New title, same bill

Those of us who are hoping to see industrial hemp legalized in the United States were encouraged after the 2010 congressional elections.  Every one of the twenty-five Members of the House of Representatives who co-sponsored H R 1866, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009/10 were re-elected.  The most important member, of course, is Rep. Ron Paul, R., TX, the original Tea Partier, who sponsors a version of this bill pretty much every year.

What this bill would do is redefine the term marijuana so that it no longer includes its blue-collar cousin, hemp.  Marijuana, of course, has been selectively bred long enough so that it has become considerably more potent than the varieties available at Woodstock.  This is done primarily by growing only female plants, the one that produces flowers. 

If there is a male plant in the vicinity, it will pollinate the female plant.  The female plant will then produce seeds, and that produces a subpar pot plant.  Wouldn’t get a fly high, in the words of Cheech and Chong.

One of the most quoted excuses for keeping industrial hemp illegal is that it is the same thing as a marijuana plant.  Except that it contains almost no tetrahydrocannibinol and would render any illegal pot plants worthless, and we’ve already discussed why.

Well, Ron Paul isn’t buying the idea that industrial hemp is nothing more than a variant of marijuana.  That’s why he has reintroduced his bill-this time it’s H R 1831-the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011/12.  By the way, it still has those same twenty-five Members of the House of Representatives as cosponsors.

What it doesn’t have is a snowball’s chance in the abode of the wicked.  As was the case in years past, this bill will be assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.  The Chair of this committee, Lamar Smith, R, TX, sadly, does not support the aims of this bill, and while he has referred it to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, he does not anticipate bringing it up for a vote.  This was the same fate, by the way, of H R 1866.

Oddly enough, the U. S. is almost alone in banning production of industrial hemp.  Canada, for instance, legalized it in 1998.  China is the world’s largest producer of hemp.  And can you guess who the leading importer of hemp is?  Oh, go ahead and take a wild guess.  What nation has outsourced so many of its jobs to the People’s Republic and now imports almost everything from it?  Yep, it’s the same country that keeps it illegal to grow within its own borders.  Of course we are talking about the good old U. S. of A. 

How much hemp does the U. S. import?  That’s a tough one to answer, because the U. S. doesn’t officially keep tabs on it, but industry reps claim that products that contain imported hemp are valued at more than $300 million each year.  That figure could easily climb and would provide American farmers with a crop that could yield around $300.00 an acre profit.

Of course, this can never be because the feds are on the job, and as long as they have anything to say, this drug, in the same class as heroin, will never be unleashed on an unsuspecting public.