Biomech
Legendary
 Offline
Activity: 1372
Merit: 1022
Anarchy is not chaos.
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September 24, 2013, 04:23:42 AM |
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I voted for legalization, as "other" is too vague. Also, I consider the legalization of marijuana a step in the right direction, particularly, rolling back the state.
Unfortunately, legalization opens the door to taxation. That's less egregious than jailing a guy for smoking a joint, or killing him because he "resisted" (which in modern American Government Speak" means not immediately pissing yourself when the pig cop ball licking scumbag Law Enforcement Officer shows up). It is a less violent solution than the current mess. In a poll conducted nationwide about 15 years ago, 1/3rd of those polled said they had tried marijuana at some point in the United Socialist States of America. Extrapolating that to the general population, it would outstrip any other recreational drug except alcohol and tobacco, and equals them. So obviously the "general" sentiment, whatever expressed where big brother is listening, is against regulation, or at least prohibition. (I cannot find the source of that poll right now, but it was conducted by gallup for NORML. It's out there, I'm sure. )
The so-called war on drugs irritates me on many levels. La Mota just being one of them. But it is probably the most egregious as it affects all sectors of society. Even sectors who CLAIM to be in favor of sustainable industries. I'll focus for a moment on just one industry, but an extremely important one in the modern world. I'll leave out the other thousands of uses of the plant l.cannabis sativa for the moment.
That industry is paper. Generally, not a specific type. Paper is made primarily from wood fibers at the moment. this is a wasteful, highly polluting, expensive proposition, but the demand is such that economies of scale make it possible. I wish to note that I am not what is generally termed an environmentalist, because I believe the survival of my species is of paramount importance TO my species. That being said, I like the wild places, and I am a conservationist in the sense that I hate waste. Making paper from trees is a waste. Why?
Because it is better to make it from a more renewable resource. It takes more than a decade to replace a tree. It takes three months to replace the equivalent amount of hemp. That is just one issue. The chemicals necessary to make paper from trees are ridiculously dangerous. By making the paper from the longer more pliant hemp fibers, you eliminate several of these processes and reduce all of the others. Thus the danger, both to humans and the environment at large, is greatly reduced.
Those same long fibers make much more robust paper prodcts, so hempen cardboard, for example, is stronger than tree cardboard. Same with writing paper. Also, to get very white paper such as we have become accustomed to takes less dying. The overall costs associated with managing a forest for harvest vs. the cost of growing hemp is massively different. Hemp grows easily, almost in any climate, and contributes a great deal of oxygen to the atmosphere by comparison to trees (which do the same thing, but slower).
In this same vein, medium and high density fibers made from hemp can be used in a great deal of construction where tree lumber is currently used. These fibers can also be made from trees, and MDF is becoming commonplace for trim work already. My brother was involved in building luxury houses a few years ago, and I briefly worked for him. In million dollar houses a lot of the trim work was made from medium density fiber, rather than actual lumber, and this by the choice of the builders and buyers. It's very malleable. HDF's are suitable for structural timber, in fact are somewhat stronger in compression and tortional strength than pine or spruce, and only a little less than oak. All of these can be made from hemp as either a primary product, or a byproduct of other processes as they are with lumber. The reduction in costs ALONE demands that the idiotic laws making hemp illegal because some of us like to smoke the flowers be not only rescinded immediately, but that the people who made, enforced, and advocated such bullshit laws should stand up in public and apologize. Especially those on the so-called "left" with their constant harping on environmental issues that they neither understand nor care about.
I could go on for pages, but I shan't bother. Suffice it to say that there are thousands of uses for hemp that are not only commercially viable, but superior. Superior quality, lesser cost, more sustainability. The only thing standing between these industries and the benefits they would bring are stupid laws backed by stupid people carrying well made expensive weapons bought with YOUR money.
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