Free Republic

High on Hemp America’s Most Controversial Crop May One Day Fill Supermarkets and Fuel Automobiles Even if you "Just Say No" to drugs, you've probably crossed state lines many times with large amounts of hemp. And if you haven't, no doubt one day you will. Hemp, a member of the cannabis family of plants, is related to marijuana and illegal to grow in the United States. Nevertheless, hemp is everywhere — in clothing, cosmetics and even in the door panels of more than a million Ford, Chrysler and General Motors cars. Advocates call hemp a miracle crop. It can be...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A judge on Wednesday ordered the federal government not to raid or prosecute a California group that grows and distributes marijuana for its sick members. The decision by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose was the first interpretation of an appeals court's December ruling that federal prosecutions of medical marijuana users are unconstitutional if the pot isn't sold, transported across state lines or used for non-medicinal purposes. Nine states including Cali fornia and Washington allow medical marijuana use, but the Justice Department contends that federal drug laws take precedence. Fogel ruled that the federal government...