Industrial Hemp

Following the Transition Tea on Sunday, and meeting with Nancy Metcalf, coordinator of Hemp History Week, I am inspired to try to find a documentary producer to help educate the public regarding the potentials of hemp. Besides education, there is a lot of industrial infrastructure, legal language, investment strategies, and managing of outcomes that needs to be envisioned as we try to reintroduce this wonder crop to our agricultural, industrial, and medical systems. Anyone interested in these potentials is invited to participate in the conversation next Sunday, Feb. 9 at 3:00, location TBA, Transition Tea. This is the blurb to try to attract a film-maker and maybe you too:

I live in Washington State, where recreational marijuana is now legal, but growing "Industrial Hemp" is still forbidden. We are a small group of people trying to educate the public and instigate legal precedent to facilitate the multifarious beneficial uses of the hemp plant. One woman has permits to grow a pilot plot and is also educating her local school district after her daughter was questioned by her teacher regarding her mother's marijuana habits. (The teacher was unable to distinguish hemp from marijuana.) The story of what this plant can do for the economy and the environment needs to be told far and wide--to counter-balance the influences of petrochemical agribusiness. Diversity, and therefore, local control of propagation rules and practices is of vital importance in developing the broad potential of this miracle plant. As a crop that has been banished from the productive economy, the opportunities that could become available for job creation, phytoremediation, healing, building, biodegradable plastics, and much more are truly inspiring. Please contact me if you would like more information or if you know of anyone who may be interested in documenting our local efforts to make hemp growing unregulated and hemp potential part of the public awareness.

Marilyn Flint, who has done extensive research on the benefits of hemp will be present at the tea.

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Permalink Reply by Emily Farrell on February 8, 2014 at 11:52am

Here is good news for hemp industry - This article reports that Obama has signed legislation legalizing research into the industrial uses of hemp - a good step toward national legalization of industrial hemp:

http://www.nationofchange.org/president-obama-signs-farm-bill-legal...

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Permalink Reply by Margo Terrill on February 26, 2014 at 1:47pm

This concept uses bamboo but I wonder if hemp might also work. A great idea, don't you think? Not a complete solution to the bigger problem of needing public bathrooms but a step in the right direction.

Public bio-urinals

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Bosch on February 26, 2014 at 2:27pm

I like it. Think of places all the places without sewage systems or hook-ups.

On a larger scale, it might be possible to turn sewage treatment plants into compost by passing human sewage through hemp plants. Individual composting toilets are available, but whole city systems are currently just disposal plants instead of recycling centers. I am interested to know what the plants do with the toxins they "absorb". Do they convert them into benign substances or would the result be toxic fertilizer? I suspect that heavy metals don't disappear, nor does radioactivity, but petrochemicals, resins, and other complex organic compounds might be rearranged by the plants growth processes. Any biochemists out there who could discuss these issues or recommend research projects?