By
By James Nord
Source:
thecannabist.co
South Dakota hemp bill advances despite Public Safety warning that hemp sends “mixed messages” to kids
The Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee voted 9-2 to approve the plan, which now heads to the full chamber for consideration
PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota residents who pass background checks and get a license from the state agriculture department would be allowed to cultivate industrial hemp under a measure a House panel approved Thursday.
The Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee voted 9-2 to approve the plan, which now heads to the full chamber for consideration. Supporter Rep. Elizabeth May, a Republican, said that hemp would be a useful product for South Dakota’s agriculture industry.
The bill restricts the allowable content of THC — a main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana — for industrial hemp.
“We all have distant cousins that maybe are not very, somebody we want to be associated with, but we don’t hold the whole family accountable for one individual,” said May, referencing hemp’s family ties to marijuana. “Industrial hemp is a very, very good, productive, useful product for our agriculture industry in South Dakota.”
Hemp’s comeback got a foothold in the 2014 federal farm bill, which allows state agriculture departments to designate hemp pilot projects for research in states that have approved hemp growing. Neighboring North Dakota is among many states with an industrial hemp program.
House Majority Leader Lee Qualm, a supporter, said he thinks it could be a “very viable industry for South Dakota.”
But advocates in South Dakota have difficult ground to till. A hemp proposal failed last session in a Senate committee after it passed through the House, and Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard has said previously that he’s against industrial hemp.
Executive agencies opposed the bill during the committee hearing. Jenna Howell, a lobbyist for the Department of Public Safety, said that having hemp plants legally grow in South Dakota would send mixed messages to youth who officials are trying to warn about the dangers of illegal drugs.
Blogger's Note: the preposterous claim about mixed messages to kids in this article is fully dismissed by the commnets posted with the original article. I could not state the truth better myself:
Any proof that hemp will influence children, to do what exactly? Prohibitionists lie when they don't have anything else to say. Which is all the time.
Perhaps the South Dakota farmers who are interested in growing hemp should acquaint their legislature with a few facts (starting with the fact that saying that industrial cannabis, aka hemp, is the same as marijuana is like saying that Kentucky bluegrass is the same as bamboo simply because they are from the same "family"). Here are a few articles those folks might try reading (or watching):
"Why You Can't Get Stoned from Smoking Hemp" from gizmodo
or
"Hemp & Flax in Colonial America" from
history.orgor
"The Forgotten History of Hemp Cultivation in America"
or
"Hemp vs Cotton: The Ultimate Showdown"
or (my personal favorite - the Federal government encouraged farmers to grow hemp during WWII - because artificial fibers used too much precious petroleum)
"Hemp for Victory"
By the way - The Cannabist ran an article about 2 years ago titled "Car made of hemp makes Denver stop" - and while there can be a "high" from driving, I don't think that's the one the legislature is worried about.
Mixed messages to kids! Where does North Dakota rank in regard to drunkenness ? Here's what should be taught for better health Wernicke's encephalopathy and WKS is most commonly seen in people who are alcoholic, and only 20% of cases are identified before death. This failure in diagnosis of WE and thus treatment of the disease leads to death in approximately 20% of cases, while 75% are left with permanent brain damage associated with WKS.[2] Of those affected, 25% require long-term institutionalization in order to receive effective care or commonly known as...... WET BRAIN. Younger folks know that booze is a more dangerous drug than pot.I've witnessed the adults at family gatherings with a table full of beer cans lecture the teen on the wrongs of weed.I'm seventy one and have always realized that hypocrisy ...KIDS KNOW! Let's stop pretending !
This is about HEMP - aka "industrial cannabis" - which has even lower levels of THC than those strains specifically hybridized to be high CBD/low THC. Sadly, the South Dakota legislature members fighting allowing the growing of hemp don't understand the difference in the strains.
Of course they damn should.
Hey, I lived up there through a winter and believe me, if you take away the alcohol, they will freeze up and bust like an old engine block without anti-freeze. After experiencing the Dakotas in the winter, death by cirrhosis of the liver is surly the better option, though cannabis would make it less painful.
Some of those Conservative "Red States" or districts suffer high rates of out of control booze and heroin consumption . So in the dead heat of Summer many meet their end .Rare for one who only uses cannabis.
I'm 70 years old and I learned about government drug war lies and propaganda in 1972. I learned about hemp in the early 80s. It still grows wild along highways in Missouri. It looks like Cannabis, smells like Cannabis and after 20 hits in my favorite bong, I got nothing. Kids probably know more than politicians and if they think they can get high by smoking hemp, I can assure you they will not. If Ms. Howell would sit down a smoke a little hemp, she would understand. Unfortunately she will choose to stay stupid. It's the first sign of drug war Nazi's.
would send mixed messages to youth who officials are trying to warn about the dangers of illegal drugs
That's all they've got; the flaccid argument that there are dangers because it's illegal.
Plant It Everywhere. The danger here is that the children will find out that idiots run the government and even worse, they demand obedience to their willfully ignorant thoughts, words and laws.
No comments:
Post a Comment