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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: one_less who wrote (9983)	10/17/1998 11:38:00 PM
From: jbe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 67261

*******OFF TOPIC: THE RESURRECTION OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP******** Brees, one positive effect of all your potshots (pun) is that they inspired me to do a web search on industrial hemp. Seems quite a few states are looking into legalizing it, including Kentucky, Vermont, and Colorado. And legalization seems to have a great deal of popular support in those states: according to a survey conducted in Kentucky in 1995, for example, 77% of the respondents favored legalizing industrial hemp as a cash crop for farmers. The Colorado legislature actually passed a Hemp Production Act back in 1995, but I gather it may still be hung up on DEA opposition. See: rella.com This section of the report on the Act explains why the legislators were not worried about people trying to roll a joint from an industrial hemp plant (but then, you know this already, don't you?): II. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HEMP AND MARIJUANA** Hemp is an ancient fiber and seed crop that is often described as marijuana's misunderstood cousin. (6) The once prosperous American hemp industry was dealt a fatal blow when it was made the inadvertent victim of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 (7) ("1937 Act"). While hemp and marijuana are both products derived from the same plant species, Cannabis sativa, they are produced independently by different Cannabis strains.(8) Hemp generally refers to the high fiber Cannabis varieties that have extremely low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content.(9) THC is a Cannabis by-product that is found in the resin secreted by the plant, and it is this ingredient that gives marijuana its psychoactive properties.(10) Marijuana refers to the leaves and flowers of certain Cannabis species containing one percent to ten percent THC concentrations.(11) High-fiber hemp strains are incapable of producing marijuana, and high-THC marijuana strains produce small amounts of low-quality fiber.(12) In order for Cannabis plants to be classified as hemp under European Economic Community standards, which have been proposed in Kentucky and Colorado, the plants must contain no more than 0.3% THC.(13) Marijuana on the other hand, ranges from one percent to over ten percent THC.(14) THC was only identified as the active ingredient in marijuana in 1974,(15) so classification based on psychoactive content was not possible when Cannabis was first regulated in the 1930s. In 1995 however, a simple chemical analysis can accurately differentiate between Cannabis-hemp and Cannabis-marijuana.(16) The European Economic Community certifies twelve Cannabis seed varieties that produce only high-fiber, low-THC hemp.(17) And here is a good site for general information on the issue: greendesign.net From what I can gather, the DEA is not really worried about industrial hemp being a "gateway drug." What they are afraid of is that once industrial hemp is legalized, the push will be on for the legalization of marijuana. The industrial hemp forces deny it. But even if it were true, as a non-pot-user, I am not afraid to say -- So what? Why not follow up a little sanity on the hemp issue with some sanity on the marijuana issue? (I have in mind decriminalization, which as you know, is not the same as legalization.) And speaking of hidden agendas: What is the hidden agenda of the DEA? They don't want their budget cut, perhaps? jbe