Hemp hysteria from a former locksmith in Oregon

I get to post a whole lot of “Reefer Madness” stories here on the Stash, but it is rare that I get to post some “Hemp Hysteria”. This is from a piece entitled “The Hemp Deception“, written by John English here in Portland, Oregon, “a retired professional locksmith of 27 years and a member of Drug Watch International,” who “has instituted a new approach of bringing his former out-of-control drug community to be family-friendly.”

I think that new approach is called el gringo es muy guano loco in Spanish.

Most of us don’t like liars. Lying by omission, by deception, is no less offensive.

With hemp, deception’s the rule! Honesty’s the exception.

Legislators and farmers don’t know that at least 8 of the 9 founding officers and directors (of the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) – hemp’s major U.S. trade group) are also vigorous pro pot legalization advocates. That they don’t know, … that’s intentional.

Don’t you love it when they say, “The people behind hemp (or medical marijuana) want to legalize pot!” Look, if I think everyone should have access to high-THC cannabis, how can I not support everyone’s access to low-THC hemp (or patients’ access to high-THC cannabis)?  Am I supposed to say, “Sorry, I support legal pot; get that hemp crap out of my face!”

Suppose I believe in legalizing prostitution and I form an organization that provides free HIV/AIDS testing for prostitutes. Even though you may disagree with legal prostitution, is it not a good thing to offer free AIDS testing? Is my AIDS testing organization a “deception” to get people to legalize prostitution? Of course not; free AIDS testing is a good thing for society regardless of my supposed personal views that legalized prostitution would be a good thing.

Likewise, support for industrial hemp is a good thing for society, independent from and regardless if you think legalized pot is a good thing.

On one hand, hemp promoters tell you that hemp is not marijuana … that it has amazing qualities, that hemp is the answer to the world’s problems, whether it be hunger, pollution, health, fuel or the economy, they’ve got the answer; it’s hemp.

On the other hand, behind your back though, they’re presenting this and an additional perspective to our youth! Our youth parrot these deceptions right back at us, but most of them know the intent of these deceptions.

Deception.  You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. It isn’t deception if you are presenting true facts about hemp.

Legislators and farmers don’t though. But they don’t read “High Times” like young people do; nor do they attend National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) conferences. They’d know if they did.

Youth read “High Times” though; they know! “High Times” readers are told what’s being done, right out front! They understand that to promote marijuana, hemp (its’ low THC content male counterpart) is only part of the comprehensive plan to make pot acceptable in the public’s eyes.

It’s you, the parents and the rest of mainstream America that these hempster-hucksters are into deceiving. Providing for loved ones, and all the duties adults must do to raise their children doesn’t leave much time to investigate all the aspects of how the legalization movement is presenting drugs to your children. They count on that.

Remember that panel at NORML CON about how we need to get the kids to repeat facts about hemp to their parents so the parents will accede to marijuana legalization?  Or that article in High Times about the comprehensive plan to make pot acceptable?  Yeah, me neither, but I may have been high at the time.

This idea that we “legalizers” are “presenting drugs to your children” would be funny if it weren’t so insulting.  Do you know how many high school kids I turn away every week who want to form NORML Chapters in their schools?  Even though some of them are eighteen, and I firmly believe if you can vote and serve in the military, you can handle a joint?

You prohibitionists need to explain how 84% of high school seniors telling us for decades that marijuana is “easy” or “fairly easy” to get isn’t an indictment of YOUR lack of concern for the children.  You need to explain how one million teenagers dealing illegal marijuana in our schools is not the fault of YOUR policies toward marijuana.  You need to show us “legalizers” how our ideas would make things worse for the children regarding marijuana than the current situation under YOUR prohibition.

Take for example, “hemp music,” another surreptitious method of presenting hemp and marijuana as acceptable. Though they deny the connection to mainstream America, to our youth, they’re saying just the opposite.

While working for NORML, Eric Steenstra, co-produced 2 pro-marijuana / hemp albums: “Hempilation”, (subsidized by the promoters), features pro-pot bands performing their favorite weed classics such as: “I wanna take you higher”, “I wanna get high”, “I like marijuana”, “Don’t step on the grass, Sam”, “Who’s got the herb”, “Convicted”, “Sweet Leaf”, “Smokin’ Cheba Cheba”, “Champagne & Reefer”, “Legalize It”, “And It Stoned Me”, “Homegrown”, “High Time We Went”, “Pot Head Pixies”

There are other songs on this album of youth-pollution but the song titles aren’t as explicit as these. If you doubt me, take a look and listen at Hempilation album.

The words, sometimes buried in the hard rock, and therefore somewhat hard to understand, … but they’re there. Or, if you don’t know how children are being targeted, look up the lyrics . . . . better yet, go there and search the word “hemp”, or “pot”, or “high”. You won’t believe the amazing flood of pot music targeting your children and that’s only part of it!

Oh, now this one is a riot!  There is no such thing as “hemp music”, you dolt!  “Hempilation” was named that because “hemp” shares the “mp” phoneme found in the word “compilation”.  Somehow, “Weedilation”, “Potilation”, “Marijuanilation”, “Grassilation”, “Ganjilation”, “Cannabilation”, and “Skunkilation” just didn’t sound as nice.  In fact, none of the songs on either “Hempilation” album had anything to do with hemp, much like my “Hemp Headlines” is just an alliterative title and usually has little to do with hemp.

Looking at your picture, John, you seem to be of the generation that was first “surreptitiously” “deceived” by these “hemp” songs.  “Champagne & Reefer” and “If You’re a Viper” are old blues tunes; they probably pre-date you.  “Long Haired Country Boy”, “The Joker”, “30 Days in the Hole”, “One Toke Over the Line”, “Rainy Day Women #12 & #35″, “I Want to Take You Higher”, “Sweet Leaf”, and “Too Rolling Stoned” are right out of YOUR era, not mine.

So, John, how is it that you managed to escape our sticky hempy siren song as a child?