Tom Hemp

Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has posted a position paper on hemp at his web site:

Dennis Kucinich supports legalizing the growing of hemp in the United States. Vote Hemp has graded the candidates' positions and given Kucinich an A+. Read more here: Vote Hemp 2004 Voter Guide - Candidate: Dennis Kucinich

Re-legalizing the Commercial Growing of Industrial Hemp in the United States

Since 1937, Federal laws have criminalized a harmless plant. Outdated attitudes and drug war paranoia in Washington have limited the many uses of this vital plant and have even prohibited its growth in the United States.

That plant is hemp, cousin to the psychoactive marijuana plant. Hemp is classified as a "drug" under the Controlled Substances Act, although it poses no danger to public health or safety. Hemp is a distinct variety of the plant species Cannabis sativa L. that contains less than 1% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive chemical that gets people "high." According to David West, Ph.D.,"... THC levels in industrial hemp are so low that no one could ever get high from smoking it. Moreover, hemp contains a relatively high percentage of another cannabinoid, CBD, that actually blocks the marijuana high. Hemp, it turns out, is not only not marijuana; it could be called anti-marijuana." Article 28-2 of the UN Single Treaty Convention on Narcotic Drugs states, "This Convention shall not apply to the cultivation of the cannabis plant exclusively for industrial purposes (fiber and seed) or horticultural purposes." The United States is a signer of this convention.

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http://www.kucinich.us/issues/hemp.php

Update: Please click here to download "Re-legalizing the Commercial Growing of Industrial Hemp in the United States" as a PDF file from the Kucinich web site. (2 pages, 43K)