There’s a Hemp bill in California that needs the attention of all California Boo-sters.
But wait. Some background….
We used to make a lot of things from hemp. Hemp farmers were happy. Not because they were getting high on it, but it do love to grow, is hardy, and bugs don’t much like to fool with it.
During WW2, the government cranked up hemp production, but After the war ended, quietly shut down all the hemp processing plants and the industry faded away again.
The Hemp Industry Assoc.
I say let’s crank that sucker back up again…so follow me down to where the roots feed….
In 1997, the USDA Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin conducted an evaluation of hemp as a potential feedstock for the paper industry in that state. They concluded that “… hemp could profitably be used as a fiber source for the paper industry” and that “Wisconsin farmers could meet the demand for fiber by the fine paper manufacturers of Wisconsin.
The Vermont State Auditor’s Report on the Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP), published in 1998, found that the national average for ditchweed seized under the DCE/SP in all 50 states was 99% as of 1996. The study notes that over $9 million was spent on this program in 1996 and that out of 422,716,526 cannabis plants eradicated, 419,660,022 were low-THC ditchweed, also known as industrial (feral) hemp. The report recommends that policymakers who are concerned that the federal cannabis eradication program focuses so heavily on wild industrial hemp consider lobbying the DEA to change the DCE/SP grant to target cultivated cannabis more exclusively.
This report indicates that millions of our tax dollars are wasted on eradicating harmless low-THC industrial hemp plants instead of focusing on the eradication of cultivated marijuana. More recent 2001 statistics show that more than $13 million in taxpayer funds were spent on this boondoggle program. Vote Hemp
In my own state, all I can say is “Bless Virginia’s Legislators little hearts”….
WHEREAS, similar to jute and flax, industrial hemp’s three principal raw materials–fiber, hurds, and seeds can be used in more than 25,000 products, including textiles, rope, cellulose plastics, resin, particle board, paper products, shampoo, vitamins and oil; and
WHEREAS,WHEREAS,WHEREAS,
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Commission on Rural Prosperity be requested to consider the growth and production of industrial hemp in Virginia as a means to promote rural prosperity
…..yada yada, that was in 2001, I think. I will need to do a little additional digging and see if any of the requested consideration has occured.
Ok, so what about California? Consumers, staart your keyboards….
The Call to Arms:
BENEFIT OF GIVING FARMERS THE RIGHT TO GROW HEMP: PRICELESS!
The next six months is a crucial time for lobbying legislators about the California Industrial Hemp Farming Act – AB 1147, introduced by Asm. Mark Leno of San Francisco. Vote Hemp has hired Michael Greene,
of CDS Consulting, to be our lobbyist in Sacramento and help us secure passage. A plan has been created to educate influential members of committees that will be hearing the bill, as well as all members of
both chambers of the legislature and the Governor’s office. Michael Greene will also help us to build grassroots and business support for the legislation. We recently held a press conference in Sacramento to announce AB 1147. Read more at:
We urgently need your help in covering costs for this major effort to secure passage of AB 1147 which could be as much as $11,000 over six months. Fortunately, AlpSnack(http://www.Alpsnack.com) has generously offered to match dollar for dollar donations for this effort.
Every dollar you give over the next six months is actually worth two!
Some of the notable supporters of AB 1147 include the California Certified Organic Farmers, Rain Forest Action Network and Organic Consumers Association. Despite these groups’ public support, it’s up to the Hemp Industry to pay the bills. Send donations to:
Vote Hemp
P.O. Box 862
Bedford, MA 01730
And of course, there is a paypal donation button on the site.
The Vote Hemp site also supplies some marvelous links to such sites as the We The Planet vegetable oil bus tour, The Living Tree Paper Company and Carbohydrate Economy Clearinghouse.
I read, at the Carbohydrate Economy Clearinghouse, that in 1941 Henry Ford built a plastic car made of fiber from hemp and wheat straw. And that anything made from a hydrocarbon can be made from a carbohydrate. That the 21st century should be the era of the carbohydrate (sustainable agricultural products.)That Hemp plastic is biodegradable, synthetic plastic is not.
“Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forests and mineral products in the annual growth of the fields? Many of the raw materials of industry which are today stripped from the forests and the mines can be obtained from annual crops grown on the farms.” -Henry Ford
Why indeed? WTF? Boy,howdy.
“Over 25,000 products can be manufactured from hemp, from cellophane to dynamite.”
Popular Mechanics, 1938
One acre of hemp can produce as much usable fiber as 4 acres of trees or two acres of cotton.
ecomall/hemp products
Emmasnacker look good in blue hemp clothes, ya think?
Oh dear. An extra linky thing here. Wher’d that come from, I wonder. It’s one that shouts “Read me”, and is food for a whole new diary. You know how it is when a person starts following links. Sometimes they follow you home.