by Obiora Embry

The 21st century has seen an increased national desire to become more environmentally friendly, and Kentucky is no exception. We have some of the most fertile soil in the United States, and with tobacco and coal on their way out the door, we need viable income alternatives that can steer us in a sustainable direction. As this is the case, one of the smartest moves that we Kentuckians can make is to write and enact legislation that will make the growing and selling of industrial hemp and marijuana legal again.

It is important to understand that there are differences between hemp and marijuana because they have different functions that are important to the present and future of Kentucky. In resolving some of the problems that we humans have created during the Age of Patriarchy, we will need to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, synthetics (including plastics), and trees. We will also need to heal the wounds of those who suffer from mental disorders, imbalances, diseases, and reduce the needless deaths caused by prescription drugs that medical marijuana can replace.

In achieving these goals, we the people need to resurrect locally and nationally the legal cultivation and selling of both industrial hemp and marijuana.

The Plant

In 2010, many people still think of industrial hemp and marijuana as being one and the same or indistinguishable, even though botanically speaking they are cousins. Hemp is an English word that has been used for varieties (i.e., cannabis sativa) of the Cannabis plant that have been bred and used for food, fiber, paper, fuel, seeds, oil, etc. Marihuana is derived from the Spanish word marijuana and has been used for Cannabis varieties that have been bred over time and used for medicinal, therapeutic, and/or recreational purposes like cannabis indica.

Hemp and marijuana both belong to the plant family Cannabaceae and genus Cannabis L. Although they originally belonged to different species, since the mid to late 20th century they have been botanically grouped together with six other species as Cannabis sativa L. This intentional grouping made it possible for the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 to classify marijuana and industrial hemp as the same plant, even though the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 made a distinction between industrial hemp and marijuana. The 1937 Act brought with it heavy taxes, excessive paperwork, and possible fines and/or prison time for marijuana commerce that led to a decrease in the cultivation and personal use of marijuana, thereby making it easier for later laws to make it illegal.

The Cannabis (genus or Cannabis L.) plant is a native of central Asia and may have been cultivated as early as 10,000 B.C. Around 3000 B.C., Ayurvedic medicine used bhang—produced from the dried and crushed leaves, seeds, and stems—to treat problems that included diarrhea, epilepsy, nausea, fever, diabetes, asthma, and menstrual disorders. In 2700 B.C., the first written record of medicinal usage is made in the pharmacopoeia of Shen Nung (one of the fathers of Chinese medicine) for constipation, gout, malaria, fevers, menstrual problems, and rheumatism.

The West came late to using marijuana as medicine, but in 1621 English clergyman Robert Burton wrote in The Anatomy of Melancholy that marijuana could be used for the treatment of depression. Between 1840 and 1900, more than 100 papers were written and published in Western medical literature about using marijuana to treat various diseases and ailments. Marijuana was listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia and National Formulary from around 1852 until 1941, which means that it was used for prescription and/or over-the-counter medicines. The United States Pharmacopoeia went so far as to list marijuana as one of the least toxic substances.

On the other hand, even though prescription (non-illicit) drugs have a much shorter history than marijuana, according to a 1998 study in the Journal of the American Association, the deaths caused by adverse drug reactions in hospitals have been listed as being between the fourth and sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

The Law

I am not an expert in law, but the actions taken by the federal government through the passage of laws by Congress related to the regulation of hemp and marijuana can be brought to the U.S. Supreme Court on their (possible) illegality.

This is because in United States v. Butler (1936) it was decided that the “regulation and control of agricultural production are beyond the powers delegated to the Federal Government” (United States v. Butler). This means states can argue that the Controlled Substances Act (a subset of The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act) of 1970 is in violation of United States v. Butler because industrial hemp was an agricultural product prior to the Revolutionary War and was grown by farmers at the request of the federal government during World War II. (It will be harder for marijuana since it's name is of Spanish origin.) California is a good example of a state that is defending its rights in this regard.

Following the passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, Congress recommended the creation of a presidential commission to study marijuana because it did not want to permanently categorize marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance—an illegal drug with no medicinal uses—without having substantial knowledge about it. The commission, named the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, consisted of 14 members named by President Nixon and Congress. Of his allotted ten appointees, President Nixon named Raymond Shafer, former Republican Governor of Pennsylvania and former prosecutor, the chair of the commission.

In March 1972, The National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, commonly called the Shafer Commission, released their findings in “The Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse: Drug Use In America: Problem in Perspective.” One journalist cited the findings as the “most comprehensive review of marihuana conducted by the federal government.”

The commission advised that marijuana be treated similarly to alcohol in the Volstead Act of 1919 (used to enforce the 18th Amendment) in that an individual who possessed (including casual or non-monetary transfer) marijuana in public would be fined but would not receive a warrant or a record of any kind as the criminal justice system was to not be involved. Law enforcement could not search a private establishment without probable cause of “unlawful sale.” In addition, the Shafer Commission recommended changes to the treatment of marijuana—classified as contraband—in the Controlled Substances Act. Several members of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse also favored legalization of marijuana.

However, President Nixon denounced the report and started the “War on Drugs” through an onslaught of propaganda and myths that continue today through the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and other groups, which have made it difficult to enact state and federal legislation to re-legalize industrial hemp and marijuana.

Potential Benefits of Legalization

Medical marijuana has been made legal in thirteen states including Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

The first state to make the selling of medical marijuana legal was California with Oakland as the epicenter of the movement. In the summer of 2009, the citizens of Oakland voted to impose a 1.8% sales tax on the sale of marijuana that would go directly into the city’s general funds. According to Karen Klein in a recent article for Business Week, the Harborside Health Center, an Oakland marijuana dispenser, has a yearly revenue of $20 million and therefore pays Oakland approximately $360,000 annually through city taxes on medical marijuana. If California legalizes marijuana with the Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act, they anticipate additional yearly revenue of $1.38 billion. In California, newspapers have reported that some of the medical marijuana growers (many that were almost destitute a few years ago) are now achieving taxable and legal incomes that exceed $100,000.

Here in Kentucky, one online pro-legalization website, MarijuanaLobby.org, estimates that Kentucky loses an annual revenue of $38,750,000.00 it has yet to enact legislation to legalize marijuana—money that can help to buffer our expected budget shortfall.

In addition to the financial benefits of medical marijuana, the people can benefit from seeing a decrease in the prescribing of non-illicit drugs by doctors. This will greatly benefit Kentucky because the deaths attributed to prescription drugs disproportionately affect the rural population. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated in 2004 that, with its 164% increase from 1999 to 2004, Kentucky had one of the highest increases in accidental deaths due to deadly drug overdoses. To counteract this trend, the legal sale of marijuana should be promoted and established for those illnesses and ailments for which humans have known to benefit like AIDS, cancer treatment, glaucoma, pain reduction, seizure control, affective disorders (including depression), gout, etc.

The people can also benefit financially from being allowed to grow and sell marijuana legally. The ten-year depression (in the news it has been called a recession) has devastated families, single parents, small and even large businesses and has hurt those that live at or below the poverty line. Kentucky is one of the five poorest states, and in 2007, 17.2% of our population lived under the federal poverty level, which was about 4% higher than the national average.

Hemp, marijuana's illegal cousin, has long been known for its strength, durability, and vitality, which has made it one of the most functional agricultural products in history. The plant has more than 200 uses, including food (for humans and birds), fuel, oil, textiles (including canvas bags and clothes), plastics, paint, paper, livestock bedding and food, building materials, rope, sails, and now eco-friendly bricks that have a very low conductivity and good insulation in both the heat and cold. One acre of industrial hemp can produce more usable fiber than four acres of trees or two acres of cotton.

In addition, when growing hemp, insecticides, pesticides, and herbicides are not needed. It can also be used in crop rotation cycles (used in the system of organic gardening) to add vital nutrients back to the soil that are lost when growing crops like corn and tobacco.

It was reported in 1951 in A History of the Hemp Industry in Kentucky that Kentucky accounted for 50% of the industrial hemp production during the 1800s. In a 1998 study, The Center for Business and Economy Research at the University of Kentucky reported that if Kentucky were to create hemp processing plants that it would “have an economic impact of 771 full-time equivalent jobs and $17,600,000 in worker earnings.” Because of the increased desire for environmentally friendly and/or sustainable products in the past decade, the economic impact of industrial hemp may be more than reported.

The total amount of money lost in the United States and Kentucky from importing hemp and its by products is not known. However, based on the increase in popularity of hemp products, it can be assumed that we are losing millions, if not billions of dollars yearly in revenue from having to import hemp products.

By growing hemp on more than family farms, there is the real possibility of increasing the production capacity of industrial hemp for sale, which will increase the state’s taxable revenue streams. Since its cultivation will be legal, Kentucky will generate income through the sales tax (on non-food related hemp by-products), income taxes of the growers, from the processing plants, etc.

We the people and the states (through states’ rights) need to reassess our view of industrial hemp and marijuana. We must put an end to the demonization and fear mongering that keeps these plants and their products illegal. In doing so, we need to educate ourselves on the facts and work to change the laws at the state and national level, so we can collectively benefit from these agricultural products with histories as old as agriculture itself.

After we arm ourselves with knowledge, we need to lobby our state legislators to pass 2009 Senate Bill 131 (introduced in the Senate on 12 February 2009), which will legalize hemp production. We need to contact our state legislators to add industrial hemp and marijuana to be included in the crop diversification that resulted from House Bill 611. Lastly, we need to circulate factual information to our lawmakers in Frankfort, to our neighbors, farmers, gardeners, schools, public and private, and newspapers to educate the populace about the truth.

[Obiora Embry is a free thinker that has been doing independent research for 15+ years on a variety of topics including hemp and marijuana. He has addressed some of the common marijuana and hemp myths that can be read within the context of the article @ http://utgift.freehostia.com/KY/hemp_med_marijuana.]

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