Drug Watch International

OPPOSEs Legalization of Industrial Hemp

(low-grade marijuana)
Industrial HEMP is MARIJUANA

WE, US drug preventionists,  OPPOSE the  legalization of industrial hemp (low-grade marijuana) as an agricultural crop; RESIST all efforts to change Federal or state laws to allow industrial hemp to be defined as a legal crop; ACKNOWLEDGE that the US government is responsible for regulating controlled substances and ensuring food safety, and to INFORM US  farmers, the general public, and government agencies about the long-standing drug culture ties and questionable economics of Cannabis hemp/marijuana as a crop.


WHEREAS:

both fiber-hemp/marijuana and drug-hemp/marijuana are Cannabis sativa L. plants, contain a mind altering drug called THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), and are prohibited by Federal law;

both official US drug control agencies, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), believe and have publicly stated that it would not be in the public interest to change the current status of Cannabis sativa L. (hemp/marijuana), determining that;

“the threat of diversion into the illicit drug trade associated with the cultivation of hemp/marijuana would not be in the public interest.  Marijuana drug dealers will pay many times higher for hemp as a mix with higher grade marijuana to increase their profit than the hemp market could offer.  There is no reliable field test to distinguish fiber-hemp from other varieties, therefore, law enforcement would be unable to arrest cannabis violators based on the required "probable cause" standard;”

• the DEA ban on THC in hemp food products, though characterized as a drug war issue, is, in fact, a food safety issue. Despite the fact that NO state or country in the world has scientifically established the safety of food products made from hemp, the Ninth Circuit Court struck down the DEA ban in 2004;
• the present hemp movement in the U.S. and internationally was initiated by marijuana activists as officially reported by the U.S. Congress' research arm (CRS 92-510) which states that the "legalize marihuana (Hemp) movement" was "largely spurred by...Jack Herer,...."an internationally known marijuana activist dubbed the "godfather of hemp."  Herer was quoted as saying he dreamed up the hemp movement one night while high on LSD.;
• “Vote Hemp“(chief lobby organization) & Hemp Industries Association – HIA (chief trade group) are orchestrating and funding hemp legalization efforts in the US; (Who funds them? George Soros” his  co-funder, Peter Lewis?)
• Vote Hemp & HIA are headed by a former NORML employee, who, with High Times, co-produced two pro-marijuana/hemp CD albums.  One, entitled Hempilation: Freedom is Norml, features pro-pot bands performing their favorite weed classics such as, “I Wanna Get High,” “I Like Marijuana,” and “Legalize It.” Vote Hemp’s President included in his closing remarks on the pro-pot CD liner notes, “Isn’t it time we reconsider marijuana prohibition? … We all need to …demand the end of hemp prohibition now.”;   (Emphasis added)
• Vote Hemp helped to write federal bill, H.R. 1009 (now H.R. 831), which was introduced to Congress in 2007 by Ron Paul.  That Bill would legalize hemp as an agricultural crop, and would take authority to regulate Cannabis hemp from the federal government and, assign authority over it to the states;
• H.R. 831 would make federal law enforcement subservient to the state legislative process;

Therefore US Drug Preventionists, URGE that citizens, lawmakers, and other officials OPPOSE & PREVENT the legalization of Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.).

Additional Reasons to  OPPOSE Legalization of Hemp (low-grade marijuana)

Drug abuse threatens our democratic institutions, national security, and Nation’s future.

Pro-drug advocates use industrial hemp/marijuana as a symbol to promote the acceptance and legalization of marijuana.

The drug-driven Hemp Movement predated and created farmer and business involvement.

Vote Hemp drafted hemp bills & recruited farmers and public officials to introduce and spearhead their passage.

Vote Hemp recruited and funded legitimate US farmers to bring lawsuits against the DEA to change the legal status of hemp.

Claims of economic advantages to the agricultural community from growing industrial hemp-marijuana are significantly exaggerated.  On an international level hemp/marijuana is not profitable for farmers who are growing it without government subsidies (the EU).  In 2011, Canada's hemp market supported fewer than 40,000 acres of hemp.

Claims of environmental advantages from growing industrial hemp/marijuana are also significantly exaggerated.

Law enforcement at all levels – federal, state, and local – oppose the legalization of hemp/marijuana for industrial purposes, knowing that industrial hemp/marijuana can promote the illicit drug trade:

• Through increasing potency by harvesting selected parts of the plant.         
• Through manufacturing into a higher-potency drug product using accessible recipes and ingredients, and
• Through using low-potency marijuana as a filler to increase the bulk of higher-potency marijuana sold in illicit markets.

The US Military and many city police departments (NYPD for one) prohibit their personnel from ingesting (eating/drinking) hemp products, which could jeopardize drug testing results.

THC accumulates in the fatty cells of the body.

A threshold THC concentration – below which industrial hemp/marijuana would have no significant psychoactive properties – has not been determined, such level being dependent upon the personal characteristics of each user.  Inexperienced users, (for example, children) are especially vulnerable.

Smoking hemp/marijuana with a low THC level of 0.25 percent could result in psychological effects on inexperienced users (children, for example), or in individuals with a high decree of sensitivity to THC.

Supporting industrial hemp/marijuana sends an ambivalent and harmful message to youth and others regarding marijuana.

Marijuana use among our youth in the United States accounts for the highest percentage of admissions for drug treatment.

11/13