US TX: Editorial: Going Too Far

Reasonable people can debate the danger marijuana poses to society and the proper penalties for this controlled substance.

But it is not reasonable to so demonize the psychoactive effect of marijuana that it cannot be used for legitimate medical uses under a doctor's care or to bar the agricultural and manufacturing use of a relative of the marijuana plant.

American farmers and entrepreneurs are at a worldwide disadvantage when it comes to profiting from expanded uses of industrial hemp that is being used to make paper products, textiles, rope and carpets. Even though people cannot get high by smoking industrial hemp, the plant is close enough to the controlled substance that government officials refuse to allow it to be raised, which is carrying legitimate drug concerns to illogical conclusions.