Posted on 10/28/2009 1:38:45 PM PDT by autumnraine
Montana this month issued its first license for an industrial hemp-growing operation to a woman who said she wants to develop a domestic market for the plant despite federal law barring its cultivation.
Laura Murphy, of Bozeman, was the first to apply for the two-year license since the state Legislature approved hemp's commercial cultivation in 2001.
Federal law prohibits such activity, but the license issued by the Montana Agriculture Department on Oct. 14 could challenge whether the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is willing to override the state.
Hemp is similar to illegal marijuana but without the mind-altering ingredient of the drug. It is grown in parts of Canada and Europe and has a range of uses, from fibers for clothing to a source of biofuels.
Murphy called the application process "pretty easy."
"I went in and had a criminal history check and fingerprints and said I had land to grow it on," she said. "They didn't have an official license for me; it's just a letter."
She said she intends to lease 160 acres of unused ranch land near Ennis and is trying to arrange contracts with buyers.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Well its completely foolish to ban its cultivation. After all you can import hemp products all day long.
That’s what I’m saying!
Paper, fabric (the fibers are coarser than but similar to linen), rope (all the rope in the days of sail were made of hemp); there are numerous legitimate products that hemp can be used for.
Yeah! Save the Forests! That’s the ticket!...........................
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
Was it the lumber groups or was it the newly forming nylon/plastics industries?
Probably some of both.
Heck, the stuff grows like weeds (well, it IS a weed!) and the fibers are very versatile and durable.
Hemp Jeans!!
Cripes, the cotton ones I get lately, seems like you wear them two or three times and they already are having holes start...
Agreed....there are so many things we can make from it, it isn’t even funny....talk about some tough canvas, etc......
I make doobies out of it!
It grows wild along country roadsides in the midwest.
Which came first? Hemp then manipulated to produce marijuana or the other way around?
I often wondered why the folks from the government couldn't tell the difference between a product that had been used for centuries to make rope among other things, and the stuff that made you higher than the kite the rope was attached to. I dunno’ seemed simple enough for us country folk. I guess you had to be city folk to figure out a make work project. Folks on the farm didn't have time to pay attention to all that stuff.
Since marijuana in it’s natural form contains THC, it would seem it would be the marijuana THEN the hemp.
Hope she gets her seeds from Holland!
This is stupid. Why should anyone need permission to grow a plant.
If the Feds don ‘t stop this I’m buying stock in Taco Bell and Twinkies.
the oil from the seeds can be used to make diesel like fuel as well as a host of other chemicals. the byproduct makes an excellent livestock feed.
The stupid part is that we import hemp products.Go into any walmart and look in the arts and crafts dept...You’ll find ....that old brown itchy rope that we all had way back when...We used it for everything...it was the cloth version of duct tape.
The fact that it was illegal to begin with is a joke.
YES! They used to make sails for massive ships out of them. And my mother said the ropes they used made with hemp would last practically a lifetime. Now the cotton/poly blended crap starts to fray within a month or two of being in the weather.
You make doobies out of hemp, all you’ll get is a big fat headache.
Hemp seed oil is also an excellent omega vitamin. Cooking with it is better than eating fish!
I read somewhere that Randolph? Hearst and the Hearst publishing empire who at the time owned large tracts of forest to produce paper for their publications had lobbied to illegalize hemp, thus preserving the value of the forest.
It has been, and still is madness, to make one of the most historically beneficial plants for earth and man illegal.
Here’s what the a couple of fairly well-known founding fathers had to say.
"The greatest service that can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture." -Thomas Jefferson
"Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth & protection of the country."
- Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President quote on Hemp
"Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!" -George Washington, The Writings of George Washington Volume 33, page 270 (Library of Congress), 1794
"An acre of the best ground for hemp, is to be selected and sewn in hemp and be kept for a permanent hemp patch." - Thomas Jefferson's Garden book 1849
The feds have no constitutional authority to regulate hemp if that hemp does not enter into interstate commerce. Montana may be doing this like it did with in-state gun manufacturing.
With or without a high THC content the cannabis plant has superior fiber. High quality cordage was probably far more valuable to hunter gatherers than the sedative and analgesic effects. Early societies likely recognized all three of hemp's major useful qualities. The seeds are highly nutritious, the fiber is long and strong and the resin has several therapeutic qualities that few other plants do. Add to that its ability to thrive in a wide variety of climates and soil conditions, wild or cultivated, and cannabis is arguably as important as wheat, rice or flax in the history of agriculture.
Blame William Randolph Hearst..
He had huge forest holdings so he had his buddies in congress change the law to his benefit.
He could control both ends of the news print business.
Why do I have the feeling that as soon as she gets her first crop, she’ll end up in the fed gray bar hotel, losing everything she owns or will own and the state agency that gave her the ‘letter’ will stand by and shrug their shoulders and say, “Hey, you can’t fight the Feds.”
The war on hemp / pot is useless. Legalize across the boards.
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