Op-Ed: Wake Up and Smell the Hemp

By Tony Jones
Source: coventry.patch.com

To the editor:

"The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful
plant to its culture."  -Thomas Jefferson.

It's ironic that the country founded on the principals of and liberty and
freedom still prohibits it's citizens from growing a plant. I'm talking,
of course, about industrial hemp. A plant that has more than 30,000 uses
and is considered to be a "superfood". This absurdity continues by the
fact that hemp allowed to be imported from other country's but is
forbidden to be grown in America.

Did you know that The US Constitution was written on hemp paper? The first
American flag was made out of hemp. In the past army uniforms were made of
hemp. In 1937 Popular Science Magazine called hemp "The New Billion Dollar
Crop."

And then it was banned...

Federal laws against hemp are a prime example of how our government
stifles our freedom. Under the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, hemp and
marijuana are classified exactly the same. To the untrained eye, I can
see how the plants might seem similar. However, industrial hemp contains
less than 1% of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana. Therefor, it
would take a "joint" the size of a telephone pole to get any type of
effect from hemp.

Farmers across our state and the country should be outraged. The farming
of hemp requires little or no pesticides. Hemp also requires less water
than other crops, and has deep roots that leave the soil in an improved
condition after harvesting. This makes hemp one of the best possible crops
for a farm to put in rotation.

Consumers should also be outraged. The retail sales of hemp in the United
States are estimated to be over $420 million annually, that's $420 million
from a product we are forced to import. America is in need of jobs, yet we
continue to dismiss this possible market. With the decriminalization of
industrial hemp thousands of employment opportunities could be created in
agriculture, marketing, distribution, sales, manufacturing, etc.

The fact that we have to be granted permission to grow a plant is an
insult to our freedom. The criminalization of industrial hemp must come
to an end.

Sincerely,
Tony Jones