as he served the first of four weekend sentences for delivering marijuana, a felony offense. The student's cellmate was a violent offender in jail awaiting trial on sexual battery charges; the two men shared a cell because of jail overcrowding.

Cheryl Noel
In January 2005, 44-year-old Cheryl Noel was shot and killed by police officers raiding her Maryland home for drugs. Noel, who had been asleep when the raid started, came to her bedroom door with a gun — presumably in self-defense — and was shot and killed. Noel's husband, son, and a family friend staying in the house were charged with possession of a small quantity of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Clayton Helriggle
In September 27, 2002, armed police officers raided a rural farmhouse in West Alexandria, Ohio, based on a tip from a convicted felon that there were drugs in the house. Nearly 30 officers, clad in body armor and riot shields, stormed the house with a battering ram and detonated stun grenades to disorient the occupants of the house. Awoken from his nap by the noise, 23-year-old Clayton Helriggle walked downstairs — allegedly with a gun — and was promptly shot in the chest by police. Two minutes later, he was dead in the arms of a roommate.

Jimmy Montgomery
Paraplegic medical marijuana patient Jimmy Montgomery was given a life sentence (later reduced to 10 years) for possessing two ounces of marijuana with intent to distribute. Evidence that he intended to distribute the marijuana came from a sheriff's deputy who was later convicted of embezzling seized property and assets.

Resources

From Cancer to Jail - the plight of the cancer patient in a medical marijuana legal state.

T from Lake Forest, CA — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:20:34 EST

When is the Senator going to answer my email and phone call about this issue?

DOES the Senator support the DEA riding roughshod over the rights of the states to declare what is or is not medicine?

Is it alright for the Federal government to imprison the terminally ill just for seeking a legal medication within their state?

When is an elected official going to grow a pair and admit the truth - hemp is a safe and useful substance and should not be reason for arrest and imprisonment.