WiserEarth Area of Focus Stewards

from: http://www.hemp.net/vote/hempinfo.html

The following information was provided to each candidate as a basis to understand the history of the hemp plant, its industrial uses, its medicinal values and recent developments regarding the regulation of hemp/marijuana. As it is impossible to provide all relevant information in this brief format, we encourage voters and candidates to seek their own educational resources and information on this issue.

Uses of Industrial Hemp

The hemp plant is comprised of seed & stalk (fiber & hurds) which have various industrial uses. Using bast fibers and hurds, hemp can produce 10-20 times more paper per acre than trees over a 20 year harvest period. Current hemp strains grown in Europe and Canada produce crops containing low levels of THC, making intoxication impractical and unrealistic. Farming industrial hemp for its stalk, producing fiber and hurd, is easily distinguishable from crops cultivated for the psychoactive flower. Industrial applications of the hemp plant include textiles, cordage, construction products, paper and packaging, furniture, electrical, automative, paints and sealants, plastics and polymers, lubricants and fuel, energy and biomass, compost, food and feed.

Benefits of Industrial Hemp

Historically

The first drafts of the Declaration of Independence were written on hemp paper. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp. By the 1930’s the Ford Motor Company was creating charcoal fuel, creosote, ethylacetate, methanol, and other compounds out of hemp at their biomass conversion plant at Iron Mountain, Michigan. Mechanical Engineering magazine heralded hemp in its February 1937 issue as "the most profitable and desirable crop that can be grown" and Popular Mechanics christened hemp "The New Billion Dollar Crop." In 1942, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) made a fourteen minute film urging American farmers to grow hemp to support the war effort after the Japanese had cut off America’s supply of imported hemp.

For the Economy

Today, hemp is cultivated in China, Russia and other CIS states, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Poland and recently Canada and Great Britain. A July 1998, Kentucky University research study reports that hemp grown in today’s market could generate a profit of between $220 and $605 an acre. Such returns are higher than returns on soybeans, hay, corn and wheat.

For the Environment

Research into bast fiber crops at Washington State University rates hemp as the best solution for meeting the growing demand for alternatives to wood based products. A 1998 Vermont State Auditor’s report evaluating the DEA’s $9 million marijuana eradication efforts revealed that over 99 percent of the 422,716,526 total marijuana plants eliminated nationwide by the agency in 1996 were "ditchweed," non-psychoactive hemp. Toxic chemicals are often applied in these efforts.

Industrial hemp sources on the World Wide Web:

http://naihc.org/ http://www.hemptech.com/

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Public Opinion on Medical Marijuana

In 1988, Judge Francis Young of the DEA found marijuana to be "the safest therapeutic substance known to man" and urged its reclassification and distribution for medical uses. In 1995 a Washington State poll of likely voters, 75% favored making marijuana available for patients if prescribed by a doctor. In 1998, Washington State Democrats have endorsed Initiative 692 which would legalize marijuana for specific medicinal purposes. Citizens’ Initiatives in California and Arizona passed in 1996 and this year Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, and Washington D.C. will all have medical marijuana initiatives on the ballot.

Medical Uses of Marijuana

In 1937 there were at least 28 medicinal products on the market containing marijuana. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 federally prohibited marijuana. The AMA testified against the Act, realizing that prohibition would ultimately prevent the medicinal uses of marijuana. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 placed all illicit and prescription drugs into five "schedules" (categories). Marijuana is placed in Schedule I, defining the substance as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision. Some of the illnesses for which marijuana appears to be beneficial include chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting in cancer patients; AIDS wasting syndrome; severe muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and other spasticity disorders; epilepsy; acute or chronic glaucoma; and some forms of intractable pain. Presently, under federal government regulations, only eight Americans are legally allowed to use marijuana as medicine.

Medical Marijuana sources on the World Wide Web

http://www.marijuana-as-medicine.org/ http://www.mpp.org/

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Effects of Marijuana Prohibition

Over 10 million Americans have been arrested since 1965 for marijuana-related offenses. America has a higher incarceration rate than any other country. Six to ten times higher than most Western countries. There are currently 1.7 million Americans behind bars. 1.5 million American children have a parent in jail or prison, while another 3.5 million children have a parent on parole or probation. In 1995, California for the first time, appropriated more money for its corrections institutions than for its educational system. According to the Bureau of Prisons’ statistics, over 60% of federal prisoners are in for "drug offenses," 2.8% are in for "violent offenses," and 0.7% are incarcerated for "white collar crimes." In 1996, the number of marijuana arrests in the United States (by state and local police) was the largest in history: 641,642. And 85% of those arrests were for possession, not sale or manufacture. The average sentence for a first-time non-violent drug offense is longer than the average sentence for rape, child molestation, manslaughter, or bank robbery. Since many non-violent drug offenses receive mandatory "no parole" sentences, the problem of overcrowded prisons is increasingly diffused by releasing violent criminals back into American communities. The 1984 crime bill overhauled the federal forfeiture laws, allowing the seizing police agency to keep the proceeds of property they seize and forfeit. This inherent conflict of interest has lead to greater and greater abuses as the profits generated have risen--to close to a billion dollars a year for the federal government alone. In 80% of property forfeiture cases the property owner is not charged with a crime.

Washington State’s Asset Forfeiture Laws

RCW 69.50.505(e) In cases involving personal property, the burden of producing evidence shall be upon the person claiming to be the lawful owner of the property. RCW 69.50.505(h)(1) Each seizing agency shall remit to the state treasurer an amount equal to ten percent of the net proceeds of any property forfeited. RCW 69.50.505(i) Forfeited property and net proceeds not required to be paid to the state treasurer shall be retained by the seizing law enforcement agency.

Marijuana Prohibition sources on the World Wide Web

http://www.november.org/ http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/