What a weekend!

Last weekend was quite busy, in only the best of ways, let's jump right in.

.....By 4:30 pm I was tipsy, still dancing (now in an apartment) and drinking Hoegaarden on the roofdeck. Friday afternoon was AWESOME.
Despite wanting to continue hanging out until the sun came up, I had to bike home, upload pictures, and get ready for Friday night. When I looked at my watch and realized that the weekend 'proper' had not even begun yet, was a very WHOA experience.

By 6:30 pm I was running late for a baseball game, Nationals Vs Orioles. The weather was beautiful and I had a free ticket as the "date" of a friend whose office was having a baseball outing.
Despite the fact that this two teams that I have grown to love, I still do not care much for this American sport. We left around the 7th inning to head back to Columbia Heights.

I had a schedule to keep. I went straight to the grocery store to pick up a six pack, I decided on getting a old favorite: Mickey's malt liquor 'grenades' (which have word puzzles under the caps.) I was also starting to sober up since I could only afford to buy one drink at the baseball game, so I figured that normal beer just wouldn't cut it.
I took the six pack about 4 blocks to my friend's house, who was having a party that I was just on time for.


The party was awesome. People continued coming, I ran into a few people that I knew randomly, other acquaintances that I hadn't seen in a while. I told people about my Art show the following night, I hung out with my friend having the party, and I drank Mickey's and was merry. To top it off, I got into a conversation about hemp with someone that works for the EPA in the pesticide division, and before I knew it, it was almost midnight.
On Fridays and Saturday's, I play the role of a combination between Cinderella and Spiderman. I must run off into the night hail a pumpkin colored cab, and transform into party machine with a camera attached. While I may prefer a house party, Peter Parker must leave the party and go to an exclusive nightclub on Friday nights.




I didn't come home until about 3:30am on Friday. I had a long day ahead of me: after barely enough sleep to metabolize the alcohol, I had to wake up and bike to the office to print business cards and make other preparations for my art show. I had less than 8 hours until the doors would open, and every minute was precious.
This weekend, to be continued.....

Research, Research, Research: Getting the Ducks in Line

I can't believe that I'm almost through my second week already.
Oh wait. I meant to say, I can't believe I'm almost through with my third week.
I can't believe that I didn't know the difference.

I can say that next week, I already have two meetings for Tuesday.

For the past 2 and a half weeks now, I have been preparing for meetings. I have been building lists of congresspeople, and doing research to add to the lists. Using a spreadsheet, in an unfortunately yet unavoidable confusing manner that even I can barely understand, are the following thing:
-Lists of congress people by State, by committee, and by voting record
- Choose Relevant States- Maine, Montana, Oregon, North Dakota, Vermont, New Mexico, Kentucky, Missouri,
-Congress person's political leaning, State (I usually just guess the two letter abbreviation), and phone number
- Appropriate committees and subcommittees. Notables include:
-Judiciary committee
-Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security (HR 1866 referred)
-Committee on Energy and Commerce (HR 1866 referred)
-Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
- Agriculture
-Horticulture and Organic Agriculture
-Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research
- Small Business: Rural Development, Entrepreneurship, and Trade
- Science and Technology: Energy and the Environment
- Nutrition & Forestry
- Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming
- Natural Resources
-Finally, important notes. This include if I've met with them, what they did for a living, what they support, etc. This includes any laws the congressperson's state; as well as business and amount of constituency.

Wow. That's a lot. See, that's why it's been taking me so long. It's also why I don't really know what day it is.
Now, I just need to make sure I have it all memorized.

Back In Washington

I thought that it was time to revisit my blog after about a year of latency.
I'm back in DC and working again for Vote Hemp. The goal is to get federal recognition of industrial hemp. This is no easy task and has never been done before.

Grassroots support for hemp is notable and significant. To date, 14 states allow hemp farming, and Oregon will be the 15th state within two weeks. (SB 676 has already passed committee and is on the senate floor today). While individual states show enormous support with both constituencies and legislature, this hardly translates to the federal level.

My job is to get support for HR 1866, the third reintroduction of Ron Paul's "Industrial Hemp Farming Act". I have nothing against Ron Paul, but apparently, this is not the case for most politicians. Most politicians would support hemp if it were politically viable; unfortunately, at the moment, it is not.

I'll try to keep you updated this summer. If you read this far, shoot me an email bendroz@gmail.com so that I know to keep writing....

-Ben

Ditchweed

Believe it or not, there are already hundreds of millions of Hemp plants growing in the United States. For example, in 2005, in Indiana alone, there were over 200 million hemp plants! That represents thousands and thousands of acres! The United States is already growing hemp, it seems.
Turns out, this Feral Hemp, or Ditchweed, is actually just wild Hemp that continues to grow year after year, left over from a long legacy of hemp farming. The hemp could probably be used for simple products like Animal Bedding or Biomass for Agrofuel, but this is not the case.
The DEA began its Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program in 1979 and has been expanding since. While I'm sure they would like to find growhouses with high potency marijuana, these are not very easy to find, if you've ever looked yourself. However, it is easy to find a desolate field covered with grass; this is a general description of the Great Plains. So,
Over 98% or Cannabis Seized by the DEA in their "Cannabis Eradication" program is actually wild Hemp; containing generally less than 1% THC. When I first heard this I did not actually believe it. But low and behold, it has been going on for years, according to NORML.
Apparently, the DEA spends taxpayer dollars to harvest and burn an agricultural commodity. According to The Data, States like Kansas, Missouri, and Indiana have acres upon acres of uncultivated Marijuana plants.

The Irony? However, the DEA being ridiculous about their inability to distinguish between Hemp and Marijuana makes a little more sense, now that the DEA has admitted to being legitimately insane. They started this Marijuana Eradication Program and all they can find is Feral Hemp. If they actually legalized hemp, what would happen to the Marijuana eradication program? They would lose 98% of their Taxpayer Profits!

Seriously, I can't believe there are already thousands acres of Hemp growing in the United States. And why does the DEA insist on calling it all Marijuana?