Pubdate: Sun, 04 Feb 2001
Source: Capital Press (OR)
Section: Opinions
Copyright: 2001 Capital Press Agriculture Weekly
Contact:  PO Box 2048, Salem, OR 97308
Fax: (503) 370-4383
Website: http://www.capitalpress.com/

OREGON HEMP BILL CAREFUL STEP IN RIGHT DIRECTION

SALEM, OR - The hemp seed at last has been planted in the Oregon 
Legislature. That ought to be the first step to a profitable harvest on the 
farms and ranches of the state.

The bill for cautious legalization of growing industrial hemp contains the 
important lesson that hemp and its troublesome cousin, marijuana, are not 
one and the same.

How well is that lesson learned? It will be a good test of the Legislature 
to generate support among lawmakers from both parties, from both houses and 
from urban and rural constituencies.

The proposal ought to have that kind of broad support. It has found it in 
other states that have authorized experimentation with the plant.

More than 30 foreign countries that regularly produce hemp wonder what the 
concern is all about in the United States.

Americans should wonder, too. And certainly their farmers should. Why 
should they be deprived of a choice that puts money in the banks of their 
competitors abroad? Industrial hemp offers them the prospect of another 
crop, one with the potential of earning them about $300 an acre.

Northwest farmers, always looking for rotation and alternative crops, 
clearly would appreciate having such an option. And they should.

The problem is paranoia over marijuana. When hemp was first banned back in 
the '30s, marijuana was blamed, even though it's likely that competition 
from other fiber, such as wood, was the real culprit.

When there was a need for the tough fiber in World War II, the ban was 
easily jettisoned with barely a murmur, only to be reinstalled when the war 
was over. But the plant has grown wild throughout much of the country since 
then.

The close relationship between the plant that produces strong fiber and the 
one that produces an illegal drug is undeniable. But they are not 
identical. Hemp contains only trace amounts of the intoxicant found in 
marijuana. Indeed, researchers have found a quality in hemp that inhibits 
the intoxicant, thereby characterizing hemp as the anti-marijuana cousin.

An argument is advanced that the two are so alike hemp could be a cover 
crop for marijuana. But those who make that argument display a serious lack 
of knowledge about agriculture. Hemp is grown for its strong fiber. It's 
therefore tightly bunched, grown tall and spindly, and harvested early. 
Marijuana is grown for its flowers and leaves. Thus, it therefore spreads 
out like a bush. And it would be left bare for drug enforcement officers to 
spot when the taller hemp is harvested.

The bill before the Legislature is a careful step, as it should be when 
there's so much concern about an issue. It would place the plant under the 
jurisdiction of the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The department would 
be responsible for issuing licenses and conducting tests.

That's a reasonable beginning.

So let's begin. Let's stop connecting hemp with drugs and start connecting 
it with profits for the farmer and therefore the state's economy.

It's a shame to lock away a plant with such a valuable product for 
something its naughty cousin is guilty of.
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