HEMP'S ECONOMIC USES THWARTED BY PARANOIA

In 1995 and 1996, while serving in the Colorado State Senate, I sponsored a
bill to allow Colorado farmers to plant hemp that contains less than
three-tenths of 1 percent of THC. Rep. Kay Alexander sponsored a similar
bill in 1997. The score of those efforts is Casey/Alexander 0, Drug
Enforcement Administration 3.

The war on drugs has spawned a paranoia best reflected in the old saying,
"Don't confuse me with facts, I have made up my mind."

Those of us who served in World War II are very aware that farmers were
begged to plant industrial hemp in 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945, so we would
have the fibers to make lines for our ships, cordage for parachute rigging
and cloth for some of our uniforms.

It is not a drug issue. It is a competitive issue. Manufacturers of
synthetic fibers don't want hemp competition, nor do the cotton growers.
The lumber industry doesn't want competition from hemp in the making of paper.

The DEA has no business getting into the fray, but it is responsible for
the defeat of the efforts being made. The phrase that has been totally
worn out but is still in use is, "It will send a bad message to our
children." That phrase reminds me of another popular WWII saying: "It's bad
enough to gag a maggot."

Lloyd Casey Northglenn

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski