Legal cultivation of hemp—a cousin of marijuana used to make everything from fabrics to pharmaceuticals—is closer to becoming reality as a result of a provision tucked into the farm bill that passed the House last week. Federal law effectively prohibits the cultivation of hemp, making no distinction between that plant and marijuana, which is much more potent.
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Poster Comment:
We hear at different times that this magnificently useful plant has long been totally illegal because you can get high from one form of it (pot). This 2014 WSJ piece seems to back that up on the way to listing states that are cautiously legalizing...... but they've been make ropes from hemp all along, haven't they?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope#Construction
From this I take it neither rope, canvas or anything else has been made from hemp in this country for 46 years:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp#United_States
Is that about the size of it? IS HEMP A COUSIN OF MARIJUANA, OR IS SATIVA A SUBSPECIES as wikid also says? It confuses things by linking to a world map of hemp legality, but this turns out to be regarding pot -- not "industrial hemp". I'm confused, but I do know we're being gypped re one variety or the other -- mebbe both.
Banning industrial hemp because of recreational pot -- where do these moronic ideas come from? Why does it bring to mind Mencken's definition “Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” The USG is a mangy whore when it's not being a total Mrs. Grundy killjoy.
NN