North Dakota Wants to Legalize Hemp
Sober North Dakotans Hope to Legalize Hemp
“Look at me — do I look shady?†Mr. Monson, 56, asked, as he stood in work boots and a ball cap in the rocky, black dirt that spans mile after mile of North Dakota’s nearly empty northern edge. “This is not any subversive thing like trying to legalize marijuana or whatever. This is just practical agriculture. We’re desperate for something that can make us some money.â€
Good for North Dakota! Unfortunately, the article doesn’t go into the reasons why a farmer might want to grow hemp, so let me go into detail.
As the article points out, growing cannabis for hemp production is very different from growing it for marijuana production. Cannabis is one of the few species that don’t produce male and female flowers on the same plant. When you’re growing cannabis for marijuana, you want to get rid of the males ASAP lest they fertilize the females, making it impossible to grow the flowering tops that hippies like to smoke. With hemp, you’re growing tall plants with thick, fibrous stalks. These stalks can be used to produce rope, cellulose, plant-based plastics and paper. In fact, an acre of hemp produces much MORE paper making material per acre than an acre of trees, and uses far less sulfur dioxide in the pulping process. Furthermore, hemp is an extremely efficient self-seeder (that’s why marijuana growers get rid of the male: once the female cannabis plant starts going to seed, there is literally NOTHING left to smoke). Because the stalks break down so quickly, it’s believed that hemp would be an exceptionally good source for biofuels, and a source that wouldn’t drive up the cost of corn and animal feed as we’re currently experiencing. Indeed, hemp makes a fine cloth, and the very word “canvas” comes from the Arabic word for hemp: it was used for sails, rigging, and yes even clothing. The seed is high in protein and low in cholesterol: already some health stores carry hemp seed granola bars..
But don’t just take my word for it. here’s the federal government:
Bonus: here’s Ford’s Hemp car:
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July 21st, 2007 at 12:03 pm
[...] Nile Virus Link to Article cholesterol North Dakota Wants to Legalize Hemp » Posted at Brendan Calling - [...]