Friday, January 18, 2013

Article in Washington Post

An article this month (13 Jan.) by Juliet Eilperin from the Washington Post underscores the national mood for making hemp legal.

"Hemp legalization effort gathers steam"


 

  • An old press oil extraction system.
An old press oil extraction system. (Hemp Oil Canada/ )

In the cannabis plant family, hemp is the good seed. Marijuana, the evil weed. Michael Bowman, a gregarious Colorado farmer who grows corn and wheat, has been working his contacts in Congress in an attempt to persuade lawmakers that hemp has been framed, unfairly lumped with the stuff people smoke to get high.
Somehow over time, as Bowman’s pitch goes, hemp, which is used to make paper, oils and a variety of useful products, was mistaken for its twin, marijuana — a.k.a pot, chronic, blunt and weed — a medicinal drug loaded with tetrahydrocannabinol that buzzes the mind. Hemp got caught up in the legendary crusade against pot popularized by the movie “Reefer Madness.” All varieties of cannabis ended up on the most-wanted list, outlawed by Congress as well as lawmakers in other nations, inspiring people to kill it on sight.
Bowman’s message is simple: Be sensible. “Can we just stop being stupid? Can we just talk about how things need to change?”

1 comment:

Carlos said...

Sadly, Mr Bowman, they will be stupid as long as we let them. Gotta make some noise and put pressure on, do what people like Greta Gaines and Mina Hegaard are doing, writing their reps and starting petitions. www.minawear.com/about-us/ hosts one that will go to the White House.