Last weekend, the 19th annual Nimbin MardiGrass and Cannabis Law Reform Rally was held, attracting young and old from many parts of Australia and the world. While some may think it a frivolous party-style event for hippies and dopeheads, it is a serious forum to discuss the benefits of a plant revered for thousands of years for its various positive uses yet stigmatised by its illegality in many countries.
The festival and rally serve to drive home the futility of prohibition of hemp/cannabis/marijuana and how the war on drugs is a farce that serves to promote corruption and crime.
Let's face it, with baby boomers getting older, especially in these parts, the demand for medical-use cannabis products for pain relief from cancer and other ailments will continue to grow, and it's time Australia legalised medical cannabis use. In 1996, California was the first US state to legalise medical cannabis and at least 12 other states followed suit with many more in the process of doing so now. President Barack Obama's election campaign position on the issue last year, condoning medical use, was now American policy, according to a former attorney general, and it should be the same in Australia; after all we always took our lead over drug laws from the US. In Europe too, progressive countries have seen the light and allowed cannabis for medical use.
The use of industrial hemp for paper manufacture, building materials, textiles and even food is also growing, with NSW last year issuing the first commercial licences to grow low-THC hemp (THC is the psycho-active ingredient in the herb) for non-food hemp products and the harvesting of the first-ever commercial hemp crops in the state just this year. The Northern Rivers apparently has the highest density of licences and growers in the state and is set to lead the hemp production industry in Australia. The fledgling industry is now lobbying to make hemp food products for human consumption legal.
Can you imagine how many trees would be saved by using hemp, a fast-growing annual, instead of woodchips for paper, sailcloth or rope? It's time to take stock of all the nonsense of the past century which has kept one of humanity's oldest cultivated plants with so many good uses out of our reach.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Tweed Shire Echo
Author: Luis Feliu
Contact: Tweed Shire Echo
Copyright: 2010 Echo Netco Pty Ltd
Website: Hemp stigma
The festival and rally serve to drive home the futility of prohibition of hemp/cannabis/marijuana and how the war on drugs is a farce that serves to promote corruption and crime.
Let's face it, with baby boomers getting older, especially in these parts, the demand for medical-use cannabis products for pain relief from cancer and other ailments will continue to grow, and it's time Australia legalised medical cannabis use. In 1996, California was the first US state to legalise medical cannabis and at least 12 other states followed suit with many more in the process of doing so now. President Barack Obama's election campaign position on the issue last year, condoning medical use, was now American policy, according to a former attorney general, and it should be the same in Australia; after all we always took our lead over drug laws from the US. In Europe too, progressive countries have seen the light and allowed cannabis for medical use.
The use of industrial hemp for paper manufacture, building materials, textiles and even food is also growing, with NSW last year issuing the first commercial licences to grow low-THC hemp (THC is the psycho-active ingredient in the herb) for non-food hemp products and the harvesting of the first-ever commercial hemp crops in the state just this year. The Northern Rivers apparently has the highest density of licences and growers in the state and is set to lead the hemp production industry in Australia. The fledgling industry is now lobbying to make hemp food products for human consumption legal.
Can you imagine how many trees would be saved by using hemp, a fast-growing annual, instead of woodchips for paper, sailcloth or rope? It's time to take stock of all the nonsense of the past century which has kept one of humanity's oldest cultivated plants with so many good uses out of our reach.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Tweed Shire Echo
Author: Luis Feliu
Contact: Tweed Shire Echo
Copyright: 2010 Echo Netco Pty Ltd
Website: Hemp stigma
