Strange Bedfellows

The picture above is of "hemp" plants. They are more commonly called marijuana (or cannabis) plants -- and all varieties are against the law. Here in America (and many other countries) the plant is just considered to be a drug, and possession and sale of it is considered to be a serious violation of the law. But what most people don't realize is that the hemp plant has a variety of uses -- including paper, clothing, rope, medicine, construction materials, animal feed, and many other uses. It was grown as a cash crop in the early days of this country, even by some of our Founding Fathers.

One acre of hemp can produce as much paper as over four acres of trees can produce, and that paper is of equal or better quality than paper made from wood -- and while it takes many years to produce that four acres of trees, the hemp plant can be grown in a few months. It is obvious that hemp could once again be a valuable resource for this country -- if it was legal to grow.

And that's just what some senators want to do -- legalize the growth of hemp for a variety of uses. And those senators are some that almost never agree on anything. They are Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), teabagger Republican Rand Paul (Kentucky), and progressive senators Ron Wyden (Oregon) and Jeff Merkley (Oregon). McConnell said:

“I am proud to introduce legislation with my friend Rand Paul that will allow Kentucky farmers to harness the economic potential that industrial hemp can provide. During these tough economic times, this legislation has the potential to create jobs and provide a boost to Kentucky’s economy and to our farmers and their families."

Now the bill is not being introduced to legalize the recreational use (smoking) of marijuana. It is to give permission to grow a variety of hemp that has much less THC (the active ingredient in marijuana that produces a "high" in smokers). I don't doubt that at least two of the senators introducing the new bill in Congress (McConnell and Paul) would love to keep the smoking of marijuana illegal in the U.S. (even though it is the most harmless of all drugs, including legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco).

However, I can't help but think this bill, if it became law, would make the prosecution of federal (and possibly state) laws against the growing of marijuana much harder to prosecute. All hemp plants contain at least a small amount of THC, and it could be more difficult to prove in court exactly why the plants are being grown. When arrested, all marijuana growers will claim their crop is not being grown for recreational use --  and it would be up to the government to prove otherwise. Currently all the government has to show is that a hemp plant was being grown (regardless of its THC content).

This is a good bill -- both because the hemp plant could be a valuable resource for this country, and because it would make prosecutions for growing hemp more difficult. What really needs to be done is to legalize the growth, sale, and use of ALL hemp plants. It would create many new jobs (in an economy that desperately needs them), it would provide a new tax base that both star, and local governments need (not to mention the federal government), and it would stop the criminalization of hard-working Americans who are committing no real crime that hurts anyone.

This bill is just one more step toward ending the insanity in this country.