CREATE JOBS BY LEGALIZING HEMP

Problems facing the state of Wisconsin are formidable but not
impossible.

For far too long, Washington's drug prohibition program has created
more problems than it has solved. The history of prohibition of hemp
(cannabis, marijuana) is an interesting, if disturbing, story. For
further reading, go to the Marathon County Public Library and check
out "Drug Crazy: How We Got Into this Mess and How We Can Get Out" by
Mike Gray.

The instigators of our prohibition problem were powerful commercial
interests that convinced Congress that an amazing plant with numerous
applications was a danger to Americans.

The government ignored our Constitution by banning the growing of hemp
nationwide. Congress has no such power, as evidenced by the fact that
it had to pass the 18th Amendment before approving alcohol prohibition
in the 1920s. This time, the federal government went ahead and banned
hemp anyway. Things have been going downhill since then.

Gradually, an antidote to "Reefer Madness" has been slowly spreading.
Wisconsin residents favor legalizing "medical marijuana" by about 70
percent. Sixteen other states have allowed physicians to prescribe it
to patients who prefer to ingest a safe, herbal remedy rather than
chemicals in their bodies. Reform legislation will soon be introduced
again in Wisconsin.

Compassion is a term that transcends partisan politics. Rendering aid
and comfort to the afflicted is compassionate, but is illegal if it
includes medical marijuana, something that has been grown and used by
people for thousands of years. Recently, The Associated Press reported
that evidence from a fourth-century tomb near Jerusalem suggested that
marijuana plants may have been used to help with pregnancy. Yet last
year the drug warrior district attorney in Lincoln County brought
charges against a young pregnant woman who self-medicated for morning
sickness.

Morning sickness can be a threat to the health of the mother and the
fetus. An online search finds hundreds of other uses for medical
marijuana, a medicine people can grow themselves.

In addition, the hemp plant is almost as versatile as the soybean and
is good for the soil as well as the environment, according to the
American Farm Bureau. In the 1940s, Wisconsin had 30,000 acres planted
in hemp and there were 10 processing plants.

Hemp is a hearty, environmentally friendly crop. It doesn't require
herbicides; its fiber is stronger and more absorbent than cotton; it
produces more pulp per acre than timber; and hemp-based paper can be
recycled more often than conventional paper. One-thousand acres
planted in hemp will produce as much paper as 4,000 acres of trees --
but it's a threat if you own lots of trees. Likewise, applications of
this versatile natural resource for fuel, oils, food and medicine are
threats to those who depend upon petroleum, chemicals and
pharmaceuticals for a living.

Why would politicians prevent Wisconsin farmers from growing such a
crop and helping put our people to work again?

Answer: It's opposed by the industrialists who presently provide us
with fuel, plastics, paper and fibers and who help politicians get
elected. Add to them all those with government jobs "protecting" us
from this remarkable plant.

If the Wisconsin GOP supports more freedom and less spending, as it
claims, end prohibition.

Re-legalize hemp!