Jill Stein in New York outside Trump Towers

Jill Stein came to New York today and made more money for her recount project. Which is very good news for companies like Exxon Mobile, Lockheed Martin, etc. She has already $8,500,000 in such firms, so she is a loyal investor. Many in the GOP no doubt approve.

And since she raised over $6,000,000 for the recount of the votes this November in the US, she is going to have a lot more. Which some people think was going to be spent on the recount. In fact that was the premise of her solicitation.

But that is not where the money went. She could have had a recount in Pennsylvania, but she did not want to pay the state fee of $1,000,000 to pay for their workers. Maybe she expected them to do it for free. And keep the money she raised.

Arriving in New York at 10am, she headed for the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, across from which she made her speech. The press was there in great force, but only to listen to her. When I showed them the information about her, they rudely ignored it. They know she has lots of money and makes an easy story just showing up to ask for more money.

Most of the passersby knew that too. While the press was rude, the crowd reached out to me, and when I told them the facts about Stein were easy to check - and FREE - they wanted to know why the journalists were acting like petulant brats. Lots of disgust from both Democrats and Republicans on this. I ridiculed them for hours - and told one fool who wanted only an easy scoop that I could face every single American in the face after having done my bit They acted bored and stupid. They did squirm as I pointed them out, and had to endure my honest criticism for their dishonest and sloppy work.

CNN was especially rude, and this after assaulting me on 9 November when I asked them why they were only reporting one side to the story. I had to threaten them with arrest. CNN treats American with contempt by not telling the whole story, ignoring issues like hemp, Clinton's sexual abuse of Cathy O'Brien, etc.

Other outlets are also full of stupid lazy hacks. Just look at the lack of articles on hemp - compared to the multitude of articles on Kim Kardashian. Or dope. Written by dopes.

So while I am not against a recount, Jill Stein is NOT the person to be trusted with it and lots of money. Who knows what she is really doing with it. And how many fools there are in the Green Party to allow someone with the kind of investment she has to be their candidate.

That said, in case someone wants to accuse me of being some kind of right wing activist, go on this very blog and see how many times I supported Cynthia McKinney when she was the Green  Party presidential candidate. A black woman FYI. The press ignored her since she went after Bush, and did not just allow hypocrisy in the Democrat party.

So there. Let's see what Trump will do with the hemp issue, bear in mind that two top Republicans were mor in support than either Greens or Democrats, I am referring to Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, both Senators from Kentucky - and let's not forget Ron Paul, retired Congressman from Victoria, Texas, the town in which my sister runs Minawear ( www.minawear.com ).
And of course, I was wearing Minawear hemp clothing - Jill Stein was not. Very few in the Greens really support hemp now with her as their candidate, maybe they smoke dope. Must be to be giving her money.

LA Times editorial supports hemp

The following appeared in the LA Times, and wow, it really is the press we need to be getting! Congratulations to their editor, and let's hope other papers care enough about America to follow suit. The LA Times by the way did a large feature on hemp years back by Lee Green, which is noted on this blog.

Editorial

Give this plant its due: legalize hemp

The highly useful weed has been entangled too long with that other 'weed.' That's silly.

The global market for hemp consists of some 25,000 products, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service, including fabric, paper, rope, auto parts and home furnishings. (Los Angeles Times)

• Also
• A blow to California potheads
• Science isn't on the drug warriors' side [Blowback]
• The DEA's pot defense [Blowback]
• The DEA's marijuana mistake
• Forget the Russians: The drug cartels are coming
• Hey DEA dudes, drop the 'Reefer Madness' mentality
• X
  Overkill in the war on potMarijuana legalization: States send message, feds aren't listening Marijuana's hazy futureMarijuana: A failure to regulate, but not by dispensariesIn a haze on pot policy Putting a lid on L.A.'s pot dispensariesPhotos: L.A.'s marijuana dispensaries by type

 

February 25, 2013

As states of a more liberal bent battle the federal government over the legalization of medical and even recreational marijuana, another cannabis battle has reemerged in the farm states. But if pot smoking raises troubling moral and safety questions, industrial hemp does not.
Activists have been struggling to legalize hemp for decades in the U.S., but only recently has the issue seemingly caught fire in Congress. Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell signed on to legislation that had for years been championed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the former GOP presidential contender, and has now been taken up by his son Rand, the Republican senator from Kentucky. It would remove hemp from the federal government's list of Schedule 1 controlled substances and make it legal to cultivate the plant.
What's so hep about hemp? Supporters tout it as a wonder fiber with dozens of potential uses that would find a lucrative market in the U.S. But while that may be an exaggeration — hemp is unlikely to become anything more than a specialty crop for a few hundred growers supplying goods to high-end food markets and low-end textile producers — there's no denying that it's a highly useful weed. The global market for hemp consists of some 25,000 products, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service, including fabric, paper, rope, auto parts and home furnishings. Hemp seed, meanwhile, is an alternative protein source used in a variety of food and beverages, and can be pressed to make body oils, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
Despite all this, it is illegal to grow hemp anywhere in the U.S. without permission from the Drug Enforcement Administration. There are currently no active federal licenses, so all hemp products produced here are made from imported material.
Based on its classification under the Controlled Substances Act, one might suspect that hemp provides a cheap high for pot fiends, but one would have to smoke an absurd amount of rope to catch a hemp buzz. The plant seems to have been deemed guilty by association with marijuana because both come from the same species, Cannabis sativa. But just as some mushrooms are magical while others are only good in a salad, not all varieties of cannabis are the same. The intoxicating chemical in marijuana, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is heavily concentrated in the marijuana plant: anywhere from 10% to 30%. The THC content of hemp, by contrast, is less than 1%, and in the varieties legally cultivated in the European Union and Canada must be less than 0.3%.
Historically, hemp was an important crop in the U.S. before it was caught up in an anti-marijuana crusade in the 1930s. When the Controlled Substances Act was approved in 1970, it took the definition of marijuana from the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which considered all varieties of Cannabis sativa to be dangerous and narcotic. Despite court challenges, the DEA continues to insist that any plant containing THC, no matter how little, must be tightly controlled.
Legalization opponents, including the California Narcotics Officers Assn., argue that legalizing hemp would complicate the enforcement of laws against cultivating marijuana because the plants are almost indistinguishable from each other; marijuana growers, in other words, could easily conceal their plants in hemp fields. The association opposed a 2011 state bill to create pilot programs for hemp cultivation, which was approved by the Legislature but vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown because hemp production violates federal law.
Of course, few sensible growers of marijuana would raise their plants in a hemp field. The two varieties would cross-pollinate, severely lowering the pot's THC content and rendering it all but useless medicinally or as a recreational drug.
Reasonable people can disagree about whether marijuana should be legalized. But the dangers of growing industrial hemp are next to nonexistent. To date, nine states have approved its cultivation, but none has any active fields because of a refusal by the DEA to grant growing permits.
Enough. Hemp is a rare issue that Republicans and Democrats, and members of Congress from both rural and urban states, ought to be able to agree on. Legalize it.

New York Times article on hemp

The New York Times yesterday (p. A16) published an article on hemp in Kentucky, after Senator Mitch McConnell joined Senator Rand Paul in his support of hemp, and after a meeting on 11 February in which the issue was debated. Kentuckians are most supportive of this, see the plethora of previous posts for the current and past history. Below, Trip Gabriel reports on the issue as follows:

Hemp Growing Finds Allies of a New Stripe in Kentucky

The Courier-Journal, via Associated Press

In the summer of 1952, hemp plants growing wild in a lot in downtown Louisville, Ky., were killed with chemical spray.

 

FRANKFORT, Ky. — In 1996 the actor Woody Harrelson, who has a sideline as an activist for legalizing marijuana, was arrested in Kentucky for planting four hemp seeds.       

 

 

James Crisp/Associated Press

Senator Rand Paul supports legalizing the growing of hemp in the United States.

 

John Sommers II/Reuters

Woody Harrelson in 1996.

Last month Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader, announced his support for growing hemp in Kentucky, his home state.

Between those jarringly disparate events lies the evolution of hemp from a countercultural cause to an issue championed by farmers in the heartland and conservative lawmakers.

On Monday, a panel of the Republican-controlled Kentucky State Senate unanimously approved a bill to license hemp growers. It was promoted by the state agriculture commissioner and three members of the state’s Congressional delegation, including Senator Rand Paul, who removed his jacket to testify in a white shirt that he announced was made of hemp fibers.

If the bill is approved by the full Legislature, Kentucky will join eight other states that have adopted laws to allow commercial hemp growing, although the practice is effectively blocked by federal law that makes no distinction between hemp and marijuana.

Mr. Paul, a Republican, said he would seek a waiver from the Obama administration for Kentucky hemp growers, while pressing Congress to delist hemp as a controlled substance, which hemp supporters say is a legacy of antidrug hysteria.

Both plants are the same species, Cannabis sativa, but hemp has only a trace of the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Hemp’s champions see it as a source of agricultural jobs, an alternative for struggling tobacco farmers and a wonder plant with uses from bluejeans to building materials.

Attitudes are changing in surprising places. At a hearing on Monday in Frankfort, the Kentucky capital, the state police commissioner’s opposition to hemp growing was challenged by a former C.I.A. director, R. James Woolsey.

“The specter of people getting high on industrial hemp,” Mr. Woolsey said, “is pretty much exactly like saying you can get drunk on O’Doul’s.”

Hemp supporters say it is only a matter of time before legalization comes as people more fully understand the plant. They also point to states where voters legalized recreational marijuana in November — Colorado and Washington — as inevitably forcing a change in priorities in the Obama administration.

“The demonology of hemp is exposed as being not valid,” said Representative John Yarmuth, Democrat of Kentucky, a sponsor of a bill in the House to allow hemp cultivation. He said the movement to accept hemp has the same inevitability that he attributed to acceptance of same-sex marriage.

Still, the federal government has been unyielding. Farmers in states that allow hemp must seek a waiver from the Drug Enforcement Administration or risk being raided by federal agents and losing their farms.

Dave Monson, a North Dakota wheat farmer and Republican state representative, has held a state hemp license since 2007, when North Dakota legalized cultivation. But he has no plans to plant. “I applied for a D.E.A. license, never got one,” he said.

A spokesman for the drug agency said it did not keep statistics on permits to grow hemp, which it does not distinguish from marijuana under the Controlled Substance Act of 1970.

Mr. Monson knows farmers just north of the Canadian border who profitably grow hemp, and he argues that it can be an economic boon. “The more states that do what we have done in North Dakota, if we can keep the pressure on, I think we’re going to see some movement at the federal level,” he said.

Hemp supporters claim a total retail value of products containing hemp at more than $400 million in the United States. But a Congressional Research Service report last year found that imported hemp raw materials was small, only $11.5 million. All hemp used in United States today — such as in Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps sold at Whole Foods — is imported, mostly from China.

Rodney Brewer, the commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, said that if hemp farming were legal, marijuana growers would hide their plants in hemp fields and the police could not tell them apart.

“They are identical in appearance when it comes to the naked eye,” Mr. Brewer said, predicting that legalizing hemp would create a boom for pot growers.

But Mr. Woolsey, who said he favored hemp because of “my interest in prosperity for rural America,” argued that no pot farmer would hide plants in a hemp field for fear that low-potency hemp would cross-pollinate with marijuana and lower the concentration of THC, its psychoactive ingredient.

Marijuana growers “hate the idea of having industrial hemp anywhere near,” he said.

The Kentucky bill faces resistance from some lawmakers, including the speaker of the State House.

Mr. Paul, after calling attention to his hemp shirt at the hearing in Frankfort, seemed to roll his eyes when he said, “You’d think you’re at a D.E.A. hearing.”

“This is a hearing about a crop,” he said. “It’s a crop that’s legal everywhere else in the world except the United States.”

Mr. Paul, elected in 2010 with Tea Party support, promised to introduce a Senate bill as a companion to the pro-hemp bill in the House, which has 28 co-sponsors. He is following in the family footsteps, since the first House bill allowing hemp was introduced several years ago by his father, Ron Paul, a former Texas congressman and Republican presidential candidate. Ron Paul’s embrace of the issue fit his deep libertarian streak, which also at times embraced legalizing marijuana and other drugs.

Those positions placed hemp far outside the mainstream in many lawmakers’ minds, just as the image of its products — soaps, sandals and natural foods sold at co-ops — placed it in a counterculture.

But no better sign exists that hemp’s image is changing than its embrace by Mr. McConnell, the minority leader, who said in a statement last month that his mind had been changed “after long discussions” with Rand Paul and the Kentucky agriculture commissioner, James Comer, a Republican.

“The utilization of hemp to produce everything from clothing to paper is real,” Mr. McConnell said.

Clinton welcomes news of Mitch McConnell backing hemp

Here is an article by Jason Hibbs of WPSD about a small town in Kentucky that is welcoming the news about the most powerful senator in the nation, their very own Mitch McConnell, supporting hemp. This news is going somewhat viral at the moment, it has of course hit the Huffington Post where the uber liberals are reviling POTUS over the fact that this issue is being championed by the likes of Dr Ron Paul, Senator Rand Paul, North Dakota State House Majority Leader Dave Monson, and now Mitch McConnell - all of whom are GOP derechistas.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (1/31/13) – Today, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement of support for Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and the effort to re-introduce industrial hemp into Kentucky agriculture. Leader McConnell’s office issued the following statement:
POTUS will be seeing the petition from Mina Hegaard of Texas, who was in Dr Ron Paul's district until this year - go there, whether you are GOP derechist, left winger or just a sensible person doing the right, I mean, correct thing - www.minawear.com/about-us/



CLINTON, Ky. - The growing debate over hemp legalization just got an endorsement from a very powerful ally.

Thursday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell jumped on board saying he supports re-introducing industrial hemp into Kentucky agriculture. A handful of lawmakers from both parties are backing a bill that would make Kentucky one of the first states to grow hemp.
One leader in the City of Clinton, wants his town to cash in on this form of cannabis before anyone else. He created a resolution to make it official that the City of Clinton supports the "alternative crop." At last month's commission meeting, leaders postponed the decision. On Monday, however, they'll likely take a stand on an issue that makes local law enforcement and neighbors nervous.

When people in Clinton hear the word "hemp," marijuana comes to mind. It even looks like weed, which is what worries Hickman County Sheriff Mark Green.

"If it looks like marijuana, how are we going to be able to tell the difference, I don't know if we can," Green said.

Clinton commissioner Ivan Potter started the discussion with a resolution. A statement that Potter says could turn Clinton into a thriving town.

"It would be a cash crop, number one, but it would also mean jobs for our people here who don't have jobs," Potter said.

Potter said hemp would breath life into old buildings like a former shoe plant that, at one time, employed more than 300 people.

But Sheriff Green worries legalizing hemp would make fighting the war on drugs even harder.

"Until they can prove to me it's not going to hurt law enforcement, I'm not going to back it," Green said.

Potter said harvesting hemp won't hurt anything. In fact, he says it's exactly what Clinton needs.

"It's gotten a bad wrap, let's just say it's cousin marijuana is a bad, bad boy, hemp is not like that," Potter said.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture, which supports industrial hemp, said you cannot get high from industrial hemp and that the product is basically free of T.H.C., the intoxicating chemical found in marijuana.
Hemp can be used to manufacture fuel, clothing, paper, cosmetics, and other products.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture says hemp is a nightmare for marijuana because it cross pollinates and actually destroys marijuana plants in the vicinity. Also hemp plants are much taller than marijuana plants.
Clinton commissioners will vote on the resolution Monday.

US Senator Ron Wyden's 2012 Hemp Bill

While Congressman Ron Paul's Hemp Farming Bill is still in the House, not sure what will happen now that he is retiring in two weeks' time, a Senate Bill has died with even less support than Paul's. The sponsor of that bill, US Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore., in June of 2012,  issued the following statement on the amendment to the Farm bill he introduced lifting prohibitions on the growing of industrial hemp:

“I firmly believe that American farmers should not be denied an opportunity to grow and sell a legitimate crop simply because it resembles an illegal one. I fought for an amendment that would have recognized industrial hemp as a legitimate crop, but since doing so requires amending the Controlled Substances Act it was considered non-germane to the current debate and could not be brought up for a vote. Raising this issue has sparked a growing awareness of exactly how ridiculous the U.S.’s ban on industrial hemp is. I’m confident that if grassroots support continues to grow and Members of Congress continue to hear from voters then common sense hemp legislation can move through Congress in the near future.”

Let us make that grassroots support happen! Hundreds have now done just that, but signing the White House petition at www.minawear.com/about-us/

Hemp Farming Bill facts

For  hemp to be made legal in the House, it would need hundreds of Congressmen to do the right thing. So far less than 10% are behind H.R. 1831, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011, which was introduced by Rep. Ron Paul.  It now has the most co-sponsors since the bill was first introduced in 2005, a total of 31. The bill has broad bipartisan support including 7 Republicans and 25 Democrats. It gained the support of the ranking Democrat on the Agriculture committee, Rep. Collin Peterson, as well as the Republican chair of the Agriculture subcommittee on Rural Development, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture.
What this says is there is a good core base of support, aided by the ongoing petition at www.minawear.com/about-us/ - which has former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (Green Party presidential candidate 2008) as a supporter - but that there needs to be persistent lobbying of elected officials all across the nation. I would urge the reader to write to their senator and congressman and note their response (or lack of it). I would be happy to post any such action here and add a log to the fire, I can be contacted at cotingas@hotmail.com

Events and petitions and sales at Ruth's Foods

Just in from Ruth's Foods, actions, news and sales!

I was happy to see this company doing so much for hemp - check out all the events here - especially her petitions against GMO - about which we dedicated an entire chapter in the book - which did not endear us to at least one major bookshop which then refused to carry Hemp for Victory ...
But that's how it works. And I was not sad to hear that the company, Borders, went out of business.
Hemp for Victory will be available on line next year, as the publishers in London are working on that right now with Mina Hegaard of Minawear - whose company is working on their own petition,this one to make hemp legal again in the US - we are talking to Dr Ron Paul and former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney about that - if you are interested in helping in any way, or could plan an event related to that - please contace us at cannabissatival@hotmail.com -
or go to the www.minawear.com site! Let's make it a New Year's Resolution
to be active on this.
So here's to 2013 and prosperity for all in the Hemp World, scroll below to see what Ruth's Foods has been doing:

Ruth's community nutritionista Marni Wasserman is expanding her Fully Nourished business! Arriving this Spring 2013 Torontonians will be able to explore delicious knowledge first hand in Marni's midtown cooking studio.

Offering:

Cooking Classes

Workshops

Live Food Demonstrations

Market Retail items (organic food, specialty appliances, eco products)

Personal Consultations and Lifestyle Programs

Event and party space!

This project has another 46 days to raise awareness and support on Indigogo! Interested in all the details and possibly contributing? Visit: http://www.indiegogo.com/marniwasserman?c=home

Ruth's community nutritionista Ella Isakov of www.YoginiPath.com is offering an early bird special: $50 off a Winter Weekend Raw Food & Yoga Retreat this January in northern Ontario when you book by Dec 25th and participants receive yummy Ruths Foods too! Learn more and sign up here: http://www.yoginipath.com/prana-retreats--jan2013.html
GMO's: Our Right to Know ...
Petitions for your consideration, review / sign / share as applicab Via JustLabelIt.org

Tell US Congress to dump the biotech rider in the Farm Bill (that would allow GMOs regardless of other law) http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50202/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9012

Via Institute for Responsible Technology:
Sign petition to tell US Congress to support the right to know

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/448/913/868/?z00m=20411632

Write the Canadian government to avoid Legalizing Contamination from Unapproved GMO Foods: Low Level Presence (LLP). Take this action & more @ www.CBAN.ca
Mamavation has a GMO Aware Kitchen Cabinet Challenge to help you find GMOs ... check out their easy CheatSheet!

Washington State: LabelItWA.org is gathering signatures (due by 31Dec12) for an initiative to the Washington State legislature to establish mandatory labeling of foods produced through genetic engineering.

Prop 37 in California: votes from Nov 6th are still coming in, with the final tally due by December 14th. Watch the updates here and here.
 Good News: Kenya has implemented a GMO ban

GMO news: learn more & take action here ... Canada: CBAN.ca/; US: JustLabelIt.org; and North America: ResponsibleTechnology.org
NonGMOProject.org.GreenMedInfo.com is also a trusted reference.

HEMP News ...

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie is co-sponsoring legislation that would require the federal government to honor state laws allowing production of industrial hemp: read the article!
Kentucky's Agriculture Commissioner wants everyone to know he's making legalizing hemp his number one priority in 2013: check out the article & video!
Learn more, take action, sign, and check out awesome ways you can support VoteHemp here: VoteHemp.com.

Lotus announces hemp based 'green' car: watch the video!

30% off Hemp Oil through Thu Dec 13th (Eastern Time, while supplies last)!
OK: Why Hemp Oil?

It is a great vegan source of Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's): Omega 3, 6 & 9 & GLA. These keep your skin and hair beautiful, help to lower blood pressure, and keeps your joints flexible. EFAs are the main component of your brain, so they help with mental focus and development: critical for people of all ages.
And with the weather getting colder, keep warm by taking about a tablespoon of hemp oil per day, in salad dressing, over rice or pasta or on its own.
Our hemp is certified organic, and expeller pressed at low temperatures to maintain maximum integrity and taste. Stay moisturized from the inside out with this delicious oil!
Don't heat this oil up too much - it will destroy the health benefits. As well as salad dressings, you can use it as a finishing oil, pour into sauces and soups at serving time, and it makes a wicked pesto, together with our SoftHemp, or use it to make raw vegan hemp mayo!
Today only we're offering a great value on our certified organic oil: enter the code 121212 for 30% off your choice of: single bottles, half or full cases - click here to buy now.
Miss it? Don't worry, just come back next Wednesday for another fabulous special.
And remember we offer FREE SHIPPING on orders over $100 after the discount!

Have a great week!
Health and Happiness!
Check us out, like, follow, share & learn more here ...
www.RuthsFoods.com

End of year sale and other events at Minawear

Minawear is havign an  END OF THE YEAR - 15% OFF SALE!!!

Now through December 31st! Go to www.minawear.com

and use the  discount code: DEC2012

It has been a steady year over there, with new suppliers added and a number of succesful events around the state, especially Austin. Minawear is based in Victoria, Texas, which is, or was, due to some recent redistricting, in Dr Ron Paul's district. We wish him a happy retirement and that as part of his legacy, his hemp farming bill will be passed. For which, we are starting a petition to go to President Barrack Obama, and hope to raise 25,000 signatures so it will be required that he reply. If you are reading this and want to be on it, leave your details in a comment here and we will get back to you. Have a happy holiday season and let's all work together to make hemp legal again in the US where is was used to write the Constitution.

Minawear is a line of apparel created to inspire the health of the planet by using hemp, the world's most useful plant.

Minawear Luxury Hemp Loungewear
102 Holly Oak Ct.
Victoria
TX
77901

Minawear at Pecan Street Festival

Minawear will be at the Pecan Street Festival in Austin Texas this weekend, 29/30 September. It is the oldest street fair in the state, and possibly the biggest.
http://www.oldpecanstreetfestival.com/home/
Mina is by the way one of the most established hemp clothing manufacturers in the US. If you miss her in Austin, you can see her on line shop here: www.minawear.com

She happens to live in Victoria, which is in Dr Ron Paul's district, he is a sponsor of the Hemp Farming Bill which would give Americans the rights to grow the plant George Washington grew and which was used in the making of the first American flag. Some people hate America and oppose this. If you're an American, you ought to find out if your congressman is voting for this or against it. And vote him/her in if they do, and out of they don't.

In the future, we hope to see lots of hemp growing in Texas and all over America, replacing the more water hungry crops like cotton and corn which hurt farmers.

RON PAUL TALKS TO VOTERS IN DAKOTA ABOUT HEMP
February 20, 2012

TOM STROMME/Tribune

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul addressed a crowd of about 1,200 people in Bismarck on Monday evening with a speech on liberty and the role of government, prior to the Bismarck Republicans' district nominating conventions.
"It sounds like there's a lot of friends of liberty in North Dakota," Paul said as he took the stage, greeted by a standing ovation from the crowd inside the Shiloh Christian School gymnasium.
Paul's message was of reducing the size of government and spending, saying he believes the country needs to return to its roots and defend the liberties as they're laid out in the Constitution.
"When government grows, liberty diminishes," he said.
Paul said the country needs to cut spending across the board, including military spending, to rein in a ballooning national debt that he said is the fault of leadership of both political parties. He drew a thunderous round of applause by promising a reduction in spending of $1 trillion in the first year of a Paul administration.
"We need to change the philosophy of government to change the spending of government," Paul said.
He said entitlement programs need to be re-evaluated as well.
Paul said enforcement of private property rights would be sufficient to protect citizens against pollution, rather than relying on the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
"The more socialized a system is, the worse the property is, and the worse the environment is," Paul said. "We should never be bashful about saying we believe in property rights ... and we don't have to give one inch and say that we're careless with the environment, because you don't have a right to pollute your neighbor's property."
Following his speech, Paul spent time making his way from the gymnasium to the exit, passing through an enthusiastic crowd of supporters.
"I'm always amazed, but pleased, to see the enthusiasm," Paul said.
He said his grassroots campaign and message of reducing spending, size of government and promoting liberty is resonating with North Dakotans. Paul said he feels earning the support of voters and delegates in caucus states such as North Dakota is a key to victory during the Republican nomination process and in November. The North Dakota Republican Party caucus is on March 6.
"I doubt that you'll see all the candidates spending the amount of time time here as I have," Paul said.
Paul was in Jamestown on Monday afternoon before traveling to Bismarck. He also made stops in Williston and Dickinson on Sunday.
In Jamestown, Paul was critical of the federal government's ban on the cultivation of industrial hemp, a crop that is related to marijuana but does not have its mind-affecting properties.
Industrial hemp is grown in neighboring Canada and other countries, where it is used to make paper, lotions, clothing and biofuels.
North Dakota's Legislature and Agriculture Department have pushed allowing hemp to be grown in the state. A state lawmaker who wanted to cultivate the crop filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against the Drug Enforcement Administration, seeking a declaration that doing so would be legal.
"There is no reason, in a free society, that farmers shouldn't be allowed to raise hemp," Paul said during a Jamestown appearance that drew about 300 people. "Hemp is a good product."
Duane Sattler, of Richardton, was one of the sign-carrying Paul supporters who attended his Bismarck speech. His son, 13-year-old Shawn Sattler, sat nearby, waving an American flag.
"He's been standing alone a lot of times," Sattler said of Paul. "He votes for our personal freedoms, for sound money and for less government and less taxes."
He became a Paul supporter during Paul's presidential run in 2008, Sattler said. "I really went and did some research, and the deeper I dug, the more I liked the man," he said. "With the other candidates, the deeper I dug, the less I liked them."
In North Dakota's Republican presidential caucuses in 2008, Paul finished third behind Mitt Romney and John McCain, getting 21 percent of the almost 9,800 votes case.
Bismarck Republicans also heard from candidates running for governor, U.S. House, Senate and for several state departments prior to Paul's speech. Republicans from districts 7, 30, 32, 35 and 47 held their district nominating conventions Monday evening following the speeches.
Diane Larson was nominated for the District 30 House seat held by Rep. Dave Weiler, R-Bismarck, who chose not to run for re-election. Incumbent District 30 Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, and Sen. Ron Carlisle, R-Bismarck, were also nominated.
In the new District 7, Nicole Poolman defeated District 8 Rep. Dwight Wrangham, R-Bismarck, for the District 7 Senate nomination. Jason Dockter and Dr. Rick Becker were nominated for the two District 7 House seats, beating out Marty Presler.
In District 32, all three incumbent Republicans were nominated: Sen. Dick Dever, Rep. Mark Dosch and Rep. Lisa Meier.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. Reach Nick Smith at 250-8255 or 223-8482 or at nick.smith@bismarcktribune.com.Read more: http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/ron-paul-tours-north-dakota/article_f9f7e2a2-5c49-11e1-8b58-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1n5YHrld3

RISE UP BY SITTING DOWN AND PROTESTING

As I sit and blog, I am protesting. And I am hearing protest outside the window at 53rd & 7th in Manhattan. Hundreds of marchers have convened on the Sheraton while Obama is in town. For many reasons, I am not going to quit my protest and join theirs. So much for their claim that they are the 99% - of what? And what are they accomplishing? How many of them are wearing hemp? Just about 0%; but how many of them support violence? 31%, one poll says. And how many of them even know the name of their reps and have written a letter to them?
After spending time with this bunch of arrogant rich kids - many may not know this, but far from being poor the leaders are so filthy rich that they sleep in $700-a-night hotel rooms - I came to the conclusion that it would lead to nothing. Journalists became very opinionated, either for or against them, with outlandish claims made on both sides, the New York Post in an all-out war with the New York Daily News over this, but did any of the reporting do any good? I talked to journalists about the hemp issue while I was there, but the journalists wanted outlandish images, and I ahd to challenge one by asking if he was an American and if so, would he not want to report on something that would make a difference to Americans? Hell no, he just wanted weird images of so-called protesters. To hell with America was the press response.
Ron Paul's bill for hemp farming in the US was not once discussed by any of these journalists or rich kid bagels-n'-lox eating louts. Or the poor louts among them who slept rough and defecated on people's doors. Instead, they ran around and many of them, including Joshua Fellows, broke the law in the most hypocritical of ways. The 'peaceniks' actually managed to get arrested for having unlicenced handguns. Great. Welcome to NY, you're here to save the world. But getting a licence for your gun, or even for you car, is beyond your capabilities.
What would happen if this lot were granted power? Things are bad. And they would change. For the worse.
So anyone reading this who thinks the OWS is out to save you, please do not waste your time with them. Instead, join the real protest and write a letter to your reps in support of hemp and Ron Paul's hemp bill - making sure you point out that this would give jobs to Americans.
Jobs is something the OWS does not seem to get their heads around. It's not about $700-a-night hotel rooms for spoiled idiot organisers, it's not about illegal guns and driving dangerously and illegally, it's about the economy stupid...and hemp is a viable part of that, well worth protesting about. Please do; but in a fashion that is effective.

YO BAMA

In 2008 a great hope was elected to the White House. Change was in the wind and the revolution was a'coming. Yeah right. I noted then that a man who had four times as much campaign money as George Bush smelled funny and so did his backers. His dough was not grassroots; it was from bankers, and bankers don't give you dough without expecting bread in return. So much for my clever cynicism. Below are some hard facts from a Guardian reporter. She is not the only one to notice that 44 is not supporting hemp or any other environmental initiatives. It's time for a change, and while it seems a long shot, I hope to see Ron Paul in the White House next time around, search this site and others to see his support of hemp. And read below to see Obama's lack thereof:

Report Details Obama's Broken Environmental Promises

By Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian UK

29 November 11

arack Obama has been just as zealous as George Bush in stripping away environmental, health and safety protection at the behest of industry, it turns out.

Some environmental organisations were beginning to suspect this, after Obama over-ruled his scientific advisors and blocked stronger ozone standards. Now, a new report [pdf] from the Centre for Progressive Reform has dug up some key data revealing that the White House in the age of Obama has been just as receptive to the pleadings of industry lobbyists as it was in the Bush era. And it goes far beyond ozone.

Under Obama, a little known corner of the White House - known as the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or Oira - has changed more than 80% of the rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

None of these were changes for the good, the report says.

"Every single study of its performance, including this one, shows that Oira serves as a one-way ratchet, eroding the protections that agency specialists have decided are necessary under detailed statutory mandates, following years — even decades — of work."

Oira was set up by Congress with the purpose of performing a last review of government regulations to see how they would work once they were put into effect. Its current chief is Cass Sunstein, a friend of Obama from his days teaching at Harvard Law School.

In practice, critics say the office operates as a one-stop wrecking machine undoing environmental, health, and worker safety protections that could cause political problems for the White House.

When lobbying Congress and the president fails to delay or weaken a regulation, industry has learned over the years that Oira can be their last best resort, the report says.

"A steady stream of industry lobbyists — appearing some 3,760 times over the ten-year period we studied — uses OIRA as a court of last resort when they fail to convince experts at agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to weaken pending regulations."

The lobbyists were particularly obsessed with trying to undo environmental protections. Corporate executives and indusry lobbyists turned up at the White House about once a week over the last decade to try to delay or weaken EPA regulations, or more than 440 meetings.

The steady stream of oil and coal industry lobbyists to Oira did not end when Bush left office – arguably it turned into a flood. Environmental regulations made up only 10% of Oira business in Bush's time, but 36% of the office's business was meeting with outside lobbyists.

Under Obama, Oira has dedicated more than half of its meetings, 51%, to discussing pending environmental regulations with industry lobbyists, the report says.

And for industry the meetings paid off – about as much under Obama as under Bush. Following those meetings with outsiders, Oira changed 84% of EPA rules during the Bush era. Depending on how you calculate it, the change rate was even higher under Obama. Oira changed 81% of environmental rules after meetings with lobbyists. But the change rate rises to 85% once all Oira decisions on environmental regulations are factored in.

Oira does not make public records of those meetings.

Is there any chance that Obama is unaware of what Oira is up to? Rena Steinzor, the law professor at the University of Maryland who wrote the report, doesn't think so. She notes that Sunstein is a longtime friend of Obama, who has for years advocated against government regulations.

Obama will have to own those decisions – and the failure to live up to his election promises of 2008 to run a government that made decisions based on science and expertise, not political calculus.

"To us this is a sharp departure from what we were promised when this president was elected," Steinzor said. "From sound practice what we really want is for the experts to be making decisions at government agencies – the toxicologists, the pediatricians, the geologists. That's what modern government is supposed to be about, not having the decisions made by an office that is not accountable for what it does."

She went on: "What Obama meant to us, what a transformative presidency meant was that the lobbyists wouldn't control government any more. We would be transparent to a fault. We would run a transparency presidency and we would have very protective rules. We have arguably in this specific case not gotten any of this and it is disappointing."

RON PAUL REPLIES TO A CONSTITUENT

This summer Mina Hegaard of Minawear, who lives in Victoria, Texas - where Ron Paul has an office - wrote to her Congressman and here is his reply:

Dear Mina:

Thank you for contacting my office regarding allowing farmers to grow industrial hemp.

I have introduced my bill HR 1831, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act. Please see below my speech announcing the introduction of HR 1831.

http://www.paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1863&Itemid=60

HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS

BEFORE THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Statement Introducing the Industrial Hemp Farming Act, HR 1831

May 11, 2011

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Industrial Hemp Farming Act. The Industrial Hemp Farming Act requires the federal government to respect state laws allowing the growing of industrial hemp.

Nine States--Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, and West Virginia--allow industrial hemp production or research in accord with state laws. However, federal law is standing in the way of farmers in these states growing what may be a very profitable crop. Because of current federal law, all hemp included in products sold in the United States must be imported instead of being grown by American farmers.

Since 1970, the federal Controlled Substances Act's inclusion of industrial hemp in the schedule one definition of marijuana has prohibited American farmers from growing industrial hemp despite the fact that industrial hemp has such a low content of THC (the psychoactive chemical in the related marijuana plant) that nobody can be psychologically affected by consuming hemp. Federal law concedes the safety of industrial hemp by allowing it to be legally imported for use as food.

The United States is the only industrialized nation that prohibits industrial hemp cultivation. The Congressional Research Service has noted that hemp is grown as an established agricultural commodity in approximately 30 nations in Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. The Industrial Hemp Farming Act will relieve this unique restriction on American farmers and allow them to grow industrial hemp in accord with state law.

Industrial hemp is a crop that was grown legally throughout the United States for most of our nation's history. In fact, during World War II, the federal government actively encouraged American farmers to grow industrial hemp to help the war effort. The Department of Agriculture even produced a film "Hemp for Victory'' encouraging the plant's cultivation.

In recent years, the hemp plant has been put to many popular uses in foods and in industry. Grocery stores sell hemp seeds and oil as well as food products containing oil and seeds from the hemp plant. Industrial hemp is also included in consumer products such as paper, cloths, cosmetics, carpet, and door frames of cars. Hemp has even been used in alternative automobile fuel.

It is unfortunate that the federal government has stood in the way of American farmers competing in the global industrial hemp market. Indeed, the founders of our nation, some of whom grew hemp, would surely find that federal restrictions on farmers growing a safe and profitable crop on their own land are inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of a limited, restrained federal government. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to stand up for American farmers and cosponsor the Industrial Hemp Farming Act.

Sincerely,

Ron Paul

ROSEANNE BARR ON HEMP

Just read the Village Voice, or what is left of it after it fired Wayne and Tim, their star reporters...but there is Michael Musto. And this week he interviews Roseanne Barr, who says she is running for president...actually I was turning the page quickly and was not reading Michael Musto, but then I saw hemp in the interview and stopped. Barr was saying she would legalise hemp and marijuana...and that last time she voted for Cynthia McKinney, who I supported on this blog!
And then I turned the pages, and found myself over and done with the Voice. And since I am already supporting Ron Paul for president, and since Barr was only talking tongue-in-cheek about being commander-in-chief, I don't need to read everything she said to Musto.
But maybe she could be vice-president...imagine that folks, Paul and Barr in the White House! And lots of hemp in the White House garden...and then the US would be back to that AAA rating.

RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT

What candidate is behind both hemp and legal marijuana? Certainly not Obama...and certainly not most of the GOP line up - but Dr Ron Paul, who is a GOP Congressman, is the best man for the job...hard to believe, but then again, he did run as a libertarian (1988).
So I thought I'd post his record on such issues as hemp, marijuana and the drug wars along with his ratings from NORML and VOTEHEMP...


Dr Ron Paul believes in the legalization of industrial hemp. Paul supported HR 3037 to amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana. This bill would have given the states the power to regulate farming of hemp. The measure would be a first since the national prohibition of industrial hemp farming in the United States. He favors the legalization of marijuana.
Source: SourceWatch.org Jan 22, 2007

Drug War fosters violence at home & breeds resentment abroad For the first 140 years of our history, we had essentially no federal war on drugs, and far fewer problems with drug addiction and related crimes as a consequence. In the past 30 years, even with the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the drug war, little good has come of it. We have vacillated from efforts to stop the drugs at the source to severely punishing the users, yet nothing has improved.
The drug war encourages violence. Government violence against nonviolent users is notorious and has led to the unnecessary prison overpopulation. Innocent taxpayers are forced to pay for all this so-called justice. Our drug eradication project (using spraying) around the world, from Colombia to Afghanistan, breeds resentment because normal crops and good land can be severely damaged. Local populations perceive that the efforts and the profiteering remain somehow beneficial to our own agenda in these various countries.
Source: House speech, in Foreign Policy of Freedom, p.159-160 Oct 25, 2001


Voted NO on subjecting federal employees to random drug tests. Drug Demand Reduction Act: Vote on an amendment to require that anyone hired by the Federal Government is subject to random, unannounced drug testing.
Reference: Amendment by Taylor, D-MS; bill by Portman, R-OH.; Bill HR 4550 ; vote number 1998-443 on Sep 16, 1998

War on Drugs has abused Bill of Rights .Paul adopted the Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement:
As adopted by the General Membership of the Republican Liberty Caucus at its Biannual Meeting held December 8, 2000.
WHEREAS libertarian Republicans believe in limited government, individual freedom and personal responsibility;
WHEREAS we believe that government has no money nor power not derived from the consent of the people;
WHEREAS we believe that people have the right to keep the fruits of their labor; and
WHEREAS we believe in upholding the US Constitution as the supreme law of the land;
BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Liberty Caucus endorses the following [among its] principles:
While recognizing the harm that drug abuse causes society, we also recognize that government drug policy has been ineffective and has led to frightening abuses of the Bill of Rights which could affect the personal freedom of any American. We, therefore, support alternatives to the War on Drugs.
Per the tenth amendment to the US Constitution, matters such as drugs should be handled at the state or personal level.
All laws which give license to violate the Bill of Rights should be repealed.
Source: Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement 00-RLC13 on Dec 8, 2000

Legalize medical marijuana. Paul co-sponsored the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana
Title: To provide for the medical use of marijuana in accordance with the laws of the various States. Summary: Transfers marijuana from schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to schedule II of such Act. Declares that, in a State in which marijuana may be prescribed or recommended by a physician for medical use under applicable State law, no provision of the Controlled Substances Act shall prohibit or otherwise restrict:
the prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use;
an individual from obtaining and using marijuana from a physician's prescription or recommendation of marijuana for medical use; or
a pharmacy from obtaining and holding marijuana for the prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use under applicable State law.
Prohibits any provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act from prohibiting or restricting a State entity from producing or distributing marijuana for the purpose of its distribution for prescription or recommendation by a physician in a State in which marijuana may be prescribed by a physician for medical use.
Source: House Resolution Sponsorship 01-HR2592 on Jul 23, 2001

Rated A by VOTE-HEMP, indicating a pro-hemp voting record.Paul scores A by VOTE-HEMP on pro-hemp legalization policies
VOTE HEMP is a non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and free market for Industrial Hemp. Industrial Hemp is non-psychoactive low THC varieties of the cannabis sativa plant. Currently, it is illegal for U.S. farmers to grow Industrial Hemp because it is improperly classified as a "drug" under the Controlled Substances Act. Since changes in law require shifts in thinking and this requires education in the facts, our primary goal is the education of legislators and regulators, farmers and businesses, students and other concerned citizens.
Source: VOTE-HEMP website 02n-HEMP on Dec 31, 2003

Rated +30 by NORML, indicating a pro-drug-reform stance.Paul scores +30 by the NORML on drug reform
OnTheIssues.org interprets the 2006 NORML scores as follows:
-30 to -10: "hard-on-drugs" stance (approx. 228 members)
-9 to +9: mixed record on drug reform (approx. 37 members)
+10 to +30: pro-drug-reform stance (approx. 109 members)About NORML (from their website, www.norml.org):
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law's mission is to move public opinion sufficiently to achieve the repeal of marijuana prohibition so that the responsible use of cannabis by adults is no longer subject to penalty.
NORML is a nonprofit, public-interest lobby that for more than 30 years has provided a voice for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition. We represent the interests of the tens of millions of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly and believe the recreational and medicinal use of marijuana should no longer be a crime.
NORML supports the removal of all criminal penalties for the private possession & responsible use of marijuana by adults, including the cultivation for personal use, and the casual nonprofit transfers of small amounts. This model is called "decriminalization."
NORML additionally supports the development of a legally controlled market for marijuana, where consumers could purchase it from a safe, legal and regulated source. This model is referred to as "legalization."
NORML believes that marijuana smoking is not for kids and should only be used responsibly by adults. As with alcohol consumption, it must never be an excuse for misconduct or other bad behavior. Driving or operating heavy equipment while impaired from marijuana should be prohibited.
NORML strongly supports the right of patients to use marijuana as a medicine when their physician recommends it to relieve pain and suffering.
Lastly, NORML supports the right of farmers to commercially cultivate hemp for industrial purposes, such as food and fiber production.
Source: NORML website 06n-NORML on Dec 31, 2006

SUN AND WIND

Thursday the New York Times had an article on rooftops in New York being potential spots for solar energy - my last post was on a NYT article about how wind energy in Oregon is making everyone rich in Sherman County.
So why is New York not making this work? With all the geniuses here and there money...trouble is, most of them just talk and talk and that's it.
If this is to be done, we must write the Congressmen and get them the case - if they are not too busy sexting...yesterday New York lost Anthony Weiner, so there's one rep who is not available. I reside in Jerrold Nadler's consittuency, so he will be getting a letter from me about this and about hemp - which has been supported by Congressman Ron Paul, in whose Texas district I also spend some time - years ago I joined the navy there. And what with his support of hemp and other issues - I am supporting his bid to the White House - so check out my other blog at
http://www.rp45.blogspot.com/
Let's hope he gets in and hemp is legal again...and of course, we expect him to put up solar panels on the White House - which Jimmy Carter put up years ago. So why are we just reading about all this now as if it were a new idea?

Rep. Ron Paul Introduces H.R. 1831, The Industrial Hemp Farming Act, on Heels of Successful Second Annual Hemp History Week

Share

By Vote Hemp

Published: Thursday, May. 12, 2011 - 7:21 am

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011 -- Senate Bill In Support of Industrial Hemp Farming Expected to Follow

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For the fourth time since the federal government outlawed hemp farming in the United States over 50 years ago, a federal bill was introduced on May 11, which if passed, will remove restrictions on the cultivation of industrial hemp, the non-drug oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis. The chief sponsor, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) circulated a "Dear Colleague" letter last week seeking support for H.R. 1831, The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011. H.R. 1831 is almost identical to H.R. 1866, which was introduced in the 111th Congress in 2009.

"We are pleased to see the re-introduction of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act in Congress. Vote Hemp is currently working with a Democratic Senator who is preparing to introduce companion legislation in the Senate in support of industrial hemp farming," says Vote Hemp President, Eric Steenstra. "It is due time for the Senate as well as President Obama and the Attorney General to prioritize the crop's benefits to farmers and to take action like Rep. Paul and the cosponsors of H.R. 1831 have done. With the U.S. hemp industry valued at over $400 million in annual retail sales and growing, a change in federal policy to allow hemp farming would mean instant job creation, among many other economic and environmental benefits," adds Steenstra.

U.S. companies that manufacture or sell products made with hemp include Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, a California company that manufactures the number-one-selling natural soap in the U.S. as well as best-selling hemp food manufacturers, such as French Meadow Bakery, Living Harvest, Manitoba Harvest, Nature's Path, Nutiva and Sequel Naturals who make their products from hemp grown in Canada. Sustainable hemp seed, fiber and oil are also used by major companies such as Ford Motors, Patagonia and The Body Shop.

"Public support for industrial hemp farming is growing in leaps and bounds in the U.S.," explains Steenstra. "The second annual Hemp History Week, celebrated from May 2-8, 2011 featured over 550 events in all 50 states. The campaign mobilized the support of tens of thousands of consumers, grass-roots activists and many high-profile celebrities from health and wellness experts to TV and entertainment personalities, professional athletes and renowned musicians."

H.R. 1831 was introduced by chief sponsor Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) with 21 original cosponsors, including Rep. Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. Clay (D-MO), Rep. Cohen (D-TN), Rep. DeFazio (D-OR), Rep. Ellison (D-MN), Rep. Farr (D-CA), Rep. Frank (D-MA), Rep. Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Hinchey (D-NY), Rep. McClintock (R-CA), Rep. McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Miller (D-CA), Rep. Moran (D-VA), Rep. Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Pingree (D-ME), Rep. Polis (D-CO), Rep. Rohrabacher (R-CA), Rep. Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Stark (D-CA) and Rep. Woolsey (D-CA).

To date, seventeen states have passed pro-hemp legislation, and six states (Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont and West Virginia) have already authorized the licensing of farmers to grow the crop. However, despite state authorization to grow hemp, farmers in these states risk raids by federal agents, prison time and land forfeiture if they plant the crop, due to the failure of federal policy to distinguish oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis (i.e., industrial hemp) from psychoactive varieties.

More information about industrial hemp legislation and the crop's many uses can be found at

www.VoteHemp.com

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/05/12/3621904/rep-ron-paul-introduces-hr-1831.html#ixzz1MRrYazLe