you know what sucks???? we can't buy hemp seed in NZ

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Myra on April 6, 2009 at 12:31am

right on charles

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Permalink Reply by silvergirlsouth on April 6, 2009 at 12:46am

lol

um, yeah

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Permalink Reply by John on April 6, 2009 at 12:48am

Yes, it is wrong that you can’t get fresh, raw hemp seeds. Wrong that New Zealand farmers can’t grow it, and wrong that there are limits on hemp products being sold in New Zealand.

But, laws preventing your access to fresh hemp seeds can change. They have been, and are changing in the U.S. They have really changed in Canada.

The latest on issues relating to hemp laws and policy within the U.S. can almost always be found on the website of
http://www.votehemp.com

VoteHemp also carries some information about what is going on with hemp in other countries. If anything about hemp appears in the New Zealand media, be sure to email VoteHemp to let them know.

Here we are, April 2009, and it is still illegal in the U.S. for anyone, including farmers, to grow hemp. As you are probably well aware, this is truly absurd.

The laws created to ban hemp are based on lies.
See: http://www.hempNOWbook.com

If you study the history of the laws, you will understand that hemp became banned in the U.S. because various industries wanted it banned. This is similar to how alcohol was banned in the U.S. during the 1920s.

The prohibition of alcohol didn’t have to do with people getting drunk, which is the most common perception, with is based on lies. It had everything to do with the petroleum industry wanting to eliminate alcohol from the market because alcohol in the form of ethanol could be used to fuel cars. Alcohol prohibition became the law of the land in the U.S. at a time when the auto industry was taking off, which is when the petroleum industry established its hold on the industry.
See: http://hempnowbook.com/alcohol-and-petroleum.html

Hemp prohibition became law in the U.S. at the very time when the hemp industry could have taken off and became a major supplier of not only ethanol and diesel oil, but also fiber for clothing, pulp for paper, and various industrial chemicals – which would be safer than chemicals made from petroleum.

Unlike in New Zealand, there are tons of hemp products for sale in the U.S., including food, clothing, skin and hair products, and household cleaning products. Every natural foods store has some sort of hemp food product: nutrition bars that contain hemp, hemp seed nutrition powder, hemp oil, fractured hemp seeds, hemp milk, etc.

If the statistics I've seen are correct, the U.S. is easily the world's number-one importer of hemp products - including hemp candles, hemp fabric, and hemp foods, etc. Hemp fiber is used as insulation and in various car parts.

Most of the hemp foods sold in the U.S. originate from Canadian hemp farms. U.S. farmers near the Canadian border can see hemp farms growing in Canada.

U.S. farmers I've spoken with are not happy that they are being denied the opportunity to grow hemp. It would give them a crop they can grow in rotation with other crops, and it is a crop that is good for the soil. It is a crop that already has a well-established market in the U.S. But, instead of U.S. farmers making money from it, the money is going to Canadian farmers. It is insane, especially at a time when U.S. farmers continue to struggle to survive.
See: http://hempnowbook.com/hemp-benefits-small-farms.html

Farms converting to organic methods can benefit by planting hemp on their land because the plant helps decontaminate soil from farming chemicals. The fast-growing hemp plant can also help choke out invasive weeds.

The Bush crime administration tried to ban hemp foods and personal care (shampoos, conditioners, balms, lotions, soaps, etc.) products containing hemp from being sold in the U.S. Then they backed down to try to ban only hemp foods. The Bush crime administration wanted hemp to be controlled using the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Hemp Industries Association and VoteHemp.com organized and fought the Bush crime administration in the courts.
See: http://hempnowbook.com/banning-hemp-foods-in-america.html

Companies that helped financially support the court fight include Ruth's Hemp Foods and Nutiva.

Eventually, the U.S. courts ruled that the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) did not have authority to ban hemp food products... because hemp isn't a drug, and can't get you high. And it won't give you a positive drug test, even if you eat it every day.

Australia has been making changes to their laws about hemp.

Education is key to change. Politicians, farmers, and the public all need to be educated on the issue of hemp to get the laws changed.

Perhaps most important is the public education. If the public understands the absurdity of the laws, and the benefits that could be experienced if the laws were to change, the change you wish to see is more likely to happen. The nutritional benefits of hemp is a strong talking point:
http://hempnowbook.com/hemp-seeds-for-nutrition.html

In the U.S., a lot of people were educated about hemp through fliers being handed out at their local natural foods markets during the Bush crime administration's actions to try to ban hemp foods. VoteHemp.com and the Hemp Industries Association did a lot to educate the public, and to educate the managers of the natural foods stores.

It was the natural foods stores that were told to remove hemp products from their shelves during the court fight... and they had to keep hemp products off the shelves until the court ruling stated that it is okay to sell hemp products. During those months, the local natural foods store here was very sure to remove all hemp products, they were afraid that, under the twisted reasoning of the Bush crime administration and the DEA, they could be pulled into a legal battle for selling a controlled substance.

Imagine the millions of dollars wasted on that whole circus - both government money, and money put up by various private and company sources. It was another ridiculous activity of the Bush crime administration... with its ties to the petroleum industry, which is one industry that views hemp as a potential competitor in that hemp can be used to create oil for diesel engines and ethanol for gasoline engines.

Farmers should be able to grow hemp for seeds. They could take the seeds to a fuel coop that would create the fuel needed to run the engines on the farms - which largely consist of diesel engines. This would help localize economies by keeping fuel money local, and not sending it to the petroleum industry. It would also help clean the air as hemp-based fuels would reduce the use of fossil fuels.

Now even more and more regular supermarkets in the U.S. are selling hemp products, such as hemp milk, hemp nutrition bars, and hemp shampoo. This is something that is going on as regular (non health-food) markets are recognizing the demand for natural products. The traditional markets are also working to compete with Whole Foods Market, which is doing gangbusters business here in the U.S.

Maybe you can encourage the New Zealand media, including local publications, to publish articles about the hemp issue. Feel free to copy anything you want from http://www.hempNOWbook.com. I put it up because I want the information out there.

Here is some news about hemp in the U.S. Anthony Anderson (http://www.rawmodel.com) sent me this link on Friday. Congresspersons are backing a new bill to legalize hemp farming in the U.S.:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/03/hemp-bill-introduced-in-c_...

I put the entire manuscript of my hemp book online after dealing with publishing companies. After a couple publishers dropped the ball, there was finally one that wanted to publish it... if I would cut out all of the parts of the book that they considered "controversial." They wanted me to eliminate anything having to do with the drug war, corporate greed, marijuana, political corruption, etc. Skipping that, I had my web guy put the entire manuscript online for anyone to read for free.

People from various countries (including New Zealand) have been emailing me after they have read parts of the site. I've also been interviewed by journalists after they have seen the site.

http://www.hempNOWbook.com

Get busy changing them laws!

John

http://www.sunfoodtraveler.com
http://www.sunfoodliving.com

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Permalink Reply by silvergirlsouth on April 6, 2009 at 1:03am

thanks for all this info John - you are doing great work!

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Permalink Reply by John on April 6, 2009 at 1:33am

You are welcome.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/03/hemp-bill-introduced-in-c_...

That is the link to the news article about the bill to legalize hemp in the U.S. I don't know why it didn't paste correctly.

People in the U.S. should write their Congresspersons to support that bill into law.

With New Zealand's demand for paper, you would think they would allow hemp to be grown for paper... instead of cutting down your forests.

New Zealand forests have really been greatly damaged in the past 100 years, as have nearly all forests on the planet. It is time to stop cutting down the forests for paper and plywood, and it is time to replenish the land with trees.

Another benefit I didn't mention is that ripening hemp fields absorb more greenhouse gasses than the same amount of land planted with trees.

This is another way that hemp would help to reduce the damage done by the petroleum industry. Not only will it absorb the pollutants produced by burning petroleum, hemp will provide the material that can help replace petroleum fuels. It is one solution to the problems facing the planet.

Hemp fiber and resin can easily be made to make plywood that is four-times stronger than plywood made from trees. Hemp plywood is less susceptable to rot and infestation.

Using hemp for paper and plywood will allow the forests of the planet to flourish, providing homes for wildlife, absorbing greenhouse gasses, putting forth oxygen, protecting headwaters lands, and protecting soil.

Again, feel free to copy anything you want from my site, http://www.hempNOWbook.com, to use to educate others about the benefits of hemp food, hemp farming, hemp paper, hemp building materials, hemp history, hemp laws, etc.

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Permalink Reply by silvergirlsouth on April 6, 2009 at 1:52am

i appreciate the info, once again ... but just wanted to say that all of the NZ forests which are felled for paper and construction are plantation forests of pinus radiata, planted specifically for that reason. They are a renewable resource that regrows within a 30 year life span. Felling and milling of NZ native timbers has been largely or completely halted in the last 20 years.

but i would love to see a hemp industry develop in NZ ... have you had any contact with the Green party here?

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Permalink Reply by Hitesh = Raw in Mumbai on April 6, 2009 at 2:06am

its illegal in india, but its all over the place.
ive been to rehab for drug abuse and i dont want to talk about it.
but yeah its there, if its illegal its everywhere, but its hidden. just find the right guys you might get lucky.

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Permalink Reply by John on April 6, 2009 at 2:16am

A hemp raid in California?

Do you have a link for that news?

No, I haven't had contact with the New Zealand Green party.

I watched a documentary last year about the forests in New Zealand. I don't remember them mentioning anything about a ban on cutting down native/old growth forests. That is good to know that New Zealand is protecting their forests. They need to restore more of those that were cut down... and to stop allowing huge international corporations from coming in to mine the land for materials to make cars in Asia.

Yes, it would be good to have hemp growing in New Zealand.

It would be good for a number of reasons - including for the absorption of greenhouse gasses, for the creation of hemp plywood, for the making of hemp paper, for the creation of hemp fabric, and for the protection of the forests, rivers, lakes, and ocean (through the prevention of using farming chemicals, stopping the use of fossil fuels, using hemp insted of cotton [cotton is not good for the environment - uses mass quantities of water, and most often is grown using huge amounts of farming chemicals, including pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers]. And so Miss Silvergirlsouth can have her hemp seed foods!

The managed forests there in New Zealand, are they using genetically altered trees?

GMO trees are known to damage bee populations. We need to protect the bees. Growing hemp instead of using trees is another benefit.

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Permalink Reply by silvergirlsouth on April 6, 2009 at 4:06pm

no there are no genetically altered trees or any other plants allowed in NZ. We also don't really have a lot of mining here apart from a few small gold mines and coal mines - we have no minerals used in the car manufacturing process as far as i am aware (unless coal counts). there is an aluminium smelter at the bottom of the south island, but i am pretty sure the materials come from Australia.

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Permalink Reply by John on April 6, 2009 at 2:27am

Hitesh,

We are talking about industrial hemp, which is not a drug, used for fabric, food, fiber board, paper, etc.

It seems you are talking about marijuana, used for laughing, etc.

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Permalink Reply by John on April 6, 2009 at 3:19pm

Also,, with the hemp raid, I think you are talking about marijuana.

I'm speaking of industrial hemp, the non-drug crop used for food, fiber, oil, etc.

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