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Inside the 'wild wild west' of Indiana's first major hemp harvest


Muda69

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https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2019/10/16/hemp-set-skyrocket-indiana-but-comes-lots-risk/3843228002/

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Assembled from parts scrounged from around Mark Boyer's farm outside Kokomo, the contraption was held together by tape, a set-up a fellow farmer said was “rigged for disaster.”

The bed of a truck rose, slowly spilling grain into an auger that shoveled it up a tube and dumped it into a wooden contrivance, roughly 10 feet tall. Some of the contents filtered into a huge plastic bag. The rest fell onto a shaking, perforated tray, where it either shook off the end, or was sifted into a basin underneath.

It was a very unusual system for cleaning grain, Boyer, a sixth-generation farmer, admits. But then again, there is nothing usual about farming hemp. At least not yet.

Legal changes in the past year at both the federal and state level have opened the door on hemp, marijuana’s non-psychedelic cousin, for the first time in decades. There are numerous crop varieties that can be used for countless products: CBD oil, food grade oil, hemp milk, protein powder, rope, clothing, paper. It's even used in concrete. So hemp seems destined for an agricultural gold rush, and officials in Indiana and across the country are preparing for an onslaught of interest. 

Still, it’s not all good news: Hemp’s entrance onto the scene raises a slew of questions: How will we grow it? How will we regulate it? How will we establish a market for it?

“We are just approaching the starting line,” said Boyer, a farmer on the forefront of growing hemp in Indiana. “Hemp is in a really awkward place right now, and we have to make a lot of mistakes first before we get this right.”

Some are warning caution.

“Growers need to look at this as a crop with a lot of risk with it,” said Bob Waltz, the state chemist and seed commissioner who is overseeing hemp in Indiana. “That’s the reality and I think there is a lot of promise, but a lot of homework needs to be done if we want to grow it successfully.”

...

I hope hemp production is wildly successful here in Indiana, but fear the over-the-top "reefer madness" type of regulation will stunt and eventually kill it.

 

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26 minutes ago, Impartial_Observer said:

A local farmer is raising it here. One plot is just below the hill from my house. A lot of cars stop and look. 

How much has been stolen and turned into joints?  That appears to be one of the fears of government regulators.

 

 

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15 minutes ago, Impartial_Observer said:

Uhhhhhh, it's hemp. I suppose you "turn it into joints" but you're going to be really disappointed. 

Heh Heh.  I understand.  But the old law! FTA:

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But hemp was effectively made illegal in 1937 under the Marihuana Tax Act and then formally made illegal in 1970 by the Controlled Substances Act. Federal law did not differentiate between hemp and other cannabis plants, such as marijuana. In actuality, there is a very real difference: Hemp does not contain more than 0.3% of THC, which is the part of the plant known to get a person high.

Still, hemp remained on the controlled substances list and was regulated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration until just last year. In December, President Donald Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill that removed hemp from the list. In other words, industrial hemp became legal to grow across the U.S.

Several states, including Indiana, were already growing it under the 2014 Farm Bill, which allowed research institutions to seek approval from the DEA to grow hemp purely for research.

 

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Wife and I were in Jamaica earlier in the year. Medicinal Marijuana is now legal there. I went to the dispensary, saw the NP, got my script and they hooked me up with the strain that would cure my ills. I have never been a smoker, and I was the quintessential dude trying his first, all the coughing and hacking, TOTALLY UNCOOL. All that being said, I'm all in, it offered a numbing affect, and I didn't really feel "high". Why this is unavailable to chronic pain sufferers is beyond me. But put me down for the gummies, I just can't pull off the Marlboro Man.  

It is my understanding that the US is WAY ahead of the curve with hybrids for specific health issues. 

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3 minutes ago, Impartial_Observer said:

Wife and I were in Jamaica earlier in the year. Medicinal Marijuana is now legal there. I went to the dispensary, saw the NP, got my script and they hooked me up with the strain that would cure my ills. I have never been a smoker, and I was the quintessential dude trying his first, all the coughing and hacking, TOTALLY UNCOOL. All that being said, I'm all in, it offered a numbing affect, and I didn't really feel "high". Why this is unavailable to chronic pain sufferers is beyond me. But put me down for the gummies, I just can't pull off the Marlboro Man.  

It is my understanding that the US is WAY ahead of the curve with hybrids for specific health issues. 

I was in Jamaica last week. Practically had to beat the weed vendors away with a stick. I confess, I tried it ... but I didn’t inhale. 😜

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We've been a few times, not much has changed, aside from vendors being right up in your grill now. I did go to the dispensary, at least it had the air of legitimacy. And I saved the cool little tubes that they came in. The gummies are clearly the way to go. My guess is come Jan. 1 you're going to see interstate traffic driving really fast to OH and IL, and driving home really slow. 

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