Green's article was outstanding. He wrote: "Yet from the 1930s through the 1980s, many countries, influenced by U.S. policies and persuasion, banished cannabis from their farmlands." This includes Italy, where hemp, a flourishing industry since Roman times, disappeared after World War II. There is much more than "reefer madness" involved in the U.S. government's opposition to hemp; there is a lot of heavy lobbying. Many big industries fear hemp: textiles, paper, oil and energy, plastics, chemicals and pesticides. Their powerful lobbies contribute millions of dollars to political parties on a regular basis. This explains why the stance against both marijuana and hemp is common to Republican and Democratic administrations. Giovanni Borla Milan, Italy [end]
Re: From cannabis to carburetor, (Oct. 30) Fascinating perspective, fascinating article. Unfortunately, that's not the direction of the current USA administration. Unfortunately, the hemp plant also produces (oops) marijuana. Medical marijuana, which offers unique benefits in countless medical conditions, can be grown anywhere by anyone at little cost, and is non-patentable, scares the living daylights out of Big Pharma. Did I hear that Mr. Bush received in 2000 some 500,000 dollars (US) from the pharmaceutical industry? And hemp and cellulose scare many more big industries: textiles, paper, oil, and chemicals. [continues 54 words]
Your editorial "U.S. on wrong side of medical marijuana battle" (Friday) says: "We know why the Bush administration and Congress are opposed to medical marijuana -- part habit, part political cowardice, part ignorance, part indifference, part pandering to the most extreme conservative elements." You forgot one further reason: heavy lobbying. Lots of it. Marijuana, which offers unique benefits in countless medical conditions, can grow anywhere, and is non-patentable, scares the living daylights out of Big Pharma. And hemp -- from the same plant, cannabis -- scares many more big industries: textiles, paper, oil and plastics. Marijuana is, in part, a fictitious pretext: The real target is hemp. One acre of cannabis, over a 20-year period, yields as much cellulose (i.e. energy) as 4 acres of trees (USDA data). Need I say more? Giovanni Borla, Milano, Italy [end]
Dear Editor: Mr. Muse's letter to The Tomahawk sums up the issue admirably. He didn't mention one further point: Ninety years ago, drug paranoia was largely unknown in the world. After 90 years of international lobbying and political pressure by America, it has become a global problem. The futile and bloody 'war on drugs' ravages the whole planet, and the political life is poisoned everywhere. Best regards, Giovanni Borla Milano, Italy [end]
