Pubdate: Wed, 11 Jul 2012
Source: Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
Copyright: 2012 C.E.G.W./Times-Shamrock
Contact:  http://www.metrotimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1381
Author: Larry Gabriel
Column: Higher Ground

HEP ON HEMP

Why Industrial-Grade Hemp Should Be a Vital Part of Our Economy

The United States government has cried wolf about cannabis so many
times that its credibility on the subject must be at an all-time low.
Nowhere is that more apparent than when it comes to hemp.

Hemp is a strain of cannabis sativa, but is sort of the nerdish,
boring, industrious cousin of the plants people use for medicine, and
to just get stoned. Hemp doesn't get you high at all, but it is useful
in many other ways as textiles, paper, food, fuel and much more. A
Jan. 19 paper from the Congressional Research Service titled Hemp as
an Agricultural Product estimates that the global market for hemp
includes some 25,000 products.

So why is this product prohibited rather than a vital part of our
economy? As far as I can tell it's because the government thinks
people are stupid. The simple reason given for hemp prohibition is
that law enforcement is too dense to recognize the difference between
a field of marijuana and a field of hemp. It would probably take about
10 minutes to explain it to a 10-year-old. Marijuana is grown for its
THC-rich buds, which form on the end of its leafy branches. The more
branches, the more buds. Most marijuana growing operations feature
shorter, bushier plants with lots of branches that are planted several
feet apart so that the sun can get to its lower branches. These are
created by pinching off the ends of the stems, causing them to branch
out.

Hemp is grown for the fibrous main stem, its trunk, so to speak, and
its seeds. In order to get the longest stem, hemp plants are sown a
few inches apart so that the plants literally compete for sunlight by
reaching up. Anybody who has visited a dense forest has seen the
phenomenon of a canopy of tall, skinny trees with few lower branches
and very bushy tops. That's the way hemp is produced, in order to
maximize the harvest of fibers. Pinching the ends to make the plant
bushy is a no-no.

It's true that the leaves are identical. However, cannabis is grown
for the THC; hemp contains only negligible traces of the substance. As
for any law enforcement officer who can't figure it out, technology
has advanced to the point where you can actually test the stuff. It's
not that hard. There is no need for cops to stand around in a field
sniffing at a plant to try to figure out what it is.

You could come across a situation where a hemp farmer hides a few
marijuana plants among the rest of his crop. It could happen. But by
that standard it would be akin to prohibiting cars because some people
drive too fast, or prohibiting alcohol because some people drink too
much.

At the same time you have the weird situation of a vast,
multibillion-dollar marijuana underground wherein people pretty much
use pot with impunity in order to get high. Yep, a lot of people get
arrested for marijuana use or distribution, but that doesn't seem to
stop much of the action.

Nobody is producing underground hemp - at least that I've heard of.
There is not enough profit in it to risk running afoul of the law.
Instead, we import piles of it from China, Canada and other countries
where they grow it. Oh, yeah, we get a lot of marijuana from other
countries too.

I'm not going to wax poetic about all the wonderful products that can
be made from the hemp plant or how it could boost our economy. There
are a lot of folks out there talking about those things, and I'm no
economist. It's just that I find hemp prohibition to be flat-out
stupid - way stupider than marijuana prohibition. When it comes to
marijuana, there are effects that just make some people uncomfortable.
But with hemp, there is simply nothing to object to other than the
plant looks like marijuana.

Regardless of that anomaly, the two are cousins and seem to get
treated the same. Since marijuana is coming out to the light of day
through medicinal use, decriminalization and legalization initiatives,
hemp is following a parallel path toward respectability.

In June, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the Industrial Hemp Act as
an amendment to the Farm Bill. Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ken.) and Jeff
Merkley ( D-Ore.) co-sponsored the amendment. But it was pulled from
the Farm Bill because, in Wyden's words, it was considered
"non-germane" since the Controlled Substances Act would have to be
amended to allow hemp farming. Had it passed, though, the amendment
would have been a watershed for hemp farming.

"It [the amendment] defines industrial hemp and excludes it from the
definition of marijuana and leaves decisions on hemp farming up to the
states," says Tom Murphy, national outreach coordinator for Vote Hemp
and a spokesman for the Hemp Industry Association. "Wyden is
interested in reintroducing it as a stand-alone bill. We were hoping
to have it introduced before the August recess."

It's not just federal legislation in the works. Nine states - Hawaii,
Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont and
West Virginia - have legalized cultivation and research of industrial
hemp. However a grower still must get a permit from the DEA in order
to grow hemp. The DEA has not handed out any permits for hemp farming.

The state-by-state strategy is the same one used by medical marijuana
activists and by those who want to legalize it outright. If you get
enough states on board, eventually making a national move could be
much easier. In Michigan, it could be a county-by-county strategy to
get the state there, but we are far from that. Only three of
Michigan's 83 counties have passed resolutions calling on the state to
support hemp farming.

"Michigan would be a great state for hemp farming," Murphy says. "Sen.
Debbie Stabenow has the Grow It Here, Make It Here initiative. A
number of car manufacturers use natural fiber in reinforced plastic
for car parts. It would be a great boon for the state, not only for
farmers; it has industrial applications."

Murphy points out the changes that have taken place regarding hemp
during the last couple of decades: "We have made big strides;
industrial hemp is grown again in Canada. That started in 1998. In
Germany, they figured out how to run hemp seed through a modified
buckwheat machine that makes it incapable of germination. The shelled
seed is an important import; it is exempt from the definition of
marijuana. The United States is a large market for hemp food. The hemp
food and cosmetics market is more than $418 million a year."

Sharing in that is not going to rescue our economy, but every little
bit helps when it comes to putting Detroit back on its feet.

The folks at Vote Hemp plan to continue their state level work,
supporting legislation and resolutions, encouraging activists to work
locally to change the tide. It's not flashy work, but hemp and
marijuana seem to be traveling the road to respectability together.
Public opinion polls show that the people are about ready to make some
changes. That might not be the same for legislators.

Cannabis of any kind just seems to make them stupid.
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MAP posted-by: Matt