OPINION
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26. 2008
5A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
But hemp and weed aren't the same thing
Should I smoke this or make it into a necklace?
It's not a question I hear often, but after reading The University Daily Kansan's story on the marijuana debate ("Debate over marijuana tries to clear the air," Sept. 16), I'm surprised I don't.
What's one reason marijuana should be legalized? Hemp is good for the environment. One reason you should eat more apples? Because orange peels make good air freshener. The first comparison may seem more reasonable than the second, but it's not.
Because producing hemp is illegal in the United States, maybe the government doesn't see the difference either.
Both marijuana and hemp come from the Cannabis sativa plant. Marijuana contains more of the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which gets you high. Commercial marijuana has an average THC-content of 4 to 6 percent, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, while hemp has a THC content of less than 1 percent.
The health risks that justify the illegalization of marijuana aren't present in hemp. According to a Congressional Research Service Report, DEA officials are concerned that commercial cultivation of hemp would increase the likelihood of covert production of marijuana and this would "send the wrong message to the American public concerning the government's position on drugs."
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Hemp can be used to produce more than 25,000 products including bio-fuel, concrete, insulation and diapers. Production of hemp requires six times less energy than polyester fiber, according to the Reason Foundation, a non-partisan public policy research group. And because hemp can grow with few pesticides, it's also a sound substitute for cotton, a water- and pesticide-intensive crop.
The marijuana debate is intriguing and complicated.
The reason the U.S. can't produce hemp — a cost-effective, environmentally friendly crop — is because the public will think it's an endorsement for weed? That must be why we import hemp products from other countries, where hemp-inspired drug use is less of an issue, and subsidize less eco-friendly crops like corn and cotton.
The hemp debate that has become intrinsically linked to it is ludicrous and unsupported.
For two different substances, a single regulatory law is not appropriate. You can't use marijuana and hemp interchangeably, so why discuss them and legislate them as though they're the same?
English is an Overland Park junior in journalism and economics.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Bicycle accident story was front-page news
Props to the letter to the editor writer for sticking up for the kid who hit the car. That is very nice of him, but he makes a terrible argument.
When serious accidents happen, they make the news. When people don't pay attention and cause serious accidents, they make the news. Did you hear about a train killing 25 people in Los Angeles recently? If not, I suggest checking the news because you will find it there. You know what happened? The engineer failed to stop a train at a red light. He wasn't paying attention, and he killed 25 people.
My guess would be had he been paying attention, like all
In response to your closing question, "If you were Andrew, would you be troubled by the article?" I would probably not be as troubled as I would be by the fact that I hit a car, broke a windshield, was bleeding, had to be taken to the hospital and am now financially responsible for fixing this individual's car. That is what would trouble me the most — not the fact that it was reported in the student daily newspaper.
operators of moving vehicles are required to do, he would not have hit that car after seeing it, not moving, for five seconds. Basically, this student should have been fine, too.
— Max Wescoe is a junior from San Diego.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Alex Deherty, Jenny Hattar, Lauren Patrick, Koehring Olivaire, Ray Seebach and Ian Stanford.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
FROM THE DRAWING BOARD
TYLER DOEHRING
What is the best way to spend 121 hours?
UNDER
OBSERVATION
ALEXNICHOLS
Your palms sweat. Your mouth dries up. Your nervous system starts to shut down. You bleed from your unmoving, unblinking eyes. You can feel your melted brain seeping into your spinal cord.
Only 20 movies left to go.
This will be you if you're one of eight competitors in next week's Netflix Movie Watching World Championship. Between Oct. 2-7, five "endurance champions" and three ordinary citizens will watch 56 movies in a row for a chance at $10,000, a Netflix lifetime subscription (which seems odd since the event will probably turn the winner off to movies forever), something called the Popcorn Bowl Trophy and a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
For those of you keeping score at home, that's 121 hours of movies, each interrupted only by a
10-minute break to do silly things like use the restroom.
My gut instinct is to make fun of the people in this competition. After all, who has the time to spend an entire work week doing nothing but watch movies? People who don't work, that's who.
It's easy to dismiss this as the ultimate waste of time, as something that is less than true sport, because comatose people could legitimately compete. If sloth is truly a deadly sin, a meteor should strike the Plexiglas Netflix Movie Watching Arena in Times Square a dav into competition.
But how easy can it possibly be to do anything for that long?
Even that depends on the mold count.
Here is the complete, unabridged list of things I can do for 121 consecutive hours: breathe.
As reluctant as I may be to call current movie-watching world record holder Ashish Sharma an "athlete," that sort of dedication to anything is commendable. Anyone who has sat through "Shriek the Third" knows it can be hard to keep your eyes open and on the screen for even 90 minutes. Imagine that
That kind of intense scrutiny over five days will make even the most passive, mundane and sedentary activity seem like running the Boston Marathon ... in a blizzard ... while on fire. (No, the snow wouldn't put out the fire, because the snow would be on fire, too. Nice try, though.)
56 times over, with the added pressure of having medical professionals there who will monitor the contestants to see if they are actually watching the movie or just staring at the screen, according to a Nettflix press release.
If that doesn't convince you that movie-watching is a legitimately tough task, maybe it ought to be combined with another oft-derided pseudo-sport whose supporters point to endurance as a key factor: NASCAR. Try going around a track at 200 miles per hour while keeping all your attention on the complete works of Tyler Perry.
Maybe then you'd appreciate what these unsung heroes will go through in the pursuit of glory.
Nichols is an Overland Park sophomore in creative writing.
The City Commission is working to build a Natural Burial Cemetery, which would allow only non-synthetic materials on the premises such as native grasses, flowers and biodegradable bodies.
The Board of Regents approved an $8,000 salary increase for Chancellor Robert Hemenway. Incidentally, fines for bikers who blow past stop signs are up 3,000 percent.
K-State is trying to revive Aggieville, the Mass Street equivalent in Manhattan. The school's initiative includes developing properties and installing a watering hole for livestock.
Many KU fans were taken aback by the disrespectful treatment they received from South Florida fans at the recent football game in Tampa. One especially outraged fan said he might Just sell his season tickets, as he sloshed his beer on the person in front of him in the stands
The Lawrence Barack Obama campaign headquarters has reopened to revive Democratic spirit during the election season. The campaign has been working overtime to convert the recorded three Republicans in Douglas County.
Last Saturday was KU Band Day. The event drew thousands of spectators who staked out spots downtown early in the day, eagerly hoping to hear off-key tunes and see their awkward high school memories parade past for an hour.
A new $500,000 traffic signal system is being developed for the intersection of Sixth and Iowa streets. The plan includes fiber optic cords, cameras and a traffic control center to reduce traffic congestion. Good thing no one wants to finance the T.
Robert Meissner, a former dentist who is running for the Kansas State Board of Education, won the primary against Alan Detrich. Some liberal voters are concerned because Meissner, a conservative Republican, supports creationism and off-gum drilling.
Sources: Lawrence Journal-World and The University Daily Kansas
To contribute to Free for All, visit Kansan.com or call 785-864-0500.
I began a conversation by asking my friend if she had Firefox, to which she replied, "Nah, I'm not really in Pokemon anymore."
I love to crush up Oreos and mix them in with cream cheese. This is going to be the death of me.
--out of the military.
Iraq Vets Against the War: I take offense to your table because my dad served in Iraq for a year and he's damn proud of his country, you should be too. Otherwise get
The article in Jayplay about dirty sheets freaked me out. I can already tell I'm going to begin obsessively laudering my sheets
I'm probably going to get surgery to remove a small strip of my gums to reveal more of my teeth. They're abnormally tiny.
The cookies at Thursday Tea @ Three are amazing. I don't really even care about the tea
Damn, my feet stank.
Overselling parking passes is messed up. If I wanted to park five blocks away, I wouldn't have bought a damn pass.
I poke holes in my condoms before I have sex. Does that make me evil?
--back.
My roommate keeps insisting that something is wrong with her, but really, she doesn't want to go to class.
My fortune cookie today:
"We can learn from everyone,
especially our enemies."
--back.
To my calculus GTA that I ran into in the Underground: I didn't skip. The only doctor's appointment they would give me was during your class.
Was anybody really surprised that Clay Aiken is gay? I mean, Americans aren't stupid.
Sorry.
In my sex class today, the boys said their ideal date was just fucking girls and that girls were way too materialistic.
Question: Would you rather pay for a baby or dinner?
My dish was so hot. I had to stand and wait for it to cool off before I could carry it to my table. This is annoying.
I'm going to start wasting lots of food and "accidentally" dropping everything in the dining hall until I get my tray
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