United States: 2009 Seattle Hempfest Hemposium Stage - Hemp For Victory Speakers Panel

Farmers in the United States Want Hemp Now

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Staff

This past August, the Seattle Hempfest Hemposium Stage hosted a panel of experts who held an intellectual conversation with the audience discussing the various uses of the hemp plant. This talented panel featured the speakers Steve Levine (HIA/Vote Hemp), Anndrea Hermann (CHTA), Adam Eidinger (Vote Hemp), George Rohrbacher (former Washington Senator/Farmer), Sue Kastensen (Dr. Bronner's) and Denny Finneran (Crucial Creations).

The panel covered a wide variety of topics such as: oil seed processing, food industry growth, North Dakota's momentum on industrial hemp, current economic projections and many other ideas concerning hemp reform. They detail the American farmers desire to compete in the hemp marketplace, and the frustrations a farmer faces knowing the U.S. Federal Government is essentially outsourcing American jobs to the countries where hemp is a legal industrial resource. The hemp plant could flourish in many regions across the United States, thus saving thousands of family farms and American jobs, and keeping the production and use of hemp a local cycle. A plethora of hemp products are currently used across the country, and hemp parts are being used on several vehicles in Europe. These ideas are slowly being incorporated into the American automobile industry.

The frustration of the farmers in the United States is evident in the passion shown by George Rohrbacher. The excitement of Andrea Hermann when discussing the way she is already a part of the hemp industry in Canada. She explains that the infrastructure for the United States to successfully cultivate hemp is already in place, and they all together show that the time is now. Regardless of the way they feel on a Federal level, the United States is moving toward the freedom of the hemp plant.

In part three of this video, they open up the panel for questions from the audience. It culminates in an educational piece that proves to this viewer that the time is now. Hemp can no longer be illegal to be grown in the United States. These farmers are being discriminated against for reasons that are illogical, uneducated, and narrow minded.

It is time to free the hemp plant. We must take action to allow our farmers to grow and process, helping rebuild our economy. All they want is a chance to give it a shot.

Footage: 2009 Seattle Hempfest Hemposium Stage
August 16, 2009


Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY7iFSb2xIk