Kentucky Republican gubernatorial candidate Phil Moffett has come out in support of legalizing industrial hemp production. That makes him the second gubernatorial candidate in the state to embrace the idea. Perennial independent candidate Gatewood Galbraith has called for its legalization for years.
Phil Moffett
Moffett, who along with US Senate candidate Rand Paul is part of the tea party insurgency within the Bluegrass State's Republican Party, came out on the issue in response to a question during a meeting with libertarian voters last Thursday and reaffirmed his support in an interview with the Associated Press last Friday.
He is ready to "go to the carpet" to legalize hemp production, he told the AP. "We're going to have to challenge the federal authority to keep us from growing a legitimate crop," he said. "Industrial hemp is not a drug, so it shouldn't be regulated by the DEA or any other federal authority."
Moffett said he supported hemp production both for economic reasons and as a means of reducing the power of the federal government. "It's a farm product that can be used in a number of different ways to create jobs, but it's also a way to get the federal government farther off our back," Moffett said Friday. "Right now, the Drug Enforcement Agency does not allow hemp to be grown, and it would be a great test case for us to fight against the federal government to be able grow a completely legitimate crop that the federal government has decided they don't believe is worthy of planting."
Moffett doesn't favor marijuana legalization and he opposes medical marijuana "on an official level," he said. "But on a personal level, if someone were dying of cancer and marijuana was the only way they could find comfort, I'm not going to get in the way," he said. "There's a humanitarian aspect to this."
While industrial hemp may be imported for use in this country, American farmers are barred from growing it by the federal government. Nine states -- Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, and West Virginia -- have passed legislation removing barriers to its production or research, according to the industry group Vote Hemp.
(This article was published by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also shares the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)
today's friend is tomorrows enemy
Moffett doesn't give a sh*t about civil liberties. He, Rand, and Ron Paul are all card carrying members of the KKK who just want the Fed off their backs so they can repeal Jim Crow. Moffett even said that hemp legalization is just a test case to create precedence for preventing the Fed from interfering in "states rights" - i.e. Jim Crow. Rand Paul recently defended an employer's right to not hire Blacks. The only thing preventing these guys from wearing white hoods, burning crosses and hanging people from trees is the federal government.
So be careful who you cozy up to in your war against prohibition. The enemy of your enemy aint always your friend.
Wow, just WOW
Sad thing is, people just blog what they want, without any proof! The Pauls support the Libertarian thoughts on the rights of the individual, which, actually eliminates racist behavior. When it no longer depends on the color of your skin, how one is treated but on the legality of such, racism will be eliminated! Ron Paul is also one of the few congressmen or senators that have called for the elimination of the war on drugs. And he is still in office!
I saw the interview about the civil rights thing. It showed he had no racist intentions. But, if you want to tick off some of the supporters of DPA, just keep up the gossip. And that means is, until you can prove what you say as fact, your claims are fiction! No wonder this country continues to be so screwed up. Do we run on gossip, now?
Just spouting off they are KKK members, exhibits your true colors. Abusive people are whom we need to eliminate, to get rid of racism in our country. You appear to be one of those abusive people, along with the KKK!
Repealing Jim Crow?!??? Are you serious? If you have a business, just put a sing up in your front window..."minorities in the rear" and you will go broke long before the laws shut you down. Most US citizens see right through, this type of, racist activity. Why would we put up with it?
Without more substantiation of facts , your blogs won't really have much meaning! Any terrorist could get on here and claim the same things you stated!
And, you need to know, it is not only the "left" that opposes the drug war, private prisons, and the imprisonment of non-violent drug offenders! What have we done?!
And, you need to know, it is
Also, it isn't only the "right" who supports them as well, given Obama's brush-off of legalization at his first online Q&A (despite it being the number-one ranked question) and CA Senator Feinstein's insane quest against cannabis, shown most recently by her introduction of a bill, which is pending in the House, which would arbitrarily increase sentencing for individuals caught with cannabis-infused brownies, candy, etc.
Ron Paul in fact came out in
Ron Paul in fact came out in support of the Islamic Center's right to be located where they are trying to build in downtown New York. He's given speeches about racial disparities in the drug war. I agree he seems to have made some bad choices in the past in terms of what he allowed people working for him to write. Criticize him for that, but there's no evidence that he's a racist much less a member of the Klan.
By the way, I left that comment up because others had written good responses to it. However, baseless allegations of attack, against anyone, are a violation of our commenting guidelines.
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