Feds legalise ganja-hemp.

[Sir X]

As states weigh legalizing marijuana, the feds legalize hemp
BY JEFF SIMON
February 5 at 9:44 am

It might be a long time before the federal government legalizes recreational marijuana. But once President Obama signs the new five-year farm bill that won passage in the Senate on Tuesday, its less controversial cousin, hemp, will have the all-clear.
A short clause buried deep in the 959-page bill authorizes colleges and universities to grow industrial hemp for research purposes, so long as their state permits the growth and cultivation of the plant.
Right now, that’s nine states: California, Oregon, Montana, Colorado, North Dakota, Kentucky, West Virginia, Vermont, and Maine. Another 11 states have bills pending before their legislatures this year.
Ed O'Keefe contributed to this report.

[Sir X]

Farm bill promotes hemp as legal crop
February 5, 2014 2:00AM ET
The plant's return to legitimacy could clear the way for US farmers to compete in a Chinese-dominated industry
Topics: Marijuana Economy
Hemp
Last October, hemp was harvested at a farm in Springfield, Colo., during the first known harvest of industrial hemp in the U.S. since the 1950s.P. Solomon Banda/AP Images
The federal government is ready to let farmers grow cannabis — at least the kind that can't get people high.

Hemp — marijuana’s nonintoxicating cousin that's used to make everything from clothing to cooking oil — could soon be cultivated in 10 states under a federal farm bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday and sent to President Barack Obama for his expected signature.

The bill would allow the establishment of pilot growing programs.

With marijuana laws loosening nationwide, lawmakers who support industrial hemp cultivation saw an opening and pushed through a provision that allows colleges and state agencies to grow and conduct research on the crop in the nine states where it is legal.

Kentucky is among them, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was a major backer of the provision.

The plant's return to legitimacy could clear the way for U.S. farmers to compete in an industry currently dominated by China. Even though it hasn't been grown in the United States for decades, the country is one of the fastest-growing hemp markets.

In 2011, the U.S. imported $11.5 million worth of legal hemp products, up from $1.4 million in 2000. Most of that growth was seen in hemp seed and hemp oil, which finds its way into granola bars and other products.

"This is big," Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, a group that advocates for the plant's legal cultivation, told Al Jazeera about the prospective legislation late last month. "We've been pushing for this a long time."

Legalized growing of hemp had congressional allies from both ends of the political spectrum. Democrats from marijuana-friendly states have pushed to legalize hemp cultivation, as have Republicans from states where the fibrous plant could be a profitable new crop.

Growing or using hemp is currently illegal under federal law, but it has a long history of use in the U.S.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, but centuries later the plant was swept up in anti-drug efforts, and growing it without a federal permit was banned in the 1970 Controlled Substances Act.

The last Drug Enforcement Administration hemp permit was issued in 1999 for a quarter-acre experimental plot in Hawaii. That permit expired in 2003.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last recorded an industrial hemp crop in the late 1950s. At the 1943 peak, more than 150 million pounds were harvested on 146,200 acres.

It's not clear whether legalized hemp cultivation suggests that the federal government is ready to follow the 20 states that have already legalized medical marijuana, including two that also allow its recreational use.

"This is part of an overall look at cannabis policy, no doubt," Steenstra said.

However, opponents of legalized pot insist the hemp change doesn't mean marijuana is right behind.

Kevin Sabet, director of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a national alliance that opposes pot legalization, downplayed the change to the farm bill in an interview with The Associated Press last month.

"On the one hand, I think it's part of a larger agenda to normalize marijuana by a few," Sabet said. "On the other hand, will it have any difference at the end of the day? I would be highly skeptical of that."

Analysts have predicted that legal hemp would remain a boutique crop, and the Congressional Research Service recently cited wildly differing projections about its economic potential.

The farm bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives last week, will cost an estimated $956 billion over 10 years, a savings of about $16.6 billion compared with current funding, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

[Mosiah]

Just had a banana smoothie made with hemp protein.

Can't say I love the hemp protein. It looks like finely crushed ganja and kinda tastes like it too. It leaves a sediment behind as well. But when you want to avoid milk or soy-based protein you have few choices left. Egg and rice protein are also sold. Best part - the hemp protein has zero cholesterol!

I may just have to acquire the taste.

[Sir X]

Finely crushed ganja and kinda tastes like it too....so you have tasted ganja ?

Nuff health nuts will gulp that down ,no cholesterol decreases cardiac problems and obesity.

[Mosiah]

Finely crushed ganja and kinda tastes like it too....so you have tasted ganja ?

You is what, 5-0? Even Barack smoked weed back in the day so low mi!

Would you have to have used ganja in the past to have an idea what it would taste like? Is not cocaine wi a deal wid eno!

[Tilla]

Best part - the hemp protein has zero cholesterol!

Like Soy, almond, beans or any other vegetable source of protein. Cholesterol is found only in foods of animal origin.

[Mosiah]

True dat, Tilla. I was really just comparing it to the most popular protein powder out there, the whey (milk) based ones.

There are some other issues regarding soy which may not be very appealing to some people.

[Muadib]

lol ! woieee !

Remember this is a public forum !

[Tilla]

I understand where soy is concerned. I really do not drink cow's milk, but when I do I have almond milk. I used to drink soy milk at one time, but stopped for the same reasons you are referring to.

[Islandman]

The almond milk is quite good. Only noticed it about a year or so ago.