Hemp Seminar in Colorado

Caren Kershner in the Valley Courier has a great story about a hemp event in Colorado, which is getting ready for hemp farming - or at least a battle with the federal government which insists it is illegal...lots of this is covered satirically in Doonesbury, with slacker Zonker going out to grow 'artisinal cannabis', i.e. pot, so that really does miss the point. One would think that such a liberal cartoonist would have a better handle on the issue, but one has to put in to focus the reality of a lot of these lefties - they are in it for the $ and so cannot be trusted to act. Else they would have come along decades ago and not just this year! But it is nice to have them finally take notice, and always good to have anyone sign the petition to the White House at www.minawear.com/about-us/


VALLEY — Along with the passage of Amendment 64, which regulates the use of recreational marijuana, came an unexpected bonus for the state of Colorado. Farmers now have the option of once again growing industrial hemp.

But just what does that mean — isn’t hemp a close relative of marijuana? Yes, but with some significant differences. Although both are classified as Cannabis sativa L., industrial hemp has very little of the psychoactive ingredient THC. Industrial hemp also has an incredible number of uses, from foods to fuels. This month local residents will have a chance to learn more about this useful cousin of marijuana from some of the movers and shakers in the hemp industry.

Hemp Cleans is an organization that was formed for the purpose of initiating legislation to allow for the study of hemp cultivation as a means of remediating toxic soils. They have cooperated closely with Senator Gail Schwartz and the Rocky Mountain Farmers’ Union in crafting industrial hemp regulations pursuant to Amendment 64. They have traveled throughout the state speaking with farmers and other interested parties about the opportunities hemp provides for agriculture, industry and the environment. Now they are coming to speak with the Valley community.

Jason Lauve, Lynda Parker, and Erik Hunter will be visiting the north end of the San Luis Valley on the evening of Friday, May 17 in the Moffat School Cafeteria. They will offer a wealth of information based on their combined experience, addressing legalities and agricultural requirements, as well as hemp products and markets in the US. For those who don’t know, the school is just off Highway 17 in the town of Moffat.

The community will welcome them beginning with a ‘hemp’luck (in lieu of a ‘pot’luck) dinner , in order to give local participants an opportunity to meet the speakers on an informal basis before the scheduled presentation. Please bring a dish to share. Paper plates, cups and utensils will be provided. Doors will open at 5 p.m. with dinner to follow from 5:30 -6:30 p.m. The presentation will start promptly at 6:30 p.m. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. All are welcome, especially those who wish to learn more about this remarkable plant or wish to become involved in growing hemp locally. Detailed information will be available.

A second presentation is scheduled for the morning of Saturday, May 18 in the Trinidad State Junior College auditorium, 1011 Main St., Alamosa. Doors will open at 10 a.m. and the presentation will begin at 10:30 a.m. Once again, there will be a question and answer session following the presentation and at this presentation, hempseed cookies will be available for sampling.

Presenters are asking for a $5 donation from participants to cover the travel costs of the presenters, who are volunteering their time. However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Come and find out why industrial hemp, the crop of the forefathers, is poised to make a comeback, and why Colorado is leading the way.

Hemp plants under cultivation in Colorado

Brandon Rittiman on 9NEWS in Colorado reports on the latest on hemp:

 

DENVER - The Colorado Senate recently did what the voters asked, passing SB241.

Senate Bill 241 would legalize growing of industrial hemp in Colorado.

That vote was unanimous, but the bill still needs to pass the House.

In a warehouse North of Denver in Lafayette, 9NEWS toured a small operation growing about a dozen hemp plants.

The plants are Cannabis sativa, the same species as some marijuana plants, but this would be the marijuana equivalent of non-alcoholic beer.

When grown to produce an intoxicating drug, the plant's weight is typically five to 15 percent THC. By definition, industrial hemp must contain less than 0.3 percent of the drug.

"It'd be like smoking cabbage," Erik Hunter with non-profit group HempCleans said. "You'd get a taste in your mouth and nothing else. You wouldn't get high."

Because of the trace amounts of THC, hemp remains illegal to grow under federal law.

That wasn't always the case.

A 1942 film title "Hemp for Victory" was produced by the US Department of Agriculture to encourage farmers to grow more hemp crops for the war effort.

The stalks of hemp plants contain fibers that are useful in textiles and rope.

Without textile mills geared for hemp production, Colorado's first hemp crops will likely be harvested for hemp seeds.

Seeds can be pressed for oil, used whole in food, or ground into meal. The THC is eliminated in processing.

"Nobody has ever failed a drug test from eating hemp seeds," Hunter said.

There have been concerns that the low amount of THC in hemp could be concentrated into a drug-grade material, or that hemp crops could be used to disguise fields of drug-grade marijuana.

The bill working through Colorado's legislature would require hemp farmers to register and pay a fee with the state to cover mandatory sampling of plants. Farmers would also need to show they have an agreement with an in-state processor who will take the crops.