The decision to do something for the very first time is a crucial moment in anybody’s life.
Especially something out of the norm. What got my mind wondering about hemp was my 
very first encounter with a marijuana plant. My high school friend Kendalle Mack wanted to smoke “pot” also known as marijuana with a group of other friends. For the first time in a long time, I gave into the peer pressure and the temptation to actually try something I’ve never experienced. I usually don’t experiment with ideas or things I’m not familiar with. But you only live once, so I thought to myself-why not try something new. He kept telling me that the feeling of being “high” was so awesome. “Dude you have to smoke with me, it won’t be that bad I promise, I’m trying to be the first one to give you your first trip into the clouds” he said. The clouds? “Yeah, that’s the terminology that people use. Usually when people get high, they say there in the clouds.” At this moment in my life, I was not a big smoker, so I was kind of skeptical about feeling a certain way I’ve never felt before. Hearing I was going to be in the clouds didn’t sound too appealing. Before I could turn away from the whole situation, my mind was made up and we all hoped in an all black, 4 door, Pontiac GMC. As soon as we got in, I had my first up-close visual with marijuana. It looked like bunches of little green leaves combined and stuck together on a stem. And you could even see the crystals shining on it. We were about to hit “cut”. Cut was a term we used to describe the ride we took while smoking. Basically we rode the backstreets of Tates Creek until we were done with the propaganda. After smoking for the very first time, it wasn’t too bad, but I did feel different. Felt like I was in a new world. I never could have imagined that a certain fiber plant would have me feeling like this. I enjoyed that regular feeling of being aware of all the things going on around me, and not having my perception changed.
Finally, it all began to make since. Marijuana is Industrial Hemp, just a different type of plant species. According to Valerie L. Vantreeses textbook; industrial hemp can be produced without the psychoactive ingredients of marijuana (Vantreese, 2). They key ingredient that marijuana contains is Tetrahydracannibol also known as THC. This ingredient is what causes the affects after smoking marijuana. The active ingredient in the cannabis plant and one of the hallucinogenic drugs known. Cannabis contains about 60 different psychoactive chemicals called cannabinoids (Allyn and Bacon, 1983). The cannab
oids are non-polar molecules and have low solubility in water, so the are usually self-administered by smoking. It affects everyone differently. Most likely, you’ll see change in your senses, perception, hearing, different mood swings, and some laughter. You will also notice that music sounds so much better; people tend to actually “feel” the music. No matter what Genre of music it is, if you like it, you will find yourself really vibing like never before. Marijuana contains about 3-4 percent of THC, while a hemp plant contains only about 1 percent. It distinguishes the measurement between hemp and marijuana. Cannabis Sativa l. is the exact name of the plant (Vantresse 1). After gathering some facts, I found out why the spacing of the cannabis plant is so closely compacted. Industrial hemp is planted close to influence fiber production and discourages leaf production. The cultivation of industrial hemp is still alive in today’s world. Some countries and states all around the world are realizing that the production of industrial hemp is on the rise. Countries such as China, Europe, and North Korea are the leading world producers. But more hemp is exported to the U.S. than any other country. It’s ironic how the U.S. gets more hemp exported than other countries, but yet still more countries outside of the U.S. have it legalized. Why not have it legalized in the country that exports it the most. In 1996, world hemp production was about 55,600 metric tons, with China, South Korea, and the Russian Federation as the lead producers (Vantreese, 8). Now that the United States is the leading exporter of industrial hemp, it still seems to be slightly unbeneficial if more countries outside of the U.S. in different states have it legalized but we don’t. I’m sure exporting cost of a fine renewable plant such as hemp is pretty high, especially in the world today. For the legalization of industrial hemp to be totally productive, I believe the U.S. would need to profit just as much or at least half the total amount it cost to export. Although most of the negative impacts of legalizing industrial hemp outweigh the beneficial impacts- hemp is still the chorus for potential supplement for other agronomical crops. It still remains an illegal crop under federal and state laws, so the barriers still remain for the cultivation of industrial hemp as a source of world production.
Hemp can be beneficial in both the economical and political aspects of the world. It’s hard to say which one benefits the most because hemp production is not yet notorious. While some people know about hemp, many don’t know how it can better not just our world, but our planet ass well. It’s the planets most valuble natural resource, its enviromentally safe and biodegradable. If people worldwide actually took time out to realize that other agricultural crops have their downfalls as well, I believe our economy will move in a positive direction, in the legalizing of industrial hemp. Today’s society revolves around money, so if it does not generate profit in the world, then it will stay irrelevant in more countries and states-and more importantly to our political leaders. Political leaders are supposed to orchestrate ideas and plans to make our country a better place. Starting with the legalization of industrial hemp wouldn’t be a bad first step. Without this production from hemp, the necessities that people need probably wouldn’t be present. So many items are made from hemp. Important things that people use in everyday life, things such as paper, food, cosmetics, and even houses and cars: just about anything you can think of. Hemp produces over 25,000 products (NAIHC, 1.) Some may not be as useful as others, 
but most are beneficial to people. When you think about it, world production or just production in general would not be possible if hemp did not produce so many products. Anything can be produced; the only matter is, is if people will put the vital things to use. Hemp is possibly the most useful plant known to mankind. Economically, the only way the cultivation of hemp would be worthwhile is if it proves to sustain profitable progression. Our government wants to see hemp excel not just agriculturally but economically as well. By it being a renewable resource, it should also create revenue. It should produce production, not put our economy in more economical stress than it already is. I believe that if research can be done and proven that hemp could sustain profit, then it can become legalized in more areas. It is already being used as a source of profit for some farmers, states, and other countries. It’ll benefit farmers more than anybody else: hemp gives them more supplements for other agricultural crops which may not bring in as much profit as hemp can. Hemp is a plant that does not need a lot of care, all you do is simply plant the hemp seeds and let them grow. With the big achors of land that farmers occupy, it will be less labor for the farmers as well.
I know this issue is not a simple situation to deal with, but I believe in some areas of world production it can do more good than bad for the United States. Though, the profit may not be sustainable, it’s worth a try. The government makes legalizing hemp seem so problematic. They believe it will confuse law enforcment and send a wrong message to children and teengae kids. Especially those who are already experimenting with marijuana. Most politicians view marijuana as a narcotic drug and something people use for profit. Which is true in a sense, but you have to consider the fact that if industrial hemp gets legalized, then it will basically be the same as the average drug dealer selling and making profit off of marijuana. Politically, politicians are scared to legalize industrial hemp because of it interrelations with marijuana-even though the THC levels have been distinguished. But they too are ordinary people and sometimes may not perceive information the way people with less authority do. As citizens, some of us view and hear the real world issues, and most of the issues pertain to financial issues. If industrial hemp gets legalized, I believe it will put less pressure on our countries financial crisis. Although illegally, millions of people still smoke and sell marijuana and some become convicts because of it-marijuana is not just used to get high, it helps people with illnesses, and other medical issues. So for all you Pro-Murijana smokers, weed does have other positive benefits besides getting high. Marijuana is prescribed medically, so why not just legalize it overall. This should also give politicians a different view point on the legalization of 
marijuana-it can actually help people: some people need it! Hemp Pro-Activist Ron Paul introduced the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011 (H.R. 1831). This legislation would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana. Industrial hemp would be considered any cannabis plant with a concentration of less than .3 percent (THC). “There is no reason, in a free society, that farmers shouldn’t be allowed to raise hemp… hemp is a good product” paul said. (The Huffington Post, 1) . He is one of many political activist that actually see the potential benefits of the cultuvation of industrial hemp. We, as people of the U.S. are letting the government regualte what is good for us, we should take a stand and regualate for oursleves. The United States (USDA) has abandoned all hempseed stock collections (Vantreese 4), and part of the reason is because they see the legalizing of industrial hemp as a means to get marijuana legalized. Ron Paul is probably the only person, who is not afraid to be the chorus for the legalization of industrial hemp and the fact that its not just being legalized because of marijuana. If the differences have already been distingusihed, whats taking political leaders so long to realize. That’s one source of research for them to begin with. Some of us, as US citizens, see the legalizing of industrial hemp as an agricultural benefit and economical benefit.
Both, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington grew hemp (NAIHC 1). Ben Franklin was not innocent either; he owned a mill that made hemp paper. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of independence on hemp paper. While much is still to be debated on the issue, I believe it’s safe to say that some political historians had no problem with it. I gurantee there were more political historians that had something to do with hemp, but were just not pointed out to the world. As you can tell, hemp played a key role in modern history’s greatest moments. I’m sure it benefitted them as well. By no means am I saying that just because they used hemp or produced it, that it automatically should be legalized in the world, but these guys were hemp activist and still sustained their political positions. Proper evidence and research must be shown to get industrial hemp cultivated. Industrial hemp has the capability to grow in a multitude of different climates, altitudes, soils, and weather conditions (Vantreese 5). It’s typically sown during the spring time. Spring is the best time to grow hemp because it’s the season of immense amount of rainfall-which gives the soil the energy it needs for industrial hemp growth. Discussion continues about viability of industrial hemp as a supplemental production alternative. Agronomic ally, hemp can easily be grown around the world. Hemp ultimately possesses superior qualities for fiber and oil use. Research continues on this topic, but the fibers of hemp are desirable due to their length and strength. And seed oil is desirable because hemp seeds are compromised of seed oil-which can be used for food, fuel, varnishes, and paints (Vantreese 7). The only downfall about the oil is that it becomes stale quickly-unless preserved and is fairly unstable. Despite hemps immediate qualities, hemp has its benefits and imperfect matters. The clothing you have on, shoes you’re wearing, and the paper us college students are using-are all made from hemp. As a country, we need to clear up the confusion that hemp is not marijuana, hemp as well as marijuana has postive beneftits, and it can bring change to our world.
Just like most other states around the world, Kentucky still struggles with the cultivation of industrial hemp. Hemp has been a staple crop in Kentucky for many years. Kentucky does not appear to have any unique advantage in growing hemp, despite our history of production (Vantreese 7). Industrial hemp has to be beneficial to our state in some way. In my April 10th, interview with Agricultural Extensive Professor (Greg Halich) at the University of Kentucky, he said that industrial hemp was an agricultural commodity in Kentucky 100 years ago. If getting industrial hemp legalized is something people really want to do, then its going to have to become a commodity in todays society also. Tobacco farmers in Kentucky, are apprehensive about the future and not all growers depend on just tobacco for their income, they depend on other crops as well. Some farmers are turning to organic vegetable farming-such as corn and soybeans as alternatives. And with tobacco not up to par in the state of Kentucky, Industrial hemp could be a tremendous benefit to the state-but the option of legalizing it in the state still remains uncertain. Kentuckys weather would be a perfect fit for industrial hemp growth. Kentckys climate is consist of good amounts of rainfall and sunlight-which is what hemp growth needs. A little to much sunlight can cause the soil to be very dry, and cause the plant to not do well. If there is to much rainfall, the soil the hemp plant is buried in will become to wet to even produce a full grown hemp plant. During early 1997, Central Kentcuky patriots were calling for the legalization of hemp as a potential supplement to / substitute for tobacco ( Carolyn Gallaher, 2002). But going back to the economical issue, its still uncertain if it will be a profitable crop for Kentucky farmers. However, the legalization of industrial hemp can create more job oppurtunities for those unemployed- which can be a stepping stone in getting our economy out of this recession. The more jobs for people, the better.
kyhemp 