Let hemp grow

Indiana Sen. Richard Young, D-Milltown, is taking a bold step in working towards allowing farmers in Indiana to grow industrial hemp.

Because of their close taxonomic connections, the 1958 legislature that banned marijuana nationwide foolishly included the harmless hemp plant.

To put this into better perspective, this is similar to passing a ban or a prosecution of wolves along with all of their harmless and benevolent relatives like poodles and
chihuahuas.

Hemp’s extremely low level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and higher level of THC blocking cannabinoids (CBD) make it almost impossible to use hemp to get high.   
Eating nothing but hemp food products will not result in a positive THC drug test.

By smoking, it would require the non-recommended treacherous deed of burning through 10 to 12 cigarettes of hemp over an extremely short period of time to experience the psychoactive effects of marijuana.

Hemp’s ongoing exclusion from the Indiana market doesn’t help us look any smarter.
Like corn, industrial hemp has an incredibly wide spectrum of benefits and uses thanks to thousands of years of selective breeding.

Compared to most crops, hemp is profoundly hardy. It requires little fertilizer and almost zero pesticide use. Hemp can be competitively processed into clothing, paper, biofuels, and possibly construction materials such as press wood and biodegradable plastics.

The seemingly mythical potentials of hemp are not limited to economic and environmental benefits. Its dietary supplemental attributes comprise higher quality proteins than soy, essential omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin E.

What’s mainly keeping these benefits out of our reach is law enforcement’s fear that hemp fields will be used to provide cover for marijuana production.

This doesn’t make much sense. Both plants are harvested at different times and cross-pollination between them would result in offspring unfavorable to both the hemp and underground market.

If ten other states, including Kentucky, have achieved legal approval to grow hemp, why can’t Indiana?

Rediscovering hemp and all of its benefits sounds like a plan. So I say let it grow.

­— edharo@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Edgar Haro on Twitter @EdHarodude.