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Seen enough families having to put up with that one guy whose stoned all the time, stealing money for dope, to say that drugs are not a victimless crime.

Stealing is the crime that causes victims, drugs use is not. And drug prices are high because of the fake War on Drugs, which is really a war on liberty. If drugs were legal then most of the profit would be out of drugs reducing drug related violence as well, with a lot of it being between gangs trying to control the distribution of the drugs.

With the laws politicians and drug warriors have been pushing of decades, they'd imprison many of the USA's Founding Fathers as well. Hemp aka marijuana was grown on the farms owned by, or was advocated by, the first three presidents of the USA, George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson wrote the "Declaration of Independence" on hemp paper. Benjamin Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper.

Hemp was never made illegal because it was dangerous or bad, but for other reasons. Hemp or marijuana was called the devil weed from Mexico, when it was not from there, to stroke racist fears and fear of violence. However there is not one medical or scientific study that has shown it to cause violence or drive user to become violent, at least I have not found any that have not been discredited and I dare anyone to find one. Most studies conclude the opposite. So why was it made illegal? Because wealthy and powerful industrialists thought hemp was a threat to them.

while marijuana was something that was first encountered as something brown-skinned people used, and therefore, exotic and scary and somehow more dangerous

Wrong, the first and third presidents of the USA, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp on their farms. The second president John Adams wanted to use hemp as a cash crop.

Falcon

Not all fibers are created equal. Hemp makes an AWESOME fiber for paper, as has many mechanical characteristics that make it an excellent natural fiber for composite applications. When Mercedes Benz decided to use hemp it their autos, it was not because hemp was a "groovy" material, rather because its superior to many other natural fibers and less expensive than fiberglass. Hemp is not mentioned in any marketing literature from Mercedes, nor BMW, Chrysler, Ford, etc however, all use use hemp-content composites in their autos.

One of the greatest things about hemp is the fact that it can be used for so many different markets. This is why its attractive. Its not tied to one sole end-use, such as only rope, only paper, etc. It can be used for lots of items.

Eric Pollitt
Global Hemp, Inc
http://www.globalhemp.com/ http://www.globalhempstore.com/

Hemp grown for seed = biodiesel

Hemp grown for fiber = cellulosic ethanol

Hemp is much harder to make assumptions for average tons per acre due to the fact that hemp is not grow as homogeneous as corn. From old notes, I have found that hemp produces 60 gallons of ethanol per dry ton. Therefore, if hemp averages 5 dry tons/acre, then one acre of hemp will produce 300 gallons of cellulose-based ethanol.

Richard G. Lugar and R. James Woolsey wrote an excellent article titled, "The New Petroleum" (Foreign Affairs, Volume 78 No. 1) which states, "First, a simple comparison of energy content reveals that a dry ton of biomass crops--$40 is a reasonable current average cost--is comparable to oil at $10-13 a barrel." Of course there are a lot of other variables and obstacles that need to figured in. I highly recommend that you read this article.

One should note that dry whole stalks hemp currently sell for approximately $100 ton. This is far above the price of $40/ton suggested above. When I spoke with the Department of Energy (DOE) a few years ago, they informed me that hemp has always been a consideration however, if grown it would command too high a price due to the fact that hemp is too versatile and other markets would pay a higher price. The main focus for the DOE has been switchgrass and agricultural wastes.

Professor Richard G. Lugar recently informed me that 1 bone dry ton (bdt) of biomass yields 75 gallons of ethanol. Professor Lugar further stated that yields of 100 gallons per bdt are expected in the future.

Therefore, if hemp yields 5 bdt per acre, then one acre of hemp yields 375 gallons of ethanol; and potentially 500 gallons in the near future. This is quite a bit more than starch-based ethanol, such as those made from corn.

Of course, some yields for hemp fiber can range as high as 10 bdt per acre, which doubles the yield per acre to as much as 1,000 gallons. This of course relies on genetics for both the biomass to cellulosic ethanol conversion as well as breeding of the hemp to produce 10 bdt per acre.

Once again, ethanol from biomass versus biodiesel from vegetable oil.

Eric Pollitt
Global Hemp, Inc
http://www.globalhemp.com/
http://www.globalhempstore.com/

You had me untill the hemp part. Why do you assume switching to hemp would SAVE forests? Experience indicates the opposite:

In 1916 the USDA reported that hemp hurds could produce four times as much paper per acre as trees. With increased yields and improved technology this may now be higher. In addition, hemp paper is stronger. can be recycled more often, and lasts longer than tree paper.

Benefits of Hemp Production

...
Less than twenty percent of the harvest is used as raw lumber for planks and beams.(21) A dated United States Department of Agriculture ("U.S.D.A.") report claims that an acre of hemp can produce four times as much pulp and fiber as an acre of trees.(22) However, recent reports from Europe, Australia, and Canada indicate that the pulp and fiber return from hemp may be even greater than the old U.S.D.A. estimates.(23) Additionally, unlike kenaf and other alternative paper crops, hemp can grow in a variety of climates.(24) Farmers claim that they can grow hemp without pesticide or herbicide application because it grows quickly and is not likely to fall to disease.(25) Hemp also has water and fertilizer requirements similar to corn and wheat.(26)

What Thomas Paine says:

" In almost every article of defence we abound. Hemp flourishes even to rankness, so that we need not want cordage."

What do we have more of, endangered spotted owls which we don't eat or ugly smelly tasteless cows which we do?

Other than logging endangers spotted owls I'm not sure what this has to do with hemp. The fact is though is that hemp is one of the most industrially versatile plants there is, which is why it was made illegal via the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Thomas Jefferson even wrote the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper.

You're incorrect. Try this link.

Hemp and Marijuana belong to the same species of plant, but just like there are several different types of Oak and Maple, there's a distinction between Hemp and Pot.

Chrysler's 2001 Sebring has door panels made of 25% hemp, 25% kenaf, and 50% polypropylene.

Where's the oil? Polypropylene can be sourced via organic methods: soy oils, hempseed oils, canola oils, etc.

That doesn't make any sense. You're saying that the government just decided to ban drugs because it was a way of oppressing minorities. Why would they do that? How do they stand to gain from preventing minorities from using their 'drug of choice'?

Blacks under the influence of marijuana committed such "heinous crimes" as stepping on a white mans shadow (which was actually prohibited), looking at a white woman twice (also prohibited), and laughing at white people. By outlawing activities people you don't like engage in, you have the ability to have them thrown in jail, you discourage them from living where you do, reduce competition from jobs, open them to exploitation via blackmail, etc. In other words, you create significant power to be exploited against those people.

Read the History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the United States (written by a law professor) and The Emperer Wears no Clothes .

According to the second source, banning hemp under the guise of banning marijuana also elimintated competition for 80% of DuPont's products (by number of rail cars of product: plastic fibers and paper processing chemicals) and the owner of the bank that financed dupont also appointed the head of the federal bureau of narcotics and dangerous drugs. Hemp also threatened to compete with the timber industry and Mr. Yellow Journalism himself, William Randolf Hearst, had substantial timber holdings and a substantial financial stake in a new cheaper paper making process that could not have competed with hemp since a new machine had been introduced that drastically reduced labor costs associated with hemp. Also, hemp lended itself to decentralized economies whereas patented paper and plastic manufacturing processes were more profitable for Robber Barrons. It also competes with the oil industry and the pharmaceutical industry. When marijuana was outlawed most Americans (even in the unlikely event they new it was up for vote), thought it was some dangerous exotic substance from mexico that Hearsts newspapers railed about and had no idea it was a form of the hemp plant that had been a vital part of human civilization for 10,000 years. At the time it was outlawed, however, hemp agriculture was at a low point in the US because it was very labor expensive and rope was being imported from asia where labor was cheaper. But a new decorticator had been invented that reduced labor costs 100:1, just as the cotton gin had done for cotton, and the same month the federal law banning hemp went into effect, Popular Mechanics ran a story on the new machine calling hemp a billion dollar crop.

1 acre of hemp, which is 4 times as efficient as other forms of biomass, can produce 1000 gallons of fuel for motor vehicles or other uses. Biomass fuel does not contribute to global warming since the carbon produced on burning came from the air in the first place.

Hemp products are making a comeback even though you still can't legally grow hemp in the US.

There is a truth here that points to the fundamental long-term problem for many free software projects.

Whilst I know nothing of grsecurity (but heck this is /. since when do I need to know anything to have an opinion!), and I feel sorry for the guy whos brainchild this is, we can all learn from this tale of woe.

Very few of us have the privilege of sponsorship, or the luxury of independant funding (stand up Mr Stallman), and lets face it, most of our projects aren't as essential as the GNU system, the Kernel, XFree or Apache all of whom have some fairly serious backing in one form or another.

So what does this tell us?

It tells me that if you want free software to succeed, then you can't rely on your free software to provide you with an income. You CAN rely on your knowledge and skills as a consultant, or you can get another job, but if you go out there expecting patronage then you are bound to fail - in the same way that expecting to make it big in your garage band is a fairly uncertain way of earning a living ... everyone I knew who was in a band has gone on to get a 'proper' job - that doesn't mean they have all given up music, just that those who really believed in it are doing other things as well. Those who were only playing at being a rock star gave up years ago.

Giving up your pet project because it hasn't paid your way shows the same lack of principle - or maybe it shows that the project didn't have that much importance to the author.

Imagine where we would be if Linus had got bored, and got a proper job at Burger King 'cos his kernel idea was not going anywhere and he needed to eat. I can't imagine he would have given up on it. Why haven't the Hurd team given up yet?

Principle.

But let's remember, principles aren't about cash.

Wow. Someone piss in your Corn Flakes this morning?

or, to use your terminology: Please for fuck's sake will you stop using hemp and marijuana interchangably in conversation? They are *NOT* the same thing.

Hemp != marijuana. It's of the same family, but it has almost no THC at all. You'd have to smoke a crate full of it to get high. But by that time you'd be dead from all the other shit in it.

There are lots of uses for hemp. And in every country that doesn't have "United States of America" in it's name, it's legal to use it for those purposes. Hemp cloting. Hemp rope. Hemp paper. Hemp oil. Hemp soap. Hemp fireboard (Ford even had a prototype car that was 70% made from this). Hell, even back during World War II, the US suddenly decided that it was a good idea to grow it again. Hemp for Victory, anyone think that was just a bunch of hippie army people trying to get high?

Quit doing the job of the War on Drugs idiots by equating hemp and marijuana.