I was standing outside the store today watching the Cinco de Mayo parade.
Rockford, IL has recently started having Cinco de Mayo parades, sponsored by the Rockford Area Mexican Business Association. R.A.M.B.A.
It is a chance for the politicians to show themselves in a parade and give candy out to the kids.
Anyway I was surprised to see Bob Abboud walking along shaking hands and asking for support. This is interesting because I have met 2 candidates running for Il''s 16th district this way.
I have a standard question I ask every Candidate and I asked Bob "what is your position on the legalization of Marijuana?" Bob's reply was"Gee I haven't given it much thought." I replied "free the weed, Bob! free the weed!" he smiled and continued on the parade route, then his assistant came up to me and said that the he thought that it should be legal and that the prisoners should be freed.
I ask every politician the same question, this for me is a simple litmus test of how in touch the politician is with the people on the street, and if they have a brain.
The legalization of Cannabis represents the progression of society, We as a country are going to have to make some hard choices. Can we afford to continue to imprison people for cannabis crimes? Cannabis is a sound choice for use as a bio-fuel plant. It contains a high level of cellulose in a annual plant. The seed can be pressed for oil, and for 4000 years was used as lamp oil. The flowers have been used as medicine before recorded history.
The fiber from hemp/cannabis have been used to produce cloth and there is archaeological evidence for its use as cloth from 8,000 years ago.
Hemp can replace oil in many ways, it was the primary oil used in stains and varnish before 1934. When Rudolf Diesel designed his engine it ran on hemp oil. Hemp cultivation requires no herbicides or fertilizer and is good for controlling erosion. Cannabis sativa will grow on marginal land and has demonstrated ability in returning health to weakened soils.
Hemp products can and are being used to replace wood based building products. Paper products are ruining ecosystems by the discharge of mercury and dioxin from the processing of them.replacing wood with hemp will lower the amount of pollutants introduced into nature.
Hemp seed contains more protein then soy and is high in fatty acids.
Hemp seed would make an excellent animal feed and was used for such before it was made illegal by the Hemp Tax act.
The time has come for a reasonable debate on changing the laws. We need the jobs that would be created by developing the hemp industry. It is the largest cash crop in the United States, regulating and taxation is a better solution then incarceration.