Michele Gale-Sinex/CIAS, UW-Madison wrote:
> Howdy, all--
>
> Wondered whether those of you following this topic saw this
> Associated Press piece. Barry McCaffrey needs to read more American
> history and fewer comic books. In my not so humble opinion.
>
> For instance, Wisconsin once had a huge hemp fiber industry,
> supplying much of the cordage for the Great Lakes region, including
> Chicago and the many ports of call along the Third Coast. Our paper
> industry is very hungry for sources of fiber and eager to modify
> their image as rainforest-rapers...you can fill in the blanks there.
> And I've talked to a good number of farmers who'd love to grow a
> fiber crop in rotation...though the question of what that'd all mean
> from a farming practices and systems perspective remains open for
> most of them.
>
> UW-Madison's former research division dean, Bob Steele, was very
> open minded about this topic; he went to Penn State in '97. Anyone
> know of any movement forward on hemp farming research at PSU?
> Elsewhere? I'd be interested in having anyone who has expertise on
> this whole area offer an update on SANET.
>
> pax
> misha
>
> ------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
> Farmers sue government to get ban on
> hemp lifted
>
> MARK R. CHELLGREN, Associated Press Writer
>
> Friday, May 15, 1998
> Breaking News
>
> (05-15) 15:11 EDT LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) --
> Farmers, a hemp company and a trade organization
> sued the government Friday to get the 61-year ban
> on growing hemp lifted, contending that Congress
> always intended to distinguish it from marijuana
>
> The suit -- filed by six would-be hemp farmers, the
> Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative and the
> Hemp Co. of America -- quotes from congressional
> debate over the 1937 law that first outlawed
> marijuana to show that industrial hemp was never
> supposed to be illegal.
>
> ``We're going to try to get the definition recreated,''
> said Andy Graves, president of the cooperative.
>
> Plaintiffs claim the Drug Enforcement
> Administration's hemp prohibition violates the
> constitutional doctrine of separation of government
> powers. Defendants in the suit are the DEA and the
> Justice Department.
>
> Spokesmen for both agencies said they had not seen
> the lawsuit.
>
> Farmers have long complained that the government
> makes no distinction between marijuana and hemp,
> which supporters claim is a nearly perfect crop with
> uses ranging from medicine to rope.
>
> Hemp and marijuana are both varieties of the
> cannabis plant. But hemp, which is grown
> commercially in some other countries, typically
> contains less than 1 percent of the active ingredient,
> THC, that makes pot smokers high.
>
> Farmers in the South and Midwest view
> disease-resistant hemp as a rotation crop among
> grains and vegetables, and in Kentucky, it offers a
> hedge against tobacco's uncertain future.
>
> John Howell of the Hemp Co. said he has buyers
> who want hemp pulp for paper, its linen for cloth and
> its oil for medicine and lubrication uses.
>
> The hemp debate has long raged in Kentucky, where
> it was produced in huge quantities for rope during
> World War II and where wild stands are still
> common. A state legislative committee conducted
> hearings on the topic in 1997, which prompted a
> letter to Gov. Paul Patton from national drug czar
> Barry McCaffrey.
>
> ``Hemp and marijuana are the same plant: the
> seedlings are the same and in many instances the
> mature plants look the same,'' McCaffrey said.
>
> McCaffrey called hemp ``a novelty product which
> can only sustain a novelty market.''
>
> ``The end result of legalizing hemp production might
> well be de facto legalization of the cultivation of
> marijuana,'' McCaffrey warned.
>
> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
> Michele Gale-Sinex, communications manager
> Center for Integrated Ag Systems
> UW-Madison College of Ag and Life Sciences
> Voice: (608) 262-8018 FAX: (608) 265-3020
> http://www.wisc.edu/cias/
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> Dennis: Anarcho-syndicism is a way of *preserving* freedom!
> His Wife: Oh, Dennis, *forget* about freedom! We 'aven't got enough mud!
>
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