Hemp for victory

[MadRat]

Courtesy of the BBC: Hemp for Victory

US government propaganda film made during WWII touting the virtues of hemp. The film was aimed at farmers at a time when the miltary was facing a shortage of hemp, it shows how hemp is grown and processed into rope and other products.

Ben Brown said:
"Is was Hearst Publications that you can thank for the orignal propaganda that eventually led to the ruling that hemp should be a controlled substance. As you may know, Hearst ran basically all journalism/newspapers across the control at the turn of the century. Since he needed paper to print, he had a large stake in the lumber industry. Seeing the impact that an annual and renewable crop could have on his lumber holdings he created what is known as "red journalism" to convince the public of the evils of hemp (and pot). Hearst was a very powerful person in his day and had many high-level ties in the government - therefore is wasn't too hard to get the bill passed outlawing hemp as a cash crop. Thank you to the big money-hungry corporations for the destruction of our national forests when we could be growing hemp...which is not of smoking grade anyway. But try to convince the public otherwise now would be virtually impossible."

To think we've lost so many rights and most of us never knew it.

 

[Specop 007]

Lost rights, including but not limited to...

Gun ownership. Restricted and controlled.
Land ownership. Lost.
Recreational drug use/cultivation. Restricted / Banned

on and on and on

 

[AntaresVI]

Worse is the fact that hemp actually has a lot of utility. Its sad to see potential positives demonized.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I hate dirty hippies as much as the next guy, but the War On Drugs has wasted tens (hundreds?) of billions of tax dollars just to lock up the harmless tokers and keep profits high for the drug cartels.

Given a choice I'd have my tax dollars put to more productive use, and allow controlled low-cost drug sales to put the cartels out of business.

(I have no stake other than as a taxpayer, the only drugs I use are chocolate and caffeine.)

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
I hate dirty hippies as much as the next guy, but the War On Drugs has wasted tens (hundreds?) of billions of tax dollars just to lock up the harmless tokers and keep profits high for the drug cartels.

Given a choice I'd have my tax dollars put to more productive use, and allow controlled low-cost drug sales to put the cartels out of business.

(I have no stake other than as a taxpayer, the only drugs I use are chocolate and caffeine.)

Would you want the legalization of marijuana, or the legalization of all drugs?

 

[imported_hscorpio]

Originally posted by: MadRat
Ben Brown said:
"Is was Hearst Publications that you can thank for the orignal propaganda that eventually led to the ruling that hemp should be a controlled substance. As you may know, Hearst ran basically all journalism/newspapers across the control at the turn of the century. Since he needed paper to print, he had a large stake in the lumber industry. Seeing the impact that an annual and renewable crop could have on his lumber holdings he created what is known as "red journalism" to convince the public of the evils of hemp (and pot). Hearst was a very powerful person in his day and had many high-level ties in the government - therefore is wasn't too hard to get the bill passed outlawing hemp as a cash crop. Thank you to the big money-hungry corporations for the destruction of our national forests when we could be growing hemp...which is not of smoking grade anyway. But try to convince the public otherwise now would be virtually impossible."

To think we've lost so many rights and most of us never knew it.

I don't really buy into the hemp conspiracy theories as the motivation for Hearst's actions. It might be more likely that Hearst created his "red journalism" with all his reefer madness stories simply because he knew sensationalism and fear (doped up white girls won't be able to resist the negro's!) would sell newspapers.

Check out any modern media stories on drugs to see what I mean. They still sensationalize it and try to scare people about the next new 'epidemic' destroying america. Is it because of some complex conspiracy or is it simply exploiting human emotions for ratings?

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: hscorpio

Originally posted by: MadRat
Ben Brown said:
"Is was Hearst Publications that you can thank for the orignal propaganda that eventually led to the ruling that hemp should be a controlled substance. As you may know, Hearst ran basically all journalism/newspapers across the control at the turn of the century. Since he needed paper to print, he had a large stake in the lumber industry. Seeing the impact that an annual and renewable crop could have on his lumber holdings he created what is known as "red journalism" to convince the public of the evils of hemp (and pot). Hearst was a very powerful person in his day and had many high-level ties in the government - therefore is wasn't too hard to get the bill passed outlawing hemp as a cash crop. Thank you to the big money-hungry corporations for the destruction of our national forests when we could be growing hemp...which is not of smoking grade anyway. But try to convince the public otherwise now would be virtually impossible."

To think we've lost so many rights and most of us never knew it.

I don't really buy into the hemp conspiracy theories as the motivation for Hearst's actions. It might be more likely that Hearst created his "red journalism" with all his reefer madness stories simply because he knew sensationalism and fear (doped up white girls won't be able to resist the negro's!) would sell newspapers.

Check out any modern media stories on drugs to see what I mean. They still sensationalize it and try to scare people about the next new 'epidemic' destroying america. Is it because of some complex conspiracy or is it simply exploiting human emotions for ratings?

Remember a few months after 9/11 when the "smoking marijuana = supporting terrorists" ad campaign came out? Same old same old...

 

[Votingisanillusion]

DuPont bribed many politicians to make hemp illegal after inventing Nylon, because hemp is as great, if not better than Nylon...but copyright free. Monsanto is trying to do the same with all crops.