Adventures of a Gonzo Journalist
My article on the “felony ban” in the law that legalized hemp in the United States was published in issue 7 of Hemp Magazine.
The felony ban in the 2018 Farm Bill perpetuates the racism of the War On Drugs in the new legal hemp industry. Under the law, many people with drug felonies are banned from being a producer in the hemp industry. At least one state even bans people with drug misdemeanors.
Though hempcrete is healthier for both a building’s occupants and the planet, high costs and lack of research stand in the way of widespread acceptance.
Hempcrete, a building material made from the woody core of the hemp plant, could revolutionize sustainable architecture and engineering. If, that is, we can overcome a number of frustrating barriers that stand in the way of widespread implementation.
Made from just a few simple ingredients (often just hemp hurds, water, and lime), hempcrete is resistant to numerous hazards, including pests and fire. Hempcrete buildings even become carbon-negative over time as the walls absorb the carbon dioxide that’s exhaled by occupants.
Posted in Hemp Magazine, and Journalism
In late May, Montana hemp farmer Kim Phillips finally learned that her long struggle with the federal government was over: She had won the right to irrigate her crops with federal water.
“They tried every which way to stop it, but I lucked out and would not back down,” Phillips said.
On May 31, the Federal Bureau of Reclamation informed Phillips that they would allow her access to federal water for use on her hemp fields. The news came just in time, as hemp growing season was right around the corner.
Posted in Hemp Magazine, and Journalism
“TECHNICALLY, NO ONE’S EVER denied me the water,” says hemp farmer Kim Phillips, with a laugh.
Legally, Phillips can grow hemp on her 75-acre farm in Montana’s Helena Valley, but whether she can water her crops is another matter.
Phillips is at the center of a dispute that highlights the legal gray area around hemp farming in the United States. The water source she can access from her property is a federally regulated irrigation district controlled by the Bureau of Reclamation, a federal organization that manages water projects in America’s 17 westernmost states. Although Phillips has followed Montana’s strict hemp regulations, the Bureau of Reclamation didn’t respond to her request for water in time for her to irrigate the crops she planted last year. Her field languished and died.
For the first time, you can my journalism in a print magazine!
Last year, I interviewed a number of Western hemp advocates who were concerned about the issue of water rights. The U.S. government controls much of the water in the American West, and they’ve threatened to withhold it from legal hemp farmers. I expanded on that story in an article called “Water Wars” for the latest issue of Hemp Magazine. For this article, I interviewed Kim Phillips, a Montana farmer whose hemp crop languished last year because her government water permit was denied. Phillips is struggling with the government again this year, and it’s unclear if she’ll get her water in time for the 2018 season.
Look for the article online soon — but in the meantime you can probably find it in the magazine at a bookstore or newsstand near you.
