Industrial Hemp

11 Nov 2012

KELLY: Hemp vs. oil: How corporate & gov’t collusion perverted the free market

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Travis Kelly

Since the days of Cain and Abel, hemp has been one of the world’s largest and most versatile crops, used to make textiles, paint, soap, rope, building materials, fuel oil, protein supplements, and medicines. An acre of hemp produces far more paper than an acre of trees — and you would have to smoke an acre of it to get high, as industrial hemp, though similar in appearance to its close cousin, marijuana (cannabis), contains almost no THC.
Today, in only one industrialized nation in the world, is the cultivation of hemp illegal. You guessed it: Ours truly. And it makes as much sense as outlawing ALL mushrooms because some of them are psychoactive or poisonous. How this travesty came about in 1937 is a lesson in the collusion of big corporations with big government and big media to pervert the free market and stymie competition.
In the early 1930s, Henry Ford’s experimental biomass plant in Michigan extracted methanol, charcoal, tar pitch, and other distillates from hemp, demonstrating that it was an alternative to fossil fuels as an energy source, as well as a competitor to other petrochemical products then being introduced by the DuPont corporation, DuPont had a powerful ally in Washington — Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon, a banker who also had a controlling interest in the Gulf Oil Corporation.
Mellon appointed his loyal nephew, Harry Anslinger, as chief of the new Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1932. Anslinger promptly began lobbying Congress to outlaw “marihuana,” using a series of hysterical propaganda stories run by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst — that era’s Rupert Murdoch. Hearst owned vast timber lands in the Northwest that supplied the wood pulp for most of the American newspaper industry; DuPont chemicals were used to process that pulp. The “reefer madness” scare featured lurid, racist stories of “Mexicans and Negroes” going on murderous rampages while stoned; innocent white women seduced into ruin; teenagers going instantly insane after a puff; and other fearmongering fictions.
Anslinger told Congress that hemp — ALL hemp, whether smokable or not — was “entirely the Monster Hyde, the harmful effects of which cannot be measured.” The Marijuana Tax Act was rammed through Congress in secret committees controlled by DuPont allies. That same year, 1937, DuPont filed its patent on Nylon, which took over the textile and cordage markets that had been dominated by hemp. DuPont also supplied GM, which produced more than half of all American cars, with its petrochemical paints, varnishes, plastics and rubber, all of which could have been produced equally well from hemp. But no more. The competition had been criminalized.
The prohibition was suspended during WWII, with a Hemp for Victory campaign, then reinstated in 1955. Since then, our closest cousins, England, Australia and Canada (1998), have all legalized industrial hemp. China is the world’s number-one producer, exporting most of it to us — the world’s leading hemp importer — exacerbating our trade imbalance.
As global oil supplies continue to decline versus growing demand, and become harder to extract and import due to geological and political factors, domestic hemp could easily replace many petrochemical products with significant advantages.
Hemp is a renewable resource, one of the fastest growing and most productive plants on earth, yielding four crops and 25 tons of dry matter per hectare per year. It requires few pesticides and no herbicides. It is now being used as a building material, Hempcrete, and, combined with fiberglass and flax, to make body panels for automobiles. It has also proved excellent as a “mop crop” for cleaning up contaminated soil. In all these cases, hemp is carbon neutral or even carbon negative, scrubbing and sequestering CO2 from our warming atmosphere.
Several states have licensed the growing of industrial hemp — California, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, and West Virginia — but have not yet grown a single plant due to continued resistance by the DEA, who is still stuck in 1930s “reefer madness” paranoia, despite now overwhelming evidence that hemp’s cousin, marijuana, is far less harmful than alcohol for both health and public safety. To grow industrial hemp, the DEA must issue a permit under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act — and it never does.
Colorado can join that roster on Nov. 6 by voting for Amendment 64. Eventually, we will budge the DEA from its archaic stupidity, end the virtual dictatorship of the petrochemical industry, and safeguard our national security by again realizing Thomas Jefferson’s maxim: “Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth and protection of the country.”
Travis Kelly is a web/graphic designer, writer and cartoonist in Grand Junction. See his work or contact him at www.traviskelly.com.

2 Oct 2012

Will Obama, Romney Clarify Their Positions on Medical Marijuana in Colorado Election Debate?

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Tags: marijuana legalization, obama on medical marijuana, presidential debates, romney on medical marijuana

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney will face off on live television in the first of several debates that could shape the upcoming election.

Medical marijuana professionals should tune in: The candidates will most certainly field questions about MMJ and cannabis legalization in general, given that the debate will be held in Denver.

Colorado has one of the largest medical marijuana industry’s in the country, home to more than 1,000 dispensaries, grow sites and infused-product manufacturers. It also has a measure on the ballot this November asking voters to legalize the general use of marijuana.

Additionally, the debate is focused on domestic policy and will be held at a university, so you can bet that medical cannabis will be a particularly big topic.

The biggest question going into the debates, however, is will either candidate actually shed any new light on their vague positions regarding medical marijuana and cannabis legalization?

It’s possible but doubtful. Both Obama and Romney have been asked countless times about MMJ, and in most cases they sidestep the question or offer vague answers. In an interview Monday with the Denver Post, Romney said he opposes “marijuana being used for recreational purposes and I believe the federal law should prohibit the recreational use of marijuana.” But he didn’t directly address medical marijuana, though a campaign spokesman told the Washington Post today that Romney is against MMJ legalization.

Obama has been similarly vague about medical marijuana in recent interviews, and the current MMJ crackdown under his administration is uneven and unpredictable.

Both presidents, however, seem to be against the idea of general marijuana legalization. Romney has made it crystal clear that he would not allow that to happen under his watch. Obama, while less assertive on the issue, has indicated he doesn’t think it’s the proper path for the country to take. It unclear how the presidents would respond if an individual states such as Colorado legalizes cannabis use.

AFFIDAVIT OF FACT: HEMP

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RadicalJusticeMan

Monday, November 8, 2010

AFFIDAVIT OF FACT
AND NOTICE OF INTENT AND CLAIM OF RIGHT
TO CULTIVATE, POSSESS, USE, TRANSPORT AND DISTRIBUTE HEMP

Conrad Justice Kiczenski, herein known as Affiant, being first duly sworn upon oath does hereby declare and affirm the following facts:

1. You are hereby given lawful notice that the plant called Hemp (Cannabis genus) is a vital natural-resource for food, clothing, medicine, fuel, and paper; a religious sacrament, as well as being a “Strategic and Critical Material” for “military”, “essential civilian”, and “industrial” purposes as documented in Exhibits A, B, C, D, E, & F attached hereto, and as such is “accessible” and “protected” under International Law cited herein.

2. You are hereby given lawful notice of Affiants intent to cultivate, possess, use, distribute and transport the plant known as Hemp (Cannabis genus).

3. Affiant claims the right to carry out the foregoing intent under sanction of the following constitutionally ratified treaties (Pursuant to U.S. Const. Art. VI. Sec. 2):

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 11, Sections 1 & 2, Dec. 16, 1966,

International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, Article 12, Section 1, Dec. 16, 1966, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 18, Section 1, Dec. 16, 1966, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm

United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the crime of Genocide, Article II (c), Dec. 9, 1948, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/genocide.htm

4. The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, in Article 11, Sections 1 & 2, states:

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right…

2. The States Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take, individually and through international co-operation, the measures, including specific programs, which are needed:

(a) To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources;

(b) Taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need.

4a. The interpretation for the right to adequate food, as given by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in General Comment Number 12 states:
The right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child…has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement.
The Committee considers that the core content of the right to adequate food implies:

The availability of food in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of individuals…Dietary needs implies that the diet as a whole contains a mix of nutrients for physical and mental growth, development and maintenance…Availability refers to the possibilities…for feeding oneself directly from productive land or other natural resources…
Violations of the right to food can occur through…adoption of legislation or policies which are manifestly incompatible with pre-existing legal obligations relating to the right to food; SEE: http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/%28Symbol%29/3d02758c707031d58025677f003b73b9?Opendocument

4b. Affiant submit’s the following Exhibits as sufficient supporting evidence that Hemp qualifies as an “adequate food resource” and is therefore “accessible” under Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights:
Pursuant to Presidential Executive Order 12919, the “NATIONAL DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES PREPAREDNESS” order, Section 901 (e) & (l), attached hereto as Exhibit A, “Hemp” is defined as a “food resource” and qualifies as a ‘‘Strategic and Critical Material’’.
According to an excerpt from “Hempseed Nutrition” by Lynn Osburn, attached hereto as Exhibit B, a scientific analysis of hemp seed nutrition reveals that “Cannabis hemp seeds contain all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary to maintain healthy human life. No other single plant source provides complete protein in such an easily digestible form, nor has the oils essential to life in as perfect a ratio for human health and vitality. Hempseed is the highest of any plant in essential fatty acids.”.

4c. Affiant submit’s the following Exhibits as sufficient supporting evidence that Hemp qualifies as an adequate resource for “clothing”, “military”, “essential civilian” and “industrial” purposes, as well as other necessary resources for attaining an “adequate standard of living” including “paper” and biomass for “fuel” and is therefore further “accessible” under Article 11, Section 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights:
The transcript of a 1942 USDA film entitled “Hemp for Victory”, attached hereto as Exhibit C, states that “For thousands of years… this plant had been grown for cordage and cloth… For the sailor, no less than the hangman, hemp was indispensable…Indeed the very word canvas comes from the Arabic word for hemp…All such plants will presently be turning out products spun from American-grown hemp: twine of various kinds for tying and upholsters work; rope for marine rigging and towing; for hay forks, derricks, and heavy duty tackle; light duty fire hose; thread for shoes for millions of American soldiers; and parachute webbing for our paratroopers…hemp for mooring ships; hemp for tow lines; hemp for tackle and gear; hemp for countless naval uses both on ship and shore. ”.

According to a Popular Mechanics Magazine article, VOL. 69 February, 1938 NO. 2, pp. 238-240, entitled “NEW BILLION-DOLLAR CROP”, attached hereto as Exhibit D, states that “Hemp is the standard fiber of the world. It has great tensile strength and durability. It is used to produce more than 5,000 textile products, ranging from rope to fine laces, and the woody "hurds" remaining after the fiber has been removed contain more than seventy-seven per cent cellulose, and can be used to produce more than 25,000 products, ranging from dynamite to Cellophane…The natural materials in hemp make it an economical source of pulp for any grade of paper manufactured, and the high percentage of alpha cellulose promises an unlimited supply of raw material for the thousands of cellulose products our chemists have developed…All of these products, now imported, can be produced from home- grown hemp. Fish nets, bow strings, canvas, strong rope, overalls, damask tablecloths, fine linen garments, towels, bed linen and thousands of other everyday items can be grown on American farms. ”.

According to an Excerpt from "Energy Farming in America," by Lynn Osburn, attached hereto as Exhibit E, “BIOMASS CONVERSION to fuel has proven economically feasible, first in laboratory tests and by continuous operation of pilot plants in field tests since 1973. HEMP IS THE NUMBER ONE biomass producer on planet earth: 10 tons per acre in approximately four months.”

5. The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, in Article 12, Section 1, states:
The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

5a. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, in their General Comment Number 14, interprets the right to health to mean the following:
The right to health contains both freedoms and entitlements. The freedoms include the right to control one’s health and body… and the right to be free from interference… The entitlements include the right to a system of health protection which provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest attainable level of health… The Committee considers that indigenous peoples have the right to specific measures to improve their access to health services and care. These health services should be culturally appropriate, taking into account traditional preventive care, healing practices and medicines. States should provide resources for indigenous peoples to design, deliver and control such services so that they may enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals necessary to the full enjoyment of health of indigenous peoples should also be protected… In this respect, the Committee considers that development-related activities that lead to the displacement of indigenous peoples against their will from their traditional territories and environment, denying them their sources of nutrition and breaking their symbiotic relationship with their lands, has a deleterious effect on their health. By virtue of article 2.2 and article 3, the Covenant proscribes any discrimination in access to health care and underlying determinants of health, as well as to means and entitlements for their procurement. SEE: http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/%28symbol%29/E.C.12.2000.4.En

5b. Affiant submits the following Exhibit as sufficient supporting evidence that Hemp qualifies as a “traditional healing practice“, “medicine“ and “vital medicinal plant” that is “necessary to the full enjoyment of health” and therefore is “accessible” and “protected” under Article 12, Section 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights:
Lester Grinspoon, M.D. and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, in an article entitled “History of Cannabis as a Medicine” published on August 16, 2005, attached hereto as Exhibit F, documents the historical, technical and scientific knowledge of Cannabis’s extensive use as a medicine. Grinspoon quotes DEA Administrative law Judge Francis L. Young in a decision rendered on September 6, 1988, which states: “marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man…”

6. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in Article 18, Section 1, states:
Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.

6a. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, in their General Comment Number 22, interprets the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion to mean the following:
The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (which includes the freedom to hold beliefs) in article 18.1 is far-reaching and profound;
Article 18 is not limited in its application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs with institutional characteristics or practices analogous to those of traditional religions. The Committee therefore views with concern any tendency to discriminate against any religion or belief for any reason, including the fact that they are newly established, or represent religious minorities that may be the subject of hostility on the part of a predominant religious community…

The freedom to manifest religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching encompasses a broad range of acts. The concept of worship extends to ritual and ceremonial acts giving direct expression to belief, as well as various practices integral to such acts, including the building of places of worship, the use of ritual formulae and objects, also such customs as the observance of dietary regulations, the wearing of distinctive clothing or headcoverings, and participation in rituals associated with certain stages of life. SEE: http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/9a30112c27d1167cc12563ed004d8f15

6b. Affiant believes that Hemp (Cannabis genus) is equivalent to the “plant of renown” mentioned in Ezekiel 34:29 and the “tree of life” mentioned in Revelation 22:1-2 of the bible, which state:
And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. — Ezekiel 34:29
On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit…And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. — Revelation 22:1-2

6c. Affiant believes in accordance with Genesis 1:29-30 of the bible, which states:
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food…everything that has the breath of life in it–I give every green plant for food." — Genesis 1:29-30

6d. Affiant believes that Hemp (Cannabis genus) is a sacred “plant of renown” and “tree of life” given by the Creator to be used for the feeding, clothing, and healing of the nations of the Earth.

6e. Affiant claims the right to manifest his foregoing belief in practice, through the act of cultivating, possessing, using, distributing and transporting Hemp (Cannabis genus).

7. The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the crime of Genocide, in Article II (c), states:
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

7a. The Report of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court of July 6, 2000, in Article 6 (c), interprets what elements constitute “Genocide“ through “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction”, and states:
The term “conditions of life” may include, but is not necessarily restricted to, deliberate deprivation of resources indispensable for survival, such as food or medical services, or systematic expulsion from homes.
SEE: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N00/724/27/PDF/N0072427.pdf?OpenElement

7b. You are hereby given lawful notice that the plant called Hemp (Cannabis genus) is a critical food staple in Affiants vegetarian diet, as well as being a vital resource for Affiants clothing, medicine, paper, fuel as well other central necessities to Affiants way of life, and is therefore indispensable for Affiants health, adequate standard of living, spiritual practice and long-term physical survival.

7c. Any action against Affiant and his family to confiscate Hemp harvests, blockade Hemp foodstuffs or other resources, any use of coercive measures to deter Hemp cultivation, possession, use, distribution, or transportation, including expulsion from homes or forced relocation into detention camps, will be considered a deliberate attack on Affiant and his families ability to sustain life and therefore an act of genocide pursuant to Article II (c) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the crime of Genocide.

8. You are hereby given lawful notice that Affiant grants you thirty (30) days to rebut the facts stated herein; If you fail to rebut the facts stated in this affidavit within the granted amount of time then Affiant will assume that you are in agreement with said facts, and that you acknowledge Affiants claim of right and intent to act as stated herein, as being valid and lawfully sanctioned.

9. Affiant affirms under the penalty of perjury under all constitutional Laws of the State of California and the 50 States of the American Union, that all that is written in this affidavit is true and correct to the best of Affiants knowledge and understanding.

Signed and Sealed:_____________________________ Dated:___________

Natural Person – In Propria Persona – Conrad Justice Kiczensk

i
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED – WITHOUT PREJUDICE

State of California

Lake County

Subscribed and affirmed before me on this ____________ day of ______________, 20________, by Conrad Justice Kiczenski, who proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the Person who appeared before me. Witness my hand and official Seal.
Signature:__________________________________
Seal:

Posted by RadicalJusticeMan at 9:28 AM

LINK TO ORIGINAL POST HERE

1 Oct 2012

Research: Feeding hens with hemp

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Researchers at Aarhus University, Denmark have been experimenting with feedings chickens hemp, to test whether giving the birds extra roughage with a high nutritional value can benefit the environment, their welfare, and their product quality.

In organic egg production, hens are offered roughage in the form of pasture vegetation in the hen yard, silage or vegetables as a supplement to their organic ration. Scientists from Aarhus University are now developing a new feeding concept whereby the rough, green forages are not simply used as a snack but as an integral and nutritious part of the diet.
“Roughage has a nutritional value of its own, which can provide additional nutrients to that supplied in the ready-mixed feed, senior scientist at Aarhus University Sanna Steenfeldt explained.
“Since the ration is formulated to cover all the requirements of the hens, the roughage only provides extra nourishment. In the new concept roughage is considered as an ingredient that contributes its own nutrients.”
Benefits for the environment, animal welfare and product quality
The new concept, where the composition of the total ration is optimised in combination with roughage, combines three key issues in organic egg production: consideration for the environment, animal welfare and product quality.
Product quality of organic eggs as result of feeding the various types of roughage on offer will be characterised by analysing, among other things, the taste and appearance of the egg yolk, egg albumen, eggshell quality, the composition of carotenoids, which give colour to the yolk, and the composition of fatty acids in the egg yolk.
The effects of the different types of roughage on the immune status and bowel health of the hens will be investigated, such as whether they are resistant to infection with the roundworm Ascaridia galli in order to increase the robustness and welfare of hens.
Optimising the composition of the diet could help reduce the excretion of nitrogen and phosphorus with benefits for the environment.
The hens used for the experiment is the robust and productive Hisex White breed, which at present is very common in organic egg production
Hemp or carrots?
The menu has a wide selection, where hemp is but one of the quirkier choices.
“Hemp is difficult to harvest but the hens love it because of its aroma. They do not get a high from the hemp, though, as there is so little cannabidiol in it that it cannot be detected,” Steenfeldt assured.
Each experimental group will have only one choice among the range of forages on offer, which includes maize silage, alfalfa silage, grass and herb silage, hemp silage, maize cob silage and a seasonal vegetable – either carrots, kale or beet roots. The control group will receive no roughage and only have access to bare ground in the hen yard. This means that the control group is not reared organically. They are included in the study to compare the general welfare of hens receiving roughage with those that do not.
The ready mixes that have been specifically formulated according to the type of roughage the hens receive are produced with the help from the agribusiness company DLG.
The experiments are a continuation of previous experiments that looked at the effect of different breeds and types of feed on egg quality.
The project is a joint effort between DLG, Danæg, and Knowledge Centre for Agriculture and has been funded by the Danish Innovation Act under the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and by the Danish Poultry Council (Fjerkræafgiftsfonden).

1 Oct 2012

The Cultural Amnesia of Hemp

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mmj1 Civilizations in Europe and Asia began harvesting hemp in 8,000 BCE to make textiles, paper, food, and medicine. In 3727 BCE, cannabis was called a superior herb in the world’s first medical text, the Shen Nung’s Pen Ts’ao, in China. In 1500 BCE, Cannabis helped to invent the scythe. In 300 BCE, social situations arose where Carthage and Rome struggled much over the political and commercial power over hemp & spice trade routes in the Mediterranean. In 100 BCE, paper was made from hemp and mulberry in China.

Even though there is this rich history of hemp common knowledge amongst the public is dismal. What factors contributed to the cultural amnesia of hemp?

Background: U.S.

Cultivation of hemp began in Virginia in 1611. King Henry VIII required farmers to set aside land for the cultivation of hemp, one quarter acre of hemp for every sixty acres of land, and this law had to be followed by the colonists. England wanted to continue their trends of manufacturing hemp textiles such as paper, clothing, and medicine & the New World was a perfect place where hemp could be grown and harvested to then be processed overseas.

Many colonies passed laws, independent of Europe influence, that encouraged farmers to produce hemp. Lobbyists were hired and books were published to educate the public about the importance of hemp and thereby establish hemp as America’s trademark product. Even the Puritans at Jamestown grew hemp. Mandatory cultivation of hemp continued throughout the New World so much so that several colonies passed legal tender laws to enact taxes on hemp to benefit the colonies because it was such a widely produced crop.

Hemp was without a doubt one of the most important crops to the common wealth in the 19th century. Founding fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both huge promoters of hemp.Washington even spoke of hemp in his farm diary citing the quality of the seeds and how he always took care to sow seeds in best areas on his farm.

As these educational efforts dwelled on, England continued to demand the raw materials of hemp to ensure the growth of their work force and economy overseas. Colonists began to get curious about becoming self sufficient with the idea of not only growing hemp but keeping it all to themselves which led to colonists declaring their independence from Britain. The Independence War from Europe was ignited via hemp production rights alongside the creation of the American paper industry. Hemp, linen, and cotton rags provided writing materials throughout the war that were essential for communication amongst the colonists to ensure victory.

Drifting Changes

As trends of industrialization increased the invention of a machine, the Decorticator, was introduced tot he American market. It was hailed as the gadget that was going to revolutionize the hemp industry in New World. It’s design began in 1861 in Germany and it’s popularity was made infamous in an article from a Popular Mechanics magazine dated February 1938. In the piece, the author spoke of how this machine implied that hemp industry had the potential of being worth over a billion dollars. In lieu of the technological revelation, hemp farmers were becoming very content with their cash crop of hemp.

However, businesses and corporations with a differing agenda began to grow weary of hemp’s continued popularization. They wished to take control of the paper industry themselves by changing the materials used for production from hemp to trees. This feat was a bit impossible due to the fact that hemp was an easy and accessible plant that all farmers could grow and produce for a multitude of reasons. Hence, the incredulous businesses began a campaign to control how the public viewed the substance to ultimately change the trends of agricultural acceptance.

Even though the THC levels of hemp are extremely low companies, businesses, and governments used this fact to their advantage and began to spread information that the recreational habit of ingesting or smoking the plant for it’s hallucinogenic properties was something to fear. This type of cultural practice stems all the way back to China in 5,000 BCE when pioneering herbalists would ingest the plant to expand their medicinal research.

The corporations responsible for the information behind the campagin were Hearst and DuPont. Hearst was a corporation that owned large timber holdings in the U.S. that joined efforts with DuPont who dominated the petrochemical market at the time: they manufactured plastics, paints, and other products consisting of varied fossil fuels. They began to be associated very close with marijuana, a plant with higher levels of THC, in a way that was misleading, confusing, and detrimental to the agricultural production of hemp. Hysteria ensued. In 1937, business efforts proved successful and the Marihuana Tax Act HR 6385 was passed with the help of the Senate. Even to this day it is difficult for public to accurately report the differences amongst hemp and marijuana thereby showing that the efforts of the old campaign were very powerful.

Environmental Benefits

Hemp is still grown in the U.S. but to a lesser extent than it was a century ago. What would happen if the U.S. decided to produce hemp yet again on a massive scale to manufacture products that we currently depend on other countries to make and import onto our soil? Let’s begin answering this question by going over the facts.

Hemp grows extremely fast in any kind of climate which means it could be easily integrated into a vast variety of agricultural systems. On top of that reality, hemp can be grown sans herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides. Plus, hemp is a natural weed suppressor because it grows so fast and so dense that it blocks out available sunlight that would otherwise be utilized by other weeds trying to grow.

Hemp has deep roots that naturally replenish soil with nitrogen. Furthermore, the stability of the plant contributes to controlling the erosion of topsoil.

Hemp can clean up toxins underground by removing or neutralizing detrimental toxins present in the soil, a process otherwise known as phytoremediation. What substance was used to clean up the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site to remove radioactive elements from the ground? You guessed it – hemp.

Switching to hemp paper would reduce deforestation significantly. For every 4 acres of trees that are required annually to make paper, only one acre of hemp is required to make the same amount of product.

These facts about hemp used to be a well known strand of cultural knowledge that farmers proudly touted. In modern times, many are oblivious to the great benefits of hemp and most incorrectly assume that it’s a drug due to the misinformation that was spread with the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act in 1937.

29 Sep 2012

This was a working “HEMP” Farm that was a mile away from my home in Louisville KY

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AGRICULTURE AT FARMINGTON IN THE 1810-1840 PERIOD

The Farmington Hemp Farm in Louisville, Kentucky

Farmington was a 550-acre hemp plantation. Hemp was the principal cash crop, but not the only one. No Kentucky plantations were single crop operations. Diversified farming was the norm. One reason for this was the drastically fluctuating price for hemp sales.
Tobacco was grown at Farmington in some years. By 1840, vinegar, and possibly cider, produced from what must have been a fairly large orchard, were also sold.
Butter was produced in large enough quantities for it to be sold at the downtown Louisville market. Butter making was Lucy Speed’s responsibility. In 1840 Farmington had a herd of 17 ‘milch cows.’
Other seed crops at Farmington in 1840 included corn and timothy and clover hay. Wheat had also been grown at one point.
Crops grown for consumption at Farmington in 1840 included corn, Irish potatoes, apples, cabbages, peas and beans, and sugar beets. Raspberries and peaches were also mentioned in letters. Probably a wide variety of fruits and vegetables were grown in smaller quantities for seasonal consumption by the Speed family.
Livestock and fowl for consumption included pigs, cattle, turkey, chickens, and ducks.
Large quantities of potatoes, cabbages, sugar beets, and salted pork listed in the inventory suggest that these constituted the main portion of the diet for enslaved African Americans at Farmington. (This correlates with T.W. Bullitt’s account of the slave diet at Oxmoor.)
Agricultural outbuildings thought to have existed at Farmington include a hemp house (no doubt a brick or stone building), corn cribs, and probably several barns.

HEMP FARMING IN KENTUCKY AND AT FARMINGTON

Hemp was introduced into Kentucky with the earliest settlers. By the early 19th century it had become a significant cash crop with production centered in the Bluegrass and with large amounts also grown in Shelby, Mason and Jefferson counties. These areas had the richest soil, which was needed for high yields.
Hemp farming was extremely labor intensive, requiring extensive amounts of backbreaking work. Hemp, as it was produced in Kentucky, was dependent on a slave economy.
Kentucky’s 19th-century hemp crop was used to produce cordage and rough bagging for the baling of the cotton crop in the deep south. Kentucky’s dew-rotted hemp was of inferior quality, could never compete with imported water-rotted hemp, and was unsuccessful for marine uses.
The price of hemp fluctuated wildly making it difficult to rely on. ($330/ton in 1810; $60/ton in 1822; $180/ton in 1936; $80/ton in 1837)
Hemp production in Kentucky began to decline dramatically during and after the Civil War. Union forces prevented its river transport and demand was reduced because of reduced cotton production. After the war, new methods of baling cotton using iron bands became prevalent. Also, the end of slavery made finding an adequate labor force difficult.
From the 1870s through World War II hemp was grown in small quantities in Kentucky with several surges in production prompted by various short-lived demands. During this time Kentucky production was overtaken by hemp grown in Wisconsin where mechanized harvesting had been introduced. In Kentucky, methods of growing and harvesting hemp never changed from those developed in the early 19th century when John Speed was growing hemp.
Increasing concerns over the use of hemp for marijuana production led to a government prohibition on its production.

GROWING AND HARVESTING HEMP

Hemp was planted in mid-April through May in well prepared soil that had been plowed, harrowed and rolled. The growing season was 100 to 120 days.
Hemp grown for seed was treated differently from hemp grown for the fibers or "lint."
Seed hemp was planted first in the very richest soil. Seeds were planted in hills and seedlings were thinned as they grew to about 8"high. They were thinned again as the male plants were identified, with most male plants being removed, leaving only a few for pollination. Often the tops of the female plants were lopped off to create branching and the production of more seed.
Plants were usually ready for harvesting in early September when they were carefully cut down near the ground with hemp hooks and dried. The seed was collected by flailing the stalks on a clean sheet. The chaff was then either blown away or separated from the seed by sifting. The seed was stored for the next year’s plants.
Fiber hemp was planted later and seeded more thickly. Stalks grew very tall and close together, thereby preventing the growth of many weeds, causing lower leaves to die off, and creating longer lengths of the desirable fibers. These plants grew 6′ to 10′ high. These plants, also, were cut down with hemp hooks.
Fiber hemp was left lying in the fields for "dew rotting" so that the gums that caused the fibers in the stalks to adhere to the outer casing would dissolve. After enough rotting had occurred, the stalks were gathered into stacks to dry them out and to await the breaking process that usually began shortly after Christmas.
So-called "hemp breaks" were dragged out in the fields to the stacks, where handfuls of the stalks were repeatedly bashed between the two parts of the break to shatter the outer casing and reveal the desired fibers. Initial cleaning was accomplished by whipping the fibers against the break to knock out remaining bits of the stalk (herds). The fibers were bundled in the field and weighed back at the hemp house. Later they were run through a "hackle," similar to a large and rougher looking carder, to further clean and align the fibers.
The fibers or "lint" were spun into a rough yarn and then either twisted into rope or woven on a simple hand loom into very rough cloth referred to as "bagging."
All these tasks were performed by enslaved African Americans who worked on their owner’s plantation or were leased for hemp production. The work was grueling, back-breaking labor, made more unpleasant by the dust and pollen stirred up as the hemp was processed. Many of the hemp workers were reported to have developed awful coughs that took months to go away.
Traditionally in Kentucky, hemp harvesting was assigned as task work to the enslaved African Americans. There were daily quotas for the amount of harvesting to be done and the amount of lint to be processed at the break. These varied depending on the age of the workers. Above and beyond the required amount, slaves were paid a small amount for extra production.
The Hemp Crop at Farmington in 1840

The 1840 inventory provides a number of clues about hemp production at Farmington at the time John Speed died.

Approximately 90 acres were used for the hemp crop that year, 87 for producing the fiber hemp and about another 3 for growing seed hemp (calculated by Otteson based on the quantity of seed listed).
The two sheets for cleaning hemp seed document the use of the typical method of obtaining the seed.
The 20 hemp hooks and 21 hemp breaks suggest that about 20 hands were employed in the production of hemp at Farmington.
References in the settlement of John Speed’s estate document the presence of a rope walk and weaving house at Farmington where the hemp was processed for sale. The "jack screw" in the inventory is probably the piece of equipment used at the end of the rope walk to twist the strands of hemp into rope. Why no looms are listed in the inventory is somewhat confusing.
In 1840, $9,154 was made at Farmington from the sale of hemp products.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO THE “EDISON HOUSE” SITE THRU THIS LINK…

18 Sep 2012

Libertarian Party Nominates Vice-Presidential Candidate Jim Gray

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May 22, 2012

The following information was released by the campaign of Jim Gray for vice president.

Fresh from winning the Vice Presidential nomination at the Libertarian Party annual convention last weekend in Las Vegas, Newport Beach Judge Jim Gray returns home to begin his campaign for office with Presidential nominee Gov. Gary Johnson.

The Judge Gray Homecoming will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. on the lawn of the historic Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, CA. For more information on the event, call 619.916-1249. A Question and Answer session will be held immediately following Gray’s address.

“I am proud. I am invigorated. I am excited. With Gov. Gary Johnson, I am determined to bring back prosperity and liberty to the United States of America.” Judge Gray said. “And, I am so grateful to all my friends, family and colleagues who have had a hand in this effort. And this was truly a team effort. It’s great to be home, but it probably won’t be for long,” he said smiling.

Judge Gray was declared the party’s Vice Presidential nominee after he won 59 percent of the vote, receiving 357 votes from the 600 delegates of the convention held at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, NV.

A successful jurist who lives in Newport Beach, Calif. and presided over the Superior Court of Orange County, Judge Gray has been active in the Libertarian Party for several decades.

He was the 2004 Libertarian Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in California challenging incumbent U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer. He is also the chief proponent of a California ballot initiative called “Regulate Marijuana Like Wine” that, if passed, would decriminalize cannabis consumption and production.

As the Libertarian nominees, the Johnson/Gray ticket is expected to be on the ballot in all 50 states.

Accepting the nomination, Johnson said, “Millions of Americans want and deserve the opportunity to vote for a candidate in November who will get us out of the war in Afghanistan immediately, truly cut federal spending, end the failed war on drugs, repeal the Patriot Act, and support marriage equality. I am excited to offer that option: A proven fiscal conservative, a proven defender of civil liberties, and an advocate for social tolerance.”

Orange County Breeze

17 Sep 2012

Dad raised hemp for rope production, not for smoking, after World War II 5:43 PM, Sep 8, 2012

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John Newport, Springfield

“Festival-goers celebrate hemp’s diversity” (News-Leader, Sep. 3) brought back memories. In 1946, I was living on a farm in south central Kentucky, and one spring day a couple of “feds” came by and asked my dad and the farmer on an adjoining farm if they would raise a few acres of hemp and harvest the seed.

The seeds were being grown for export to the Phillipines, where hemp had been a main crop before the war, and was used to make rope. As a result of the war, hemp seeds in the Phillipines were either in short supply, or nonexistent. My dad and the other farmer agreed to raise some hemp, and were well paid to do so.

The feds specified how the seeds were to be planted — in crossed rows, which made it possible to cultivate for weed control by plowing from east to west and from north to south.

They also specified how the seeds were to be “thrashed” by hand, and said that all stalks and leaves were to be burned immediately after the seeds had been gathered — which we thought was somewhat unusual.

Gathering and piling up the stalks, which were about 8 feet high, and burning them turned out to be the hardest part of the job.

My dad smoked his home-grown tobacco, and the thought of smoking some hemp leaves probably never occurred to him. However, the farmer on the adjoining farm didn’t smoke tobacco, and he smoked some hemp leaves — one time, he said.

He said the strange feelings he had after smoking hemp were such that he was afraid of something different, and worse, happening if he smoked it again.

Each summer for the next three years, the feds came by and looked for any hemp plants that might have grown from seeds lost in the “thrashing” process, and from being carried by birds far from the areas where the hemp had been grown.

Today, when I hear about people growing marijuana, I think, “Been there, done that.”

17 Sep 2012

IN SUPPORT OF GARY JOHNSON (LIBERTARIAN) FOR PRESIDENT 2012

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Previously in a post I had said that I would support RON PAUL as a write-in for the Presidential Elections in November of this year (2012).

I have since researched and listened to video’s and other information that would lead me to believe and support

GARY JOHNSON AS A LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE ON THE BALLOT IN ALL 50 STATES FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN NOVEMBER OF 2012.

This change has come about primarily because he IS on the ballot (vs. a write-in) AND the fact that he has said that RON PAUL would be his pick for his Vice-Presidential Candidate.

I don’t know how much better it could get. We can have TWO for the price of ONE.

Below is some video and information on GARY JOHNSON (Libertarian). Please view and make an informed decision BEFORE everybody runs to the polls to put a democrat or republican back in the White House!

That is something that I do not believe that this Country can withstand anymore at this point. The time for the change has to be NOW NOT LATER – There may not be a “Later”.

LINK TO GARY JOHNSON 2012 WEBSITE

Gary Johnson has been an outspoken advocate for efficient government, balanced budgets, rational drug policy reform, protection of civil liberties, comprehensive tax reform, and personal freedom. As Governor of New Mexico, Johnson was known for his common sense business approach to governing. He eliminated New Mexico’s budget deficit, cut the rate of growth in state government in half, and privatized half of the state prisons.

Drug Policy Reform

Despite our best efforts at enforcement, education and interdiction, people continue to use and abuse illegal drugs.

The parallels between drug policy today and Prohibition in the 1920’s are obvious, as are the lessons our nation learned. Prohibition was repealed because it made matters worse. Today, no one is trying to sell our kids bathtub gin in the schoolyard and micro-breweries aren’t protecting their turf with machine guns. It’s time to apply that thinking to marijuana. By making it a legal, regulated product, availability can be restricted, under-age use curtailed, enforcement/court/incarceration costs reduced, and the profit removed from a massive underground and criminal economy.

By managing marijuana like alcohol and tobacco – regulating, taxing and enforcing its lawful use – America will be better off. The billions saved on marijuana interdiction, along with the billions captured as legal revenue, can be redirected against the individuals committing real crimes against society.

GARY JOHNSON will END the War on Drugs (Video)

Gary Johnson 2012: End the Drug War Now (Video)

Civil Liberties

Civil liberties are so foundational to America that the first eight amendments to the Constitution address them directly. These amendments enshrine government’s duty to protect individual liberties, including the rights to free speech and free association.

But today, government has created for itself sweeping powers to monitor the private lives of individuals and otherwise intrude upon our daily activities, our households and our businesses. The extent of the government’s reach today would be unrecognizable to the Founders.

Much of the recent erosion in civil liberties has occurred in the name of national security. But we can – and must — combat threats to our safety while adhering to due process and the rule of law.

Gary Johnson This Is Your Freedom (Video)

THE FREEDOMS ON WHICH AMERICA WAS FOUNDED are now under attack from the very people charged with protecting and upholding them.

The PATRIOT Act should be repealed, which would restore proper judicial oversight to federal investigations and again require federal investigators to prove probable cause prior to executing a search.
Habeas corpus should be respected entirely, requiring the government to either charge incarcerated individuals with a crime or release them.
The TSA should take a risk-based approach to airport security. Only high-risk individuals should be subjected to invasive pat-downs and full-body scans.
The TSA should not have a monopoly on airport security. Airports and airlines should be encouraged to seek the most effective methods for screening travelers, including private sector screeners. Screeners outside of government can be held fully accountable for their successes and failures.

The above post from his website is just a sample of what GARY JOHNSON has to offer. Please go to his site and review all information available.