And With Friends Like These;
Part 2.
Former Head of CIA, Now at the North American Industrial Hemp Council, Tells Post That
NORML is "welcome to join his side, though its presence on his team borders on
absurd:"
"Hemp is nature’s own marijuana eradication system."
EX-CIA CHIEF’S BACKING OF HEMP RAISES EYEBROWS AMONG OFFICIALS
See
Alterna Again Puts
Out Prohibitionist Propaganda In A Press Release
To Announce Its Pro-Hemp Billboards
and
THE HEMP CASINO, HEMP WHORLED, & ROPERS VS.
DOPERS
By John E. Dvorak, Hempologist
May 2, 1999
From The Washington Post
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/WASHINGTON - James Woolsey, the former CIA director, wants to make one
thing clear: He isn’t fighting for the right to get stoned.
Lately, some friends have wondered. Woolsey, now a Washington corporate lawyer,
recently got his first lobbying client, the North American
Industrial Hemp Council, a group angling to legalize hemp.
The multipurpose fiber comes from the same plant family as marijuana. But hemp lacks
enough of the psychoactive substance that gets pot smokers high. What it has, say farmers,
environmentalists and agribusiness interests, is the potential to become a
billion-dollar-a-year crop, producing paper, clothing, lotions and even car dashboards.
Several countries have produced profitable hemp harvests for years.
"Before I explain, I get smiles from friends," Woolsey said in a recent
interview. "This isn’t about trying to legalize marijuana, though."
But Woolsey and the council, a group of about 100 agribusinesses, farmers and
scientists, are in for a battle. The White House and the Drug
Enforcement Administration are against domestic hemp farming, arguing that hemp plants
look so similar to marijuana that allowing farmers to grow them would complicate
drug-fighting efforts. And they dismiss talk about hemp’s potential as a
substitute for oil, cotton and paper as part of a campaign to bring the country closer to
decriminalizing pot.
"Only chemical analysis allows you to tell the difference between a pot plant and
hemp plant," said Bob Weiner, a spokesman for the administration’s Office of
National Drug Control Policy. "You can’t tell the difference from a helicopter,
and that makes it a nightmare for eradication."
For states, the administration’s opinion effectively blocks hemp planting. Last
month, North Dakota became the first state to decriminalize hemp farming. But the measure
is purely symbolic until the DEA changes its position.
Hemp’s drug rap could be hard for even Woolsey to beat. Not
even Vice President Al Gore, who fancies himself a forward-thinking environmentalist, will
endorse it. And the weed is avidly embraced by the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws, the country’s foremost pot lobby.
NORML acknowledges that anyone smoking hemp will get a headache, not a high; in fact,
the pollen from hemp reduces the potency of marijuana, rendering it worthless to drug
dealers. Nonetheless, NORML leaders are delighted to have an establishment figure such as
Woolsey in hemp’s corner.
"As Americans grow more accustomed to seeing hemp growing as an independent crop,
it’s going to be a little harder for the government to pull this ‘reefer
madness’ approach," said Keith Stroup, NORML’s executive director.
To Woolsey, a partner at Shea & Gardner, the hemp battle is about developing hemp
oil as a substitute for petroleum, which could enhance the country’s energy security
by making it less dependent on foreign suppliers.
NORML is welcome to join his side, he said, though its presence
on his team borders on absurd: "Hemp is nature’s own marijuana eradication
system."
(Marijuananews note: First, NORML was supporting hemp legalization when Woolsey was
still at an agency more associated with other contraband.
Second, NORML is not promoting marijuana use, but the right to use marijuana.
Third, marijuana should not be grown in the same areas, but the area needed for
marijuana is very small, compared with the area needed for industrial hemp. Also, freight
is not a major factor in the cost of marijuana, as it is with industrial hemp.
Fourth, in the future, the best marijuana will be grown in large greenhouses year
‘round.
Fifth, Mr. Woolsey is welcome to join our side and fight for freedom. Freedom has
nothing to fear from the truth.)
Agriculture experts hail hemp’s short growing cycle - about 120 days - and the
versatility of its fibers. Environmental groups say hemp is good news for forests because
it’s a new source of paper and building materials.
Woolsey must convince Congress and key administration officials that reasonable
precautions could build a booming domestic hemp industry.
Copyright: 1999 The Washington Post Company
See
Now There Are Real Friends,
Like Brad Pitt,
Wearing A T-shirt That Reads, "I live for hemp." – Late Gossip
Marijuananews.com hemp pages Contributing Editor: John E. Dvorak,
Hempologist
John researches and writes about the past, present and future uses of
cannabis hemp. He is the founder and proprietor of the Boston Hemp Co-op, Museum and
Library. John was the Managing Editor of Hemp Magazine and has had articles published in
Hempworld Magazine, the Journal of the International Hemp Association and Cannabis Canada
(now Cannabis Culture). He is a member of the Hemp Industries Association, the
International Hemp Association, and Mass Cann/NORML. He can be reached at boston.hemp@pobox.com and 781-662-4313.
Supported