Cannabis

This blog is not really intended to be a political outlet for me, but we cannot talk about agriculture without occasionally involving politics. Food and industrial (as well as recreational) crops are often politicized. I will be writing about Genetically Modified food soon, but today, I will be writing about Oregon's Measure 80, which would legalize the growing of Cannabis for industrial production, food production, and recreational use.

I've never been interested in smoking pot, I'm a pretty boring person, I grew up more interested in playing video games and watching movies than getting high. I was also (and still am) pretty dorky, the kind of people who had access to marijuana didn't tend to socially overlap with me. I don't intend to start, and I think it's important for me to state this because I really want to promote why I feel this is a good idea. I'm not personally interested in using it for recreation.

This will tie into several issues all at once, and it's difficult to take care of them all in a short blog post. My philosophy in this is to give people the ability to learn without getting overwhelmed. For every topic I write here, one could most likely write a novel. I want to keep is simple and short, which is why I split up my posts if they're getting too long, and why, though we'll be covering several issues here today, I want to keep it short and digestible. That being said, why is this so important to me, and why do I feel like this is important to Oregon?

In many ways, this issue ties very heavily into sustainability, and not just agricultural sustainability. Oregon as a state needs more internal revenue. We are relatively good at balancing the budget here, but there is certainly a need for more revenue, if for nothing else but a rainy day fund. But most especially, these funds can help sustain programs like education and state health care. The measure would allow cannabis to be taxed, 90% of which would come back directly into state revenue.

Speaking to agricultural sustainability, 80 would raise the restriction on growing industrial hemp as well. This would allow farmers to grow organic, non-genetically modified crops at a profit. There is a reason that cannabis is called 'weed', it is one; it grows quickly and doesn't require much attention beyond water and sunlight. Hemp fiber is very good and very cheap. If we play our cards right and build hemp fiber processing factories in Oregon we can have even more jobs and more tax revenue.

Hemp also provides some food products as well. Many stores now carry hemp based foods. They aren't illegal in Oregon, but to get them, they must be imported from Canada, where industrial hemp production is legal. I've tried hemp chips and hemp milk now, both of which were pretty good. Being lactose intolerant, I drink soymilk as an alternative, but it doesn't really taste like cow milk. Hemp milk is good and is much closer in texture and flavor, even my wife, who cannot stand soymilk, likes hemp milk.

Finally, legalizing cannabis would allow our police force to stop wasting time and resources fighting the war on marijuana. It would also stop the illegal market for it, since the state would charge much less. It further protects the imbiber from having cannabis that is tainted or laced with other drugs. The crime rate surrounding marijuana based crimes would be lower. And finally, it would also weaken the funding for gangs and dealers who rely on income from the drug.

When everything is said and done I really feel that we need to be able to grow this crop commercially in Oregon. It provides cheap food, cheap fiber, and would provide great tax revenue. I don't know if the measure will pass or not, it seems like it could be a toss up either way. But I feel like Oregon is a wonderful place, and I think that we can and should be at the leading edge of sustainability, agriculture, invention, science, and culture in this country. I think that this would be a step in the right direction for us. Regardless of your opinion on the matter, I want you to vote. Change is only possible for those willing to participate.

For more information, I urge you to check out the measure's website:
http://octa2012.org/

Next week: My Carnivorous Plants