I’ve seen some comments on Facebook and blogs from my old hometown in Virginia- formerly big tobacco country and now heavily Republican territory- pushing for legalization of Marijuana and Hemp to replace the economic void left by the collapse of the tobacco market.
They seem to think growing and selling Marijuana and hemp could replace tobacco and bring back the prosperity of the old economy with a new twist. And they also seem to think they could reopen what’s left of the cotton mills to mill hemp and make hemp products.
And they are mostly Republicans there now…
Makes you question their grasp of reality…
It’s also amazing how fast their “moral” qualms about Marijuana and hemp go away at the prospect of a new cash crop..
Still….
This is getting interesting….
From Salon.com:
SEATTLE (AP) — An effort is building in Congress to change U.S. marijuana laws, including moves to legalize the industrial production of hemp and establish a hefty federal pot tax.
While passage this year could be a longshot, lawmakers from both parties have been quietly working on several bills, the first of which Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Jared Polis of Colorado plan to introduce Tuesday, Blumenauer told The Associated Press.
Polis’ measure would regulate marijuana the way the federal government handles alcohol: In states that legalize pot, growers would have to obtain a federal permit. Oversight of marijuana would be removed from the Drug Enforcement Administration and given to the newly renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms, and it would remain illegal to bring marijuana from a state where it’s legal to one where it isn’t.
The bill is based on a legalization measure previously pushed by former Reps. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Ron Paul of Texas.
Lost in the 21st Century 