HEMP IN ILLINOIS

What is hemp?

Hemp is a low psychoactive strain of the cannabis sativa plant. It is
commonly referred to these days as marijuana. But this marijuana with less
than .3% THC will not get you high. According to government monitors the
stuff sold on the black market averages about 2 to 4% THC, depending on the
year.

What good is hemp?

Hemp is good for food, fuel, and fiber. Lets look at food first.

Food in the hemp plant like so many other plants comes from the seeds. Hemp
seeds contain 25% protein and 40% fat in the form of oil. The seeds
themselves can be eaten. Ask any parakeet. The seeds keep the birds coat
sleek and makes them sing. All very nice for birds but what about people.

The most commonly found hemp food today (there are other foods coming as
the market grows) is hemp oil. Hemp oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids and
contains some gamma-linolenic acid. These fats are missing from the fats we
normally eat. In addition hemp oil contains 19% linolenic acids and 57%
linoleic acids in almost exactly the three to one ratio of these
essential fatty acids required and not manufactured by the body. These
fats are found in fish like salmon, and herring.

According to Dr. Andrew Weil hemp oil contains more essential fatty acids
than flax oil and it actually tastes good. He suggests using it on salads
and baked potatoes.

Dr. Weil has this to say about hemp prohibition:

"Obviously, there is a political dimension to the appearance of this
product. For many years, Cannabis sativa has been stigmatized as a satanic
plant and its cultivation has been prohibited. As an ethnobotanist
interested in the relationships between plants and human beings, I have
always felt that making plants illegal was stupid, especially when the
objects of these actions are supremely useful plants like hemp. The plant
is not responsible for human misuse of it."

If you would like to read more of Dr. Weil and his views on hemp you can go to:

http://www.globalhemp.com/Archives/Journals/therapeutic_hemp_oil.shtml

And if you want to help free E.J. e-mail Governor Ryan at:

governor@state.il.us or call him at 217-782-0244

Next week I will have something to say about hemp as fiber and its
historical connection to Camp Grant in Rockford.