Source: treehugger.com
Published: May 17, 2013
CC BY-SA 3.0 Wikipedia
Hemp, the THC-free cousin of cannabis, has recently been made legal in Colorado, but the feds still don’t approve, even though the selling of hemp products is perfectly legal (about $500 million worth are imported from other countries every year).
What’s a would-be hemp farmer to do when faced with this dilemma? Ryan Loflin, of Springfield, Colorado, decided to take a chance and go ahead anyway. As of Monday this week, he planted the first official hemp crop in the United States in about 60 years. This was historic enough that a documentary film crew was present.
Loflin is planting 60 acres that were previously used to grow alfalfa. With his partner Chris Thompson, they plan to make hemp oil.
Hopefully this will help bring attention – and support – to a bill in congress that would legalize industrial hemp (as well as regulate marijuana in states where it is legal). There are so many things we can do with hemp, a crop that requires little or no fertilizer and pesticides, it’s crazy to keep farmers from growing it.
To be continued…