is industrial hemp different from marijauna?

It is my understanding that hemp is the stem and bark of the marijuana plant and has no THC. Hemp is used to make all sorts of stuff like rope, clothing, braceletts for pot heads .

I think only the leafs and seeds have THC the chemical that makes it a drug. I could be wrong as I have no direct experience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp

 

Are you thinking about smoking a piece of rope or something?

 

The reemergence of hemp is slowly but steadily progressing within the United States. Due to the similar leaf shape, hemp is frequently confused with marijuana. Although both plants are from the species cannabis sativa, hemp contains virtually no THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) (less than .3%), the active ingredient in marijuana. Industrial hemp has no illicit uses, it is the equivalent of non-alcoholic beer.

The most commonly seen modern hemp product is clothing. Hemp clothing is warmer, softer, more absorbent, extremely breathable and significantly longer lasting than clothing made from cotton. It is nice to have clothing that looks like linen, feels like flannel, and wears two to three times longer than other fabrics, but this is just the beginning.

The seeds are an excellent nutritional source that can provide quality fats and proteins. The hemp seed oil is utilized for it’s healing qualities in many salves and cosmetics but can also be used to create paint, varnishes, lubricants, and much more.

The high fiber content of hemp makes it a natural resource for building materials, papermaking, and even biodegradable plastics. Hemp is a presently viable environmentally sound energy source.


http://www.hemp.com/?002,000,0012,

George Washington was a hemp grower.

 

As I have mentioned in previous posts, hemp takes over our farms here in the Midwest. I spend a lot of time, money, and labor attempting to eradicate it (to comply with noxious weed laws), when it seems to be the best crop that grows here. I think the problem is twofold -- prejudice against it from a huge industry that has a vested interest in keeping it illegal (police, prisons, etc,) and the probability that some farmers would slip in so drug plants, which are of similar appearance.

I read once that an acre of hemp can produce the same amount of newsprint as ten acres of pulp trees. The hemp takes one season to grow; the pulp trees on 15 of my acres can't be harvested for 15 years!!! This is an environmental trade that we can't afford to ignore.

 

Please explain why police and prisons have a vested interest in keeping HEMP illegal?

 

Because of the billions of dollars that flow into salaries, construction, equipment, etc. for prisons, police forces, the legal system, etc. I have only one relative in that business (the rest are in intelligence), and although he personally supports legalization, his job depends upon it remaining illegal.

The fear is that legalizing hemp will inevitably lead to legalizing marijuana.

 

Elijah_L

I am in that buisess. What you have said is not true for several reasons.
The first one being that there is absolutly no shortage of customers. For every person that comes to prison we have to kick one out early to make room. This place is so packed with gangbangers, murders and child molesters its not even funney. I cant think of anybody who is here soley for marijuana possession.
In general states are not building new prisons to hold more inmates. They build when they have to because they have to replace old building and because you can only give so many early releases. If you legalized every drug, DUIs and forgery, prisons would still fill every bed with gangbangers and murders.

Salaries, prisons are goverment divisions not buisnesses. The salaries given to people mandated by law to run prisons are set no matter if inmates fill all the beds or not. We are talking about very low paying jobs even at the top. Nobody makes more money because there are more inmates. If you want ball park figures of salaries I can give them, it is pittifull.

Very few people come to prison or even jail for marijuana. If you dont have a huge amount, it is just a ticket. Jails are also full, domestic violence and DUI fill every bed every weekend.

In other words, as far as my job goes, I could care less if they leagalize marijuana, I will not affect my job in the slightest.

I agree. But the feer of legalizing marijuana is not because law enforcement will go out of buisness it is because of what it will do to our socitey. Now what it will do is arguable but the powers that be have deemed that it will not be good for our socity, it has nothing to do with $$$$$.

 

Very few people come to prison or even jail for marijuana. If you dont have a huge amount, it is just a ticket.

That is patently not true in Missouri. Simple possession is 90 days minimum, even of a pipe. In my county of 17,000, hundreds of people are sent to jail or prison each year for simple possession.

Your argument may be true in Nebraska or many of the other states that have decriminalized. A simple look at the court records published weekly in this county shows that the majority of jail sentences here are for simple possession.

The arguments I briefly detailed come from the Sheriffs Department. There is nobody in that department who supports the current law, because they are bogged down by this issue.

My stepbrother is in prison in PA for possession with intent to distribute , which intent he did not have. The law presumed intent simply by the amount (1/4 lb) he possessed, for personal use. He certainly did not get a ticket, nor does anybody in my corner of the world.

 

In any case, if the law requires me (as a farmer) to eradicate hemp on my land, which comes from the days of WWII, should I not be reimbursed for the thousand dollars I spend annually spraying and mowing? If the crop grows so well, why not go with it? We lose money on the legal crops...