On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 19:13:39 -0700, Spread Eagle®
<redsky@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>On Aug 20, 4:38 pm, lein <boomer_the_...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>> Actually, you need to get the people who don't look like washed out
>> hippies to advocate it. Some guy who looked like he just got out of
>> bed or some college student who's mommy/daddy is paying their way
>> won't influence any change in policy. To the rest of us, they look
>> like they are only interested in legalizing it for their own
>> enjoyment. Better to get the business types out there pu****ng a
>> genuine industry need for the product.
>
>
>If there was ANY economic upside in having it unrestricted it would be
>bigtime. The fact of the matter is that the only people who argue for
>it are the people who wanna get loaded.
When it was legal it did have an economic upside. Hemp was used for
everything from rope to clothing to paper. The oil extracted can be
refined and used as fuel that burns as well as diesel.
The following are some excerpts from a re****t done in Missouri in the
early 90s
http://www.druglibrary.org/olsen/hemp/crop/hemp-01.html
TRADITIONAL MARKETS
Fiber. Hemp produces some of the strongest natural fiber for
cordage and textiles. Cloth can be rough or fine grade, ranging from
canvas to linen. Fabric is "breathable," durable, and absorbs more
moisture than cotton. Hemp is commonly blended with cotton to produce
garments with best advantages of both fibers. Hemp fiber can be spun
in flax mills. Hemp can also be "cottonized," allowing it to be
processed in cotton mills, or spinning equipment can be adjusted
specifically to accommodate hemp. Today's retail price of hemp/cotton
blend clothing is comparable to denim. Hemp fiber is currently a
specialty im****t item; commercial scale domestic production could
bring down retail clothing prices. The price factor, combined with
growing demand for "natural" clothing, could make production of hemp
fiber economically viable for Missouri farmers.
Paper. Hemp produces fiber and wood that can be pulped for paper
production. The wood (called "hurds") is left over from fiber
production; the same crop can yield fiber and wood. For paper
purposes, hemp hurd yields are about four times what can be harvested
from the same acreage of forest. Hemp crops could thereby reduce
global deforestation. As with textiles, paper can be produced in
grades ranging from rough to fine. Hemp paper is strong--sheets can be
tissue thickness without tearing easily. It also has a low acid
content, meaning the sheets won't grow brittle with age and
disintegrate as do high acid papers. Strength and low acid content
make hemp especially appealing to book and journal publishers. In
France hemp paper is widely used for rolling cigarettes. Markets for
hemp paper exist today. If forest log prices increase, hemp markets
could expand. An editorial in the June 1991 trade journal Pulp and
Paper asked governmental authorities to expedite production of hemp
paper.
Meal. Hemp seed can be processed for food. Traditional markets
are birdseed, cattle feed, and huuman food. Hemp has not been widely
used as human food in the United States, although specialty items such
as granola bars are marketed, and hemp can be processed into breakfast
cereal. Hemp is a more common human food in Asia and eastern Europe.
Oil. Hemp has as many food applications as any other vegetable
oil.
POTENTIAL MARKETS
Wood. Construction board pressed from hemp hurds is used in
France. Such sheeting can be used for walls, floors, roofs. An
American market likely exists.
Plastics. Assorted plastic products can be produced from hemp,
ranging from cellophane to plumbing pipe. Whether such production can
be done on a commercial scale, at prices competitive with petroleum
plastics, has not been demonstrated. But a potential plastics market
exists.
Fuel. The same can be said of hemp as a source of motor fuel. It
can run diesel engines and can also yield high octane gasoline, but we
do not know whether such production can be done commercially at a
price competitive with petroleum. We do know that hemp wood and
charcoal can be burned in power plant and boiler room applications,
and that emissions lack sulfur and acids that pollute the atmosphere.
The high yield of hemp wood per acre, compared to fforest wood, may
make hemp wood an attractive fuel.
Oil. Paint and varnish manufacturers formerly used large
quantities of hemp to obtain quick drying oils. Rising petroleum
prices could help reestablish this traditional use of hemp.
The US government used to actually promote hemp farming.
For example:
Hemp was once an im****tant Missouri textile fiber crop. Economic
factors have caused hemp's popularity to rise and decline several
times since the early 1800's. The last national production peak was in
the 1940's. Demand for natural fibers and for alternative sources of
food and wood products may make hemp profitable in Missouri once
again. Large crops are profitably grown in France, a country with
comparable labor and trans****tation costs.
In order for Missouri farmers to produce commercial hemp, the
state government surely needs to establish a registration system
similar to the old federal one which assured that commercial
production of hemp did not result in diversion of plants for use as
marijuana. When that system was in effect, federal authorities in the
executive and legislative branches expressed satisfaction with it.
French authorities today use a similar system with success.
Regards
Starkiller©
"Eta Kooram Nah Smech!"
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