All industries would receive a boost from legal marijuana for states leading the way

Most people understand that industrial hemp means jobs in agricultural, transportation, manufacturing, sales, development and ancillary industries associated with growing a plant crop, cultivating, processing and refining a seed crop for food, fuel and fiber.  One analogy being used is “Industrial Hemp is like field corn, you process that plant into basically everything; Medical Marijuana is more similar to sweet corn, consumed fresh from the field.”

Tourism experts in California are already prepared for the “Green Rush” should Proposition 19 pass.  In a article entitled Will Mendocino County become the Napa Valley of marijuana?, USA Today reported on October 8th, 2010 on the subject, excerpts here:

Hemp shakes and cannabisseries?  They’re pipe dreams, counter many Mendocino tourism promoters, law officials and business owners.

While 14 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana use in some form, California’s groundbreaking Prop 19 would authorize any adult 21 and older to possess, share or transport up to 1 ounce regardless of jurisdiction, and let each city and county decide whether to approve and tax commercial sales.

Proponents say legalization would weaken criminal activity by Mexican drug cartels and funnel as much as $1.4 billion a year into the state’s dangerously depleted coffers.

Famous for its dramatic headlands, redwood groves and down-home wineries producing world-class Pinot Noirs, Mendocino County draws about 2 million visitors a year, mostly from Northern California, to an area that’s bigger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined but home to just 90,000 residents.

“Marijuana is part of the social fabric of our nation, one way or another,” says Sheriff Tom Allman, and “the days of sending people to prison for a seed are over. It’s the green rush of the new millennium.”

What California is forgetting is the big picture, with marijuana laws changing from coast to coast, a state without a comprehensive hemp cannabis plan may not benefit the most.  Just like the “gold rush” the “green rush” will not last forever.  The states poised to capture the market and stay in the cycle for the long haul will benefit the most.  Wisconsin is a leading state in milk and cheese production. Other important farm products are peas, beans, beets, corn, potatoes, oats, hay, and cranberries.

The chief industrial products of the Wisconsin are automobiles, machinery, furniture, paper, beer, and processed foods. Wisconsin ranks second among the 47 paper-producing states.

With our society moving towards healthier living, steering away from processed foods and alcohol, Wisconsin could be left behind again with outdated and dying business models.  Hemp for health experts indicate the hempseed is a vital and far superior food source than our current consumption habits.  Perhaps Wisconsin can re-define “processed foods” to become the variety of food products that can be made by processing the hempseed (nut).  Hemp fiber is already used for the most important paper documents, from bank archives, bible pages to governmental documents.  The paper industry is ready to receive and implement domestic hemp and we need the jobs it creates to supply the product to them.

Recreational cannabis, under a fair and comprehensive marijuana law would allow a safer alternative to alcohol.  Such a comprehensive marijuana law could put Wisconsin back on the map, not only as a leader again in the agricultural, manufacturing and tourism sectors, but implementing effective and progressive legislation based of the will of the people will set precedence for other states.  If Wisconsin law creates a model for other states to follow, we again can emerge as one of the political leader among states that unite us together as a country.  Many historians know that Ripon, Wisconsin is the birthplace of the Republican Party.  The mixture of pot politics and hemp history make Wisconsin the perfect mixing bowl that is now ripe for reform.

Wisconsin is a pioneer in social legislation, providing pensions for the blind (1907), aid to dependent children (1913), and old-age assistance (1925). In labor legislation, the state was the first to enact an unemployment compensation law (1932) and the first in which a workman’s compensation law actually took effect. In 1984, Wisconsin became the first state to adopt the Uniform Marital Property Act.

The state has over 14,000 lakes, of which Winnebago is the largest. Water sports, ice-boating, and fishing are popular, as are skiing and hunting. The 95 state parks, forests, and recreation areas take up one-seventh of the land.  Not nearly as populated as California, Wisconsin has approximately 5.5 million residents, making it a great destination during any one of our four distinct seasons or a permanent home.

If you look at the rich history of hemp heritage in our state, Wisconsin should move FORWARD with comprehensive marijuana reform, as our state motto suggests.