War on Drugs Archives - Page 6 of 11 - Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words

Colorado Hemp Farmers Look To Congress For Access To Federal Water Rights

A sign by a dusty field reads "Wellcome to Colorful Colorado." (Unsplash / Kait Herzog, public domain image)

August 9, 2017

Colorado Hemp Farmers Look To Congress For Access To Federal Water Rights

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

Though it’s legal to grow industrial hemp in Colorado, many farmers are breaking the law if they try to water their crops.

In western states, water rights are governed by complex laws that determine how farmers irrigate their crops. Even rainwater that falls on land owned by a farmer may be affected by federal water rights laws, and the federal government still essentially considers hemp illegal.

“That has been an issue almost from the onset that has stopped people from growing industrial hemp unless they had wells of their own or were using city water, which is difficult when you move into real agricultural areas,” said Duane Sinning, seed coordinator at the Colorado Department of Agriculture, in an interview with Ministry of Hemp.

Hemp Road Trip Documentary Turns Cross Country Journey Into Powerful Pro-Hemp Film

The Hemp Road Trip crew holds a U.S. flag made from hemp in front of the Iowa State Capitol. (Hemp Road Trip)

July 19, 2017

Kit

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Hemp Road Trip Documentary Turns Cross Country Journey Into Powerful Pro-Hemp Film

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

For a year and a half, Rick Trojan III and his friends traveled around the country demanding the legalization of hemp.

“We did 48 states total the last 18 months,” he told us when we talked to him by phone earlier this week.

Inspired by his experiences as a hemp grower in Colorado, Trojan wanted the Hemp Road Trip to show the nation why this valuable crop should be legal nationwide, and educate people about its numerous benefits. He found the biggest barrier was overcoming decades of fear driven by the War on Drugs, but most of those he met were open to listening and learning.

New Large Scale Study Proves Effectiveness Of CBD For Epilepsy

A young child with a pensive expression in a yellow shirt against a blue background. (Unsplash / Sean Gorman, free image)

June 19, 2017

Kit

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New Large Scale Study Proves Effectiveness Of CBD For Epilepsy

Posted in Ministry of Hemp

A newly released study adds more scientific evidence that CBD oil can relieve the symptoms of epilepsy.

Published May 2017 in the New England Journal of Medicine, the new research focuses on CBD as a treatment for Dravet syndrome, a complex and difficult to treat form of childhood epilepsy.

Worldwide, parents of kids with epilepsy, along with adult sufferers as well, are already using hemp-based CBD extract to great benefit. The medical establishment and the law, however, have been slower to catch up.

Hemp Is Rebuilding Agriculture In America’s Conservative Tobacco Country

An abandoned farmhouse stands in a desolate field against a gray sky. A dead tree appears to the left. (Unsplash / Markus Petritz, public domain)

June 9, 2017

Kit

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Hemp Is Rebuilding Agriculture In America’s Conservative Tobacco Country

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

Hemp is reviving agriculture where tobacco was once traditionally grown.

Tobacco is still a multi-million dollar industry, but its fortunes have fallen greatly due to changes in laws and growing social stigma around smoking and its effects on human health.

At the same time, the excellent climate in many tobacco-growing states make industrial hemp, the non-psychoactive cousin of marijuana, a near-perfect replacement.

‘Hemp For Victory’: The Government Made This World War II Cannabis Film Disappear

Troops in a landing craft approach "Omaha" Beach on D-Day during the invasion of Normandy, June 1944. (Wikimedia Commons / Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.)

May 30, 2017

Kit

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‘Hemp For Victory’: The Government Made This World War II Cannabis Film Disappear

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

During World War II, hemp was so desperately needed by the Allies that the United States briefly reversed its stance on hemp and encouraged farmers to grow it. Afterwards, they tried to erase all records of the campaign.

Millions of people are rediscovering the benefits of hemp, both as a health remedy in CBD oil and a raw ingredient in dozens of hemp-based products. Far fewer are aware of hemp’s history in the U.S. as a cash crop, or the lengths that the government went to suppress that history.

One of the most remarkable examples is “Hemp For Victory,” an educational film produced by the USDA in 1942 that encouraged farmers to grow hemp. After the war, when growing hemp again became illegal again, the government hid the existence of the film for years until pro-cannabis activists forced them to bring it back into the light.

How Hemp Bioremediation Can Heal Our Soil & Why It Matters To Consumers

A tractor works the soil in an empty field. March 10, 2010. (Flickr / Natural England, CC NC ND license)

April 28, 2017

Kit

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How Hemp Bioremediation Can Heal Our Soil & Why It Matters To Consumers

Posted in Ministry of Hemp

Add this to the many uses for our favorite plant: Industrial hemp can actually remove toxins from the soil.

Not only can you use hemp to make dozens of sustainable products, from clothing, skateboards to medicine, but it can also help heal the earth.

As the human population grows, so do our need for more land to grow the crops that keep us fed. But our dependence on fossil fuels and dirty industrial processes have left a lot of land too toxic to sustain life. That’s where the rapidly growing field of “bioremediation” can be vital. Bioremediation essentially means using living things to heal the soil, allowing us to clean and reclaim some of these polluted lands. While bacteria and other microorganisms can be used, phytoremediation, from the Greek word for plant, relies on crops like hemp.