Okay, perhaps it is the fluoride or it is the winter dun drums.
Home work assignment:
How much paper can be made from an acre of trees?
How long does it take trees to reach harvest age to be able to produce paper?
How much paper can be derived from an acre of Hemp?
How long does it take hemp plants to reach age to be harvested for paper production?
Now put down the smoke and start your assignment! :)
Remember, the boys and girls at the state house will need a piece of the action before any pot growing / dispensing happens here in the peoples democratic republic of Massachusetts.
Remember, there may be a Town Meeting question (warrant article) concerning the meals tax:
Do you wish new or more taxes taken from you when you eat out or buy a coffee?
ReplyDeleteAny success at keeping the cannabis industry strictly local will be short-lived. It’s critical I think to get in now and welcome these businesses. Especially the cultivation of this plant. By twenty years after full national legalization, the cannabis industry will looks just like beer today, with a few major corporations dominating the market and a whole bunch of craft or boutique growers who serve a particular market segment.
It is inevitable for a product that is ultimately just another agricultural commodity, sold through interstate commerce, and traded on the market.
All this current hand-wringing about it will seem pretty pointless by 2025.
Just like Beer, Wine and many other things niche markets and local brands and growers especially with a history prosper.
DeleteI’d worry more about the other chemicals in the town water 1st.
ReplyDelete1 acre of hemp to 4 acres of trees...........Hence Rudolph Hearst was in favor of illegal marijuana.
ReplyDeleteOh, That 1-4 number was from a 1916 report from the ...............USDA.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:05 Hemp paper is whitened with Hydrogen peroxide. Wood paper is bleach/acid. Multiple other benefits to not deforesting and growing hemp.
ReplyDeleteBiodiesel made from hemp can be run in an ordinary diesel engine. Regular diesel burns at 125 biodiesel burns at 300 degrees. Biodiesel is biodegradable, diesel isn't.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be cool to grow locally...........whats the argument for a plant with less than .3% thc
Thanks Bob M I’m well read on papersmills horrible environmental impact and cancer links and am completely in favor of cannabis - hemp production and sale
ReplyDeleteI think the first step to industrial hemp production is to legalize it for small scale agriculture.
ReplyDeleteRight now, in the US there are only 14 states that allow hemp to be grown. And yes, Massachusetts is one of those states. However:
More States Moving to Legalize Industrial Hemp Farming
Though you can purchase hemp foods and products in America, growing hemp—the non-psychoactive cousin of marijuana—has been illegal here for decades. But as part of this year's farm bill, Congress approved the growing of hemp by universities and state agriculture departments, for research purposes, in states that permit it.
It's a small step, but it's something. Since the new farm bill's passage, states where hemp farming was totally prohibited have been moving quickly to loosen their rules.
Overall, 25 states have considered industrial hemp legislation in 2014, according to Vote Hemp. Thirteen states—California, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia—now allow industrial hemp farming for research and/or commercial purposes.
Hawaii passed a bill this week authorizing the University of Hawaii to grow and research hemp. New York is currently considering a bill to allow universities to grow hemp for research purposes, and similar bills have been under consideration recently in Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, South Carolina, and Washington.
Other states have legalized growing hemp for commercial as well as research purposes (though this puts them in conflict with federal laws). In March, Indiana passed a bill allowing farmers to grow hemp for research or commercial uses. Tennessee's legislature passed a similar bill in April, which is waiting on approval from Gov. Bill Haslam. A South Carolina version passed the Senate and is awaiting further action in the House.
And:
ReplyDeleteMassachusetts Bill Would Authorize Commercial Hemp Production; Foundation to Defy Federal Prohibition
BOSTON, Mass. (April 14, 2017) – A bill introduced in the Massachusetts House would create a licensing program for the production and processing of industrial hemp for commercial purposes in the state, rejecting the unconstitutional federal prohibition of the same.
Rep. Chris Walsh (D-Middlesex) presented House Bill 3507 (H.3507) earlier this year. The legislation would create a licensing program for the production of industrial hemp for research purposes and “commercial purposes which are deemed reasonable by the commissioner.”
Massachusetts voters legalized industrial hemp, along with marijuana, in a referendum last November. Language in the referendum legalized industrial hemp and removed all criminal penalties for cultivating it in the state.
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a person 21 years of age or older shall not be arrested, prosecuted, penalized, sanctioned or disqualified and is not subject to seizure or forfeiture of assets for possessing, producing, processing, manufacturing, purchasing, obtaining, selling or otherwise transferring or delivering hemp.
The referendum also authorized the state to regulate hemp production.
H.3507 would create a licensing an regulatory scheme for the production of industrial hemp. The legislation gives wide latitude to the Department of Agricultural Resources to create rules and licensing requirements relating to hemp. How the program would work practically speaking would depend on departmental rule-making.
FEDERAL FARM BILL
ReplyDeleteEarly in 2014, President Barack Obama signed a new farm bill into law, which included a provision allowing a handful of states to begin limited research programs growing hemp. The “hemp amendment”
…allows State Agriculture Departments, colleges and universities to grow hemp, defined as the non-drug oil-seed and fiber varieties of Cannabis, for academic or agricultural research purposes, but it applies only to states where industrial hemp farming is already legal under state law.
In short, current federal law authorizes the farming of hemp – by research institutions, or within state pilot programs, for research only. Farming for commercial purposes by individuals and businesses remains prohibited. H.3507 ignores federal prohibition and authorizes commercial farming and production anyway.
OTHER STATES
When Massachusetts voters decriminalized industrial hemp, it set the stage to nullify the federal hemp ban in practice. The creation of a licensing program may serve to jump-start a hemp industry in the state. Massachusetts joints with other states, Including Colorado, Oregon, Maine, California and Vermont – that have simply ignored federal prohibition and legalized industrial hemp production within their state borders.
While prospective hemp growers would still have to take federal law into consideration, by eliminating the state requirement for federal permission, the Massachusetts law would clear away a major obstacle to widespread commercial hemp farming within the borders of the state.
Farmers in SE Colorado started harvesting the plant in 2013, and farmers in Vermont began harvesting in 2014, effectively nullifying federal restrictions on such agricultural activities. On Feb. 2, 2105, the Oregon hemp industry officially opened for business and one week later, the first license went to a small non-profit group. As more people engage in hemp production and the market grows within these states, more people will become emboldened creating an exponential wave, ultimately nullifying the federal ban in effect.
HUGE MARKET FOR HEMP
According to a 2005 Congressional Research Service report, the U.S. is the only developed nation that hasn’t developed an industrial hemp crop for economic purposes.
Experts suggest that the U.S. market for hemp is around $600 million per year. They count as many as 25,000 uses for industrial hemp, including food, cosmetics, plastics and bio-fuel. The U.S. is currently the world’s #1 importer of hemp fiber for various products, with China and Canada acting as the top two exporters in the world.
During World War II, the United States military relied heavily on hemp products, which resulted in the famous campaign and government-produced film, “Hemp for Victory!”
So I could grow 6 marijuana plants per year, but I can't grow "industrial hemp" unless I am a research institution:
"In short, current federal law authorizes the farming of hemp – by research institutions, or within state pilot programs, for research only. Farming for commercial purposes by individuals and businesses remains prohibited. H.3507 ignores federal prohibition and authorizes commercial farming and production anyway."