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U.S. House and Senate legislators have reached an agreement on the Farm Bill, which includes a provision that would legalize hemp cultivation nationwide, with caveats (e.g. nobody with a drug-related conviction can participate):
Not only have cannabis derivatives like hemp been effectively banned in the US since the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, other legislation has categorized marijuana products as dangerous Schedule I substances like LSD and ecstasy. Then in 2014, Congress passed legislation that approved small pilot programs for growing hemp, though to do so, farmers still needed approval from the Drug Enforcement Administration. (This 2014 provision was part of the Farm Bill, a massive piece of legislation that sets policy around food and agriculture. The Farm Bill needs to be renewed every few years, so the new decision to legalize hemp is part of the proposed 2018 Farm Bill.)
Despite this, there was some debate over whether derivatives of the hemp plant, like CBD, were really excluded from the Controlled Substances Act, according to Shawn Hauser, a senior associate at cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg, hence the legal gray area. "The 2018 bill actually goes in and amends the Controlled Substances Act to make very clear that CBD derived from hemp would not be considered a controlled substance," she says.
This is "a pretty important step forward in terms of federal government's recognition of what CBD is and what its lack of potential harm or risk is," says John Hudak, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution and author of Marijuana: A Short History. There are likely to be more CBD products now, but that still doesn't mean that everyone can just grow hemp in their backyard. Farmers will no longer need DEA approval, but there will still be significant federal and state restrictions on hemp products and growers will need to be licensed and fulfill other requirements developed by the US Department of Agriculture. "It's not going to be this free-for-all that some people imagine," Hudak says.
[...] The House and the Senate both need to officially vote on the new legislation, which is expected before the end of the year. As Hauser says: "We're still in infancy at the precipice of a new business which other industrialized countries have had for decades."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 05 2018, @02:01PM (1 child)
amirite?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 05 2018, @02:07PM
Yup. And home of the Braves (Atlanta).
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday December 05 2018, @02:27PM (11 children)
So a farmer gets busted once for pot, and now cannot grow it.
Of course, this measure is just the camel's nose under the tent.
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 05 2018, @02:51PM (6 children)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday December 05 2018, @05:27PM (5 children)
That might have been true back in the daze when I was but a mere typo and had not yet matured into a full blown gramatical disaster.
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 05 2018, @06:23PM (4 children)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday December 05 2018, @06:44PM (3 children)
I'm basically just agreeing with your sarcasm.
It is no longer necessary to be tough on hemp. It once may have seemed like it was important. But no longer does it seem like it, except to Jeff Sessions.
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday December 05 2018, @06:46PM (2 children)
Good to hear that Evil Keebler Elf Sessions is out of the White House and out of a Senate seat. Hopefully he retreats from public life.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday December 05 2018, @09:35PM
The little guy was VERY MIXED UP. And confused. He had a big job -- couldn't do it! I told everybody I didn’t have an Attorney General. It was very sad. But I moved very strongly on that one. I told him, resign. Or you'll be in a World of Hurt.........He got the message. Welcome my TERRIFIC new Attorney General @MattWhitaker46 [twitter.com]!!
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Wednesday December 05 2018, @10:32PM
I've heard he's back in the tree making fudge stripes....
(that asshole was a major problem for the US. so glad he's out of the picture, now)
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday December 05 2018, @02:52PM (3 children)
The experienced people get locked out by the system.
I think the silver lining here is that the increasing normalization of cannabis across the country means that you are much more likely to get away with growing or transporting it. If in Michigan, you can "legally" hand some cannabis to a friend (as long as that friend does not give you money) or transport a couple ounces of it, a street dealer is likelier to avoid capture or punishment for still-illegal transactions.
Hemp is a bit different. As an industrial product, you would have to grow it on a pretty large scale that would be noticeable, and sell it to businesses who would probably rather get it from a legal supplier.
This "CBD derived from hemp would not be considered a controlled substance" is a bit interesting. I want more info about it (and passage of the bill) before I reach a conclusion.
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(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday December 05 2018, @05:18PM (2 children)
My first take on the "CBD derived from hemp..." is that it's intended to carve a safe space for the production and sale of pharmaceutical products as a product of hemp farming and processing, rather than just fiber. CBD is one of the particularly promising molecules. It also lays the groundwork for judicial interpretation as to whether other pharmaceutical derivatives should be similarly unhindered, without explicitly spelling out the boundaries.
But yeah, I would like a lot more information - assuming the bill passes and becomes relevant.
(Score: 5, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday December 05 2018, @07:15PM (1 child)
Industrial Hemp doesn't have much in the way of Cannabinoids to begin with, the variety grown for fiber is so low that your more likely to get a head ache and passout from the carbon monoxide in the smoke long before you get even a buzz from the THC.
For anyone interested in Hemp, it's history and how it went from a "billion billion crop"* in 1936 to "Reefer Madness" and "Just say NO" I recommend reading The Emperor Wears No Cloths [jackherer.com], its available on line at the link provided or get a print copy form Amazon. Well worth the read IMHO.
*Popular Science published an article in 1936, so that is 1 billion in 1936 dollars, first time any agriculture crop had ever been referenced that way.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday December 06 2018, @02:06AM
Note they're talking CBD, *not* THC. CBD is not appreciably psychoactive, and according to the first link google offered on hemp CBD content:
There are a whole lot of different cannabinoid compounds, many of which show a lot of medicinal promise, and comparatively few of which are especially psychoactive.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 05 2018, @02:54PM (4 children)
that taxpayers is going to stop paying for the DEA to fly around 10M$ helicopters with 2k$/hour operating costs (not counting crew pay), just so they can peak in peoples back yards?
It seems like they are going down the same road as the booze laws. You can make it, but only if your one of "us".
Probably the correct way to approach this would be to use a VAT style system and regulate the commodity with taxes. That would allow the market to float but still be low impact on social welfare. Instead they are going to declare that only their pals can get into the business, and the only people selling dope will be the congress and their buddies in the various mafias.
The goal here seems to be to legalize weed in just such a way that it produces as much crime as possible. That way they can be assured that they were "right all along". Nothing says freedom like throwing people in jail because they aren't in your cool kids club.
SSDD.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 05 2018, @03:21PM (1 child)
The role of the Government of the United States was explicitly restricted to protecting the rights of the individual, chief among which are the rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (i.e., the pursuit of self-interest).
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 05 2018, @03:56PM
Uhh no. The role of the US Goverment was to provide for the common defense and to serve as point of resolution when issues arise between the several states. The US Gov only enumerated and recognized rights to individuals. It has always been on the individual to protect those rights.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 05 2018, @04:54PM (1 child)
yes, they're making it so you "have to" sign away your rights in a licensing scheme to do something you already had the right to do. they are treasonous scum and people who get licensed are dumb whores.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday December 05 2018, @05:32PM
Just wait. There will be: All New! Monsanto Genetically Modified Hemp! Patented! And you have to keep buying it from Monsanto every year! Large fines or patent lawsuits if any of it blows into your field from a neighboring field!
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 05 2018, @05:51PM (6 children)
I don't know about any free-for-all, but let me offer some insight into rural living in SW Arkansas.
When I moved here, 30+ years ago, cannabis was strictly illegal. Helicopters flew around, using state-of-the-art cameras to locate hemp and cannabis. I saw them hover right over my property, apparently taking close up images of stuff they thought might be cannabis. The closer to harvest time, the more time those choppers spent in the air, and we saw them frequently. Every plant was claimed to be worth a zillion dollars, and the state and local cops and courts would rake in a lot of bounty money from the feds for each plant they found.
In more recent years, we don't see helicopters 5 days out of the week. We might see a chopper every couple of weeks, and they don't seem to be searching for the odd plant. Instead, they seem content to look for major grow operations. They certainly don't waste time hovering over my property! (I'm not even sure that 15 acres is big enough to qualify as a "major grow operation" unless you've got greenhouses and hydroponics installed.)
In short, I could probably plant my garden next summer, and put a row of cannabis plants right down the center of it, and be safe. Compare that to ~15 or 18 years ago, when my stepson planted about 30 plants on the property, and we all went into panic mode when we found the stuff. "Well, HELL, I was wondering why that helicopter was hovering right over the old well last week! That boy doesn't have enough sense to plant his shit on Weyerhauser property, like his uncle does?"
Civil forfeiture, in conjunction with insane cannabis laws meant that the grower lost his home and property, almost automatically if you were dumb enough to plant on your own property. Planting on Weyerhauser land had few if any consequences - you had to be caught actually cultivating and/or harvesting the stuff to be convicted. Even then, your home was probably safe from confiscation. Kiss your vehicle goodbye though.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday December 05 2018, @06:07PM (2 children)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weyerhaeuser [wikipedia.org]
Never heard of them before.
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(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 05 2018, @06:26PM
If you use printer paper in the US, you use Weyerhauser supplied trees. In 1990, I helped to build what was then the largest paper mill in the world. At least 80% of the wood going into that mill comes from Weyerhauser land. The rest of the paper mills in the region (Kraft paper mostly) can say the same. They are just HUGE! That "real estate investment" thing is sort of a joke. They will reluctantly sell land. You might get their least valuable land if you're willing to pay the equivalent of $1000 per tree on the land.
They have the political clout to get partial exemptions for log and chip trucks from the DOT. All other trucks have a weight limit of 80,000 pounds. Logging trucks get a pass, up to 85,000 pounds. Believe me, that's a LOT OF MONEY the state forfeits in fines! Surrounding states have slightly differing laws, but Weyerhauser has clout in all of them.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday December 06 2018, @12:53AM
They bought/merged with Plum Creek Timber a few years back - huge operations. Pretty good investment, REITs pay prescribed dividends that regularly beat bank interest while their shares usually appreciate about as quickly/reliably as most common stocks.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday December 06 2018, @12:50AM
Back in the '70s a neighboring property in Florida planted about 15 acres by cutting the heads off of palmetto bushes and micro-dripping water into the stems as a place for the hemp to grow from - apparently grew quite well but was spotted by deputies in light aircraft just before harvest time, was declared "worth" $25M.
In the 2000s, we used to see locals (not land owners) parking and hiking into private property owned by out of towners on a regular basis, no great mystery what they were up to. With the public records readily available on the internet you can sit at home and identify big, swampy properties owned by out-of-state people who likely never visit. We spoke with one of these owners on a rare visit in 2017, he bought in 2007 and had never even walked the length of the property from road to river - but I bet his squatter-farmers have.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 2) by legont on Thursday December 06 2018, @02:06AM (1 child)
Interesting. I remember times when here in North East it would be possible to report a "violation" next door and get a piece of the proceedings under Rico laws. I wonder what you think would happen if somebody goes to the police and reports that someone has plants growing. How would they react these days?
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 06 2018, @02:14AM
Interesting question. I suppose it depends on how popular the suspect is, or is not, and whether he is willing to pay bribes. The cops probably aren't going to invest a lot of effort into some small time pot grower, but if they smell enough profit, they'll be all over it.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Informative) by richtopia on Thursday December 06 2018, @07:34AM
I'm excited for this development. Maybe we can now find out if all the claims of Hemp being a magic plant that solves world peace is true. I've exaggerated, so here is the list of uses from Wikipedia to keep the conversation level-headed:
2.1 Food
2.2 Fiber
2.3 Building material
2.4 Plastic and composite materials
2.5 Paper
2.6 Jewelry
2.7 Shoes
2.8 Cordage
2.9 Animal bedding
2.10 Water and soil purification
2.11 Weed control
2.12 Biofuels
By enabling large-scale cultivation in the USA, I'm curious how products will come to market. Many benefits come from the growth and easy maintenance of the crop, so it is difficult to see economies of scale with the limited growth today.