First Hemp Crop in 60 Years

[RainDog]

http://www.koaa.com/news/new-law-allows-colorado-hemp-crop/

Springfield farmer Ryan Loflin is now watching over one of Colorado's first industrial hemp crops in almost 60 years.

According to the Denver Post , Loflin began planting 60 acres on acreage previously used to grow alfalfa on Monday. He and business partner Chris Thompson also are installing a seed press to produce hemp oil.

http://hempforyou.com/industrial-hemp-a-new-crop-with-new-uses-for-north-america/

[NaturalHigh]

1. Very cool.

My history professor told our class how important hemp rope was to the shipping industry before the "big ban."

[RainDog]

2. ...

[Yo_Mama]

16. Hemp was a pretty big crop once

Its history as a crop is intimately intertwined with American history:
http://www.hemphasis.net/History/harriedhemp.htm

In 1619, because hemp was such an important resource, it was illegal not to grow hemp in Jamestown, Virginia. Massachusetts and Connecticut had similar laws. During the 1700's, subsidies and bounties were granted in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, North & South Carolina, and the New England states to encourage hemp cultivation and the manufacturing of cordage and canvas. Unfortunately, these actions failed to establish a permanent hemp industry in any of these states.

[RainDog]

20. Yes. Hemp was essential to early American agriculture

In 1619 the Virginia Assembly passed legislation requiring every farmer to grow hemp. Hemp was allowed to be exchanged as legal tender in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.

Domestic production flourished until after the Civil War, when imports and other domestic materials replaced hemp for many purposes. In the late nineteenth century, marijuana became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was sold openly in public pharmacies.

Hemp became illegal because Mexicans migrated to the U.S. after the Mexican Revolution. From 1910 until 1920-ish, this was the impetus to ban cannabis.

California was the first state to enact prohibition against cannabis in reaction to immigration.

After the 1920s, African-Americans, particularly musicians, were targeted for arrest for possession of marijuana because, at this time, music was uniting blacks and whites in urban areas. White men's fear of black men was a big part of the reason for Anslinger's actions - he stated, outright, that the chief reason was to punish African Americans (and keep white women away from them.)

[SunSeeker]

3. Hemp produces more paper/fiber than trees do, and uses less water. A no-brainer. nt

[sofa king]

8. And then there's graphene....

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/16/supercapacitors_made_of_hemp/

http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/web/2013/05/Energy-Storing-Nanomaterial-Made-Hemp.html

That could be a really, really big deal... or a pipe dream.

[rdharma]

27. And there's also "hempcrete" and "hemp flour bread"!

[RainDog]

28. and hemp insulation

http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/construction/green/hemp-building-material1.htm

Is hemp the building material of the future? Perhaps. Houses built with hemp use less energy, create less waste, and cost less money to heat or cool. Hemp can be fashioned into fiberboard, lightweight cement roofing tiles, wallboard and other wood-like materials.

But hemp as insulation is one of the most popular ways to use the plant. Hemp insulates better than many other materials, such as cotton or wool. Hemp insulation is a composite material, in which the plant's fibers are bound with another substance. It has a low U-value, a measurement which gauges how much heat passes through a particular material. The lower the U-value, the better the material insulates. In fact, Hemp insulation has a U-value of .040, which is comparable to the U-value rate of 8-inches of fiberglass insulation [source: The Hemp Company and Combustion Research].

Hemp's R-value, which measures a material's resistance to heat flow, is also good and similar to other fibrous insulation products -- about R-3.5 per inch of thickness [source: U.S. Department of Energy]. The more the material restricts the flow of heat, the higher its R-value.

Hemp also absorbs moisture, which reduces humidity and condensation of the surrounding air, and inhibits the growth of mold [source: The Hemp Company]. While hemp insulation can help a homeowner save money on energy, its real advantage is that the plant is environmentally friendly. It takes very little energy to grow and process hemp into insulation. In addition, hemp scrubs the atmosphere of greenhouse gases [source: The Hemp Company].

[Recursion]

4. The sacramental uses of C sativa may be legally important soon

There's supposedly a religious freedom case that's being prepared about this.

[RainDog]

14. do you have a link for this one?

I'd love to see it.

Is that why Snoop Dog converted to Rastafarian?

[Recursion]

30. No, just a friend who lawyers for NORML occasionally

K Street is a small town, really...

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. It will be interesting to see how the feds respond.

To the DEA, hemp = marijuana. There is no difference.

When Albert White Plume tried to grow hemp on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the first year, the DEA came and stomped down his crop. The second year, the got an injunction against him. That injunction still stands, and there is no hemp on the rez.

[RainDog]

13. Colorado activists need to call for a national action

People from around the nation could take turns creating a human shield to make a fucking point about govt. overreach.

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Hope these guys make it.

Holder is not to be trusted.

[otohara]

7. Good, We Need to Stop Importing It From China

fuck that shit!

[formercia]

9. Hemp Oil has the best Nutrition Profile

It's even healthier than Olive Oil.

[RainDog]

11. Yes. Hemp is the most complete EFA source for humans

better than flaxseed or borage.

Hemp seed could help fight world hunger.

[grahampuba]

10. lays bare

the restriction of our freedoms and abilities to be self-sufficient.

how you have the qualifications to head a governmental agency but lack the ability to distinguish between the properties of hemp and psychoactive marijuana.

100% criminal and a crime against humanity and the planet.

[RainDog]

12. absolutely

when I started reading up on this issue - I was just dumbstruck. This is surely one of the most corrupt political practices of the 20th (and now 21st) century.

ENTIRELY destroyed my belief in rational political possibilities - to see what LaGuardia said about this, and doctors, lawyers, scientists and so on every decade since.

TOTAL CORRUPTION of American political ideals to pursue racist policy.

[DiverDave]

23. See that documentary that Woody Harelson narrates

It was a pretty through indictment of the government and that skunk ainslinger...and he WAS a skunk.

[RainDog]

29. A car grown and fueled from the soil

Henry Ford's famous (for some of us) hemp protype car that ran on hemp fuel - all grown on his land.

[Yo_Mama]

15. DOJ carpet bombers begin firebombing 5-4-3-2-1

Farmer is arrested, threatened with 40 year term. All bank accounts seized.

Bankers prosecuted for letting him have an account.

Let freedom ring.

[RainDog]

17. And then the next American revolution begins...

because this issue crosses traditional political lines. this is a bipartisan issue - people want the feds to stop lying.

70 years of lies and propaganda is enough.

[Yo_Mama]

18. I think yes, people have had enough.

I do not think the federal government has gotten the message, though.

[DCKit]

19. "Bankers prosecuted..." You've got a wicked sense of humor. nt

[Yo_Mama]

21. Oh, I don't have a sense of humor that good

The Feds genuinely are threatening bankers under money laundering regs if they do business with med marijuana supply houses or growers. I mean, if I were that farmer's banker I genuinely would be crapping my britches and calling my bank counsel, and I have to tell you that the farmer may find his banking accounts cut off on advice of counsel.

So, here's the scoop. If you are a big wig at MF Global, and you steal more than a billion dollars of your customer's money out of their segregated accounts, which happens to be a flagrant violation of US law, DOJ decides no crime, no prosecution.

If you are a poor stupid guy in a credit union who fails to ask enough questions about one of your customers who has a little store and it turns out he has something to do with med. marijuana, your regulator may cut off your balls and feed them to you on a plate (MOU -- you admit wrong and thank the agency for allowing you to give them all your money)

It's been going on for several years now.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2011/mar/16/feds_squeeze_banks_bid_freeze_ou
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/justice-department-targets-banks-medical-marijuana-crackdown/story?id=14811540#.UZVIMcpu-ls
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_22751888/colorado-pot-businesses-cannot-bank-and-no-solution-is

[RainDog]

25. This reality makes me want to puke

Lawrence Lessig did a good TED talk about the lack of equity in our laws and, most importantly, in the shaping of our very government because of the special treatment the wealthy receive because they fund elections.

We don't have a democracy. We have a kleptocracy.

[dreamnightwind]

35. Thanks, excellent post - nt

[DiverDave]

22. I'm tellen ya, drive on I-40 in Ark. it grows in the ditch

wizzen by at 65, I THOUGHT that was weed.
Talked to a truckstop waitress and danged if it aint.
Got away from the farmers in the 20's-30's and grows wild.
No THC to speak of, just hemp.
Thats cool that they can finally make some cash off of it.

[burnodo]

24. K&R

[rdharma]

26. All I can say...... It's about damn time! eom

[OneGrassRoot]

31. K&R n/t

[duhneece]

32. I won a door prize with Hempz lotion & lip gloss

Great products, usually sold in salons I've been told. I'm trying to find the local source so I can reward them by buying some at their store.
I'm so glad to hear this. The hemp industry could be the answer to many farmers' prayers. Thanks for sharing, RD.

[Marrah_G]

33. This is awesome news!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RainDog]

34. Yep

It made me so happy to read about this.

Here's to a better tomorrow....