As most Americans know, we're heading into election season-the time for politicians to really kick their campaigns into overdrive and "oversell" their core beliefs to ensure their core voter bloc stays loyal. So while Cannabis acceptance is becoming mainstream (see our last article on Industrial Hemp in Tasmania), GOP candidates in the US are taking another direction: contrary to their talking points of "states rights" and "personal liberties", candidates are taking a hard stance on medicinal cannabis and industrialized hemp.

Mitt Romney, the current flavor of The month for the GOP, was recently asked by a student whether industrialized hemp may help ease some of these economic pains, the once governor of Massachusetts, CEO of Bain Capital, and career presidential candidate admitted "I have no idea what industrialized hemp is." For one hoping to run the United States, one would hope Mr. Romney would take a moment to read a little US history and find that the Founding Fathers he so often cites grew industrial hemp.

While there are candidates who wish to end the asinine War on Drugs and prohibition on industrialized hemp-namely Ron Paul (R-TX)- the GOP will never back a Paul presidency for fear of losing social conservatives and the so-called "moral majority". That leaves us with the current field of candidates, all willfully ignorant to the economic and social benefits of ending the prohibition on cannabis.

This does not give the current administration a free pass-the Obama administration has recanted the campaign promise of respecting state laws in respect to medical marijuana and has been signing off on DEA raids of legal dispensaries and prosecuting the operators under federal drug trafficking laws. It is time we take a hard look at our government-at both ends of the political spectrum-and ask whether they are doing the bidding of the American people or are they beholden to larger and more wealthy lobbies: the tobacco, alcohol, and textile industries which are aware high quality and low priced hemp and cannabis would add competition to the supposed "free market economy." Prohibition isn't a party issue-the right and left both suscribe to the idea- it is a deeper issue of whether we are going to allow these antiquated laws to stand in the 21st century.

Source:
Romney Unaware of Industrial Hemp
DEA Raids Another Legal Clinic in CA