I guess I have never thought Donita ‘Noem’ Trump was the smartest knife in the drawer, but I also didn’t think she was a total idiot, until I heard her make this statement;
“I believe if we move ahead with industrial hemp and we aren’t prepared with it from a regulatory standpoint, from an enforcement standpoint, if we don’t have the equipment and dollars to do this correctly, we will be opening the door to allowing marijuana to be legalized in the state of South Dakota,” Noem said.
Industrial Hemp isn’t the gateway to legalizing recreational pot. Never has been. Two completely different industries, not only in the products they provide but how it is grown.
“The plant looks exactly like a marijuana plant because it’s exactly the same plant as a marijuana plant,” Noem said.
Lesmeister disputed Noem’s claim, saying that they’re two separate plants and “standing in a field, there’s a vast difference.”
Why would any farmer in SD want to risk losing their entire farm over a rotational crop by sneaking in illegal cannabis? It’s ignorant. First off if the plants were hidden in the field, they would be overpowered by the industrial hemp, and secondly, and more importantly, the plant that contains THC, has to be grown in a greenhouse. You could plant it outside, but your results wouldn’t be something you would want to sell. If you have ever seen a grow house you would realize that it is a very delicate plant that has to be watered properly, lighted properly, special organic fertilizers and hand pruned to make it a viable crop to sell. Industrial hemp is pretty much planted and harvested (outside), that’s it. I’m amazed that someone who calls herself a farmer and sat on the ag committee knows very little about a crop that actually built our nation. Even Ellis agrees with me;
We can debate the pros and cons of marijuana legalization another day, but let’s first dispense with the asinine argument that hemp and marijuana are the same.
Well, we choose the hills we want to die on. Noem has chosen hemp.
Like I said in my first post about this, Kristi, grow a brain. It makes you wonder what she has been smoking?