[robertpaulsen]

"the DEA has never granted one"

I believe they recently granted one in Hawaii.

With the exception of WWII, hemp hasn't been grown (as a viable industry) in the US for the last 100 years.

Please ask yourself, "Why now?" "With all the other materials out there, including synthetics, why hemp?" "Even if it were legal to grow, why grow it rather than import the finished hemp product?"

With the fairly recent push for medical marijuana, marijuana decriminalization, and even marijuana legalization, it's highly suspicious to anyone with an IQ greater than room temperature that suddenly we're told that everyone wants hemp. I don't buy it.

Question: Why did hemp activist Woody Harrelson join the NORML Advisory Board?

[ellery]

We're discussing dual use technologies that by definition some people will want to use legitimately and some will want to use illigitimately. You've said that you don't believe that every product that is sometimes used illicitly should be banned. For every Woody Harrelson, I can show you an article about farmers who want to cultivate it as a legitimate crop for everyday products such as fabrics, paper, etc. These farmers have been asking the government all along to lift the ban on industrial hemp -- this is not a recent phenomenon.

So, my question remains: why do you believe that cultivating hemp should remain illegal, since it is a dual use product with many legitimate uses? This stance is inconsistent with your belief that other dual use products should be legal.