The Citizen, 1994-08-31, Page 5Arthur Black
This marijuana
harvest on
the up and up
Harvest time in the farm country of
southwestern Ontario. At the edge of a field
on the outskirts of Tillsonburg, a farm town
half way between Windsor and Toronto, the
rust-red combine hums and throbs as a
farmer (let us call him Old MacDonald)
prepares to wade into a hundred acres of ripe
green plants almost as tall as he is. It's been
a good season - plenty of sun, rain at the
right times, no surprise killer frosts for a
change...
It's going to be a grand harvest for Old
MacDonald.
Mac's the third generation of his family to
work this land and he knew every square
foot of it. With an instinctive ingrained
gesture, Old Mac Plucks a bouquet of three
serrated leaves from a plant at the edge of
the field. He carries the leaves to his nose
and sniffs deeply.
Yep. Prime stuff. Just the way ripe
marijuana ought to smell.
Well, not marijuana technically. What Old
MacDonald and 11 other Tillsonburg
farmers are harvesting this summer is
Cannabis rudels. Hemp. It's the same plant
International Scene
Cars — an
international
product
It was not that many years ago that I
watched the well known American news
program, 60 Minutes and saw Chrysler
unveil its newest automobile at the Detroit
car show. Whether by design or accident, the
interviewer, Leslie Stahl, asked the Chrysler
rep where the car was made. He got an
embarrassed look on his face as if that was
the last question he wanted to answer and
finally admitted that it had not been made in
Detroit at all, nor anywhere else in the
United States for that matter. It had been
made right across the river in Windsor, Ont.
That is, to my mind, the exact moment
when the idea was laid to rest that a car was
a product of any one country. No more could
an American, or a Canadian for that matter,
go out and buy a car in the belief that it was
a product of his country. Even if it had been
assembled there, it was a good question how
many of the parts making up the car were
sourced in another country.
Thus, the Japanese car that you drive may
have been put together in cither Cambridge
or Alliston or, if you arc a Volvo owner,
your vehicle was likely assembled in a
factory on the outskirts of Halifax, N.S.
This internationalization has now been
taken another step. Early in 1993 Ford
introduced a new car in Europe which it
called the Mondeo. It turned out to be a
smash hit. Almost half a million of them
have been sold on that continent since that
time; it is, in fact, the leader in the mid-sized
market in Europe. So successful was it that it
is now being introduced on the North
American market. There is one difference,
however; it will not be called the Mondeo
here but Contour (or the Mercury Mistiquc)
and, unless Ford changes its mind after this
family - but the Tillsonburg variety is bred
for fibre, not psychic punch.
Dope dealers are unlikely to beat pathways
to the Tillsonburg pot patch. The Ontario
crop contains virtually no THC, the chief
intoxicating ingredient in most marijuana.
As one scientist observed "You'd have just
as much fun smoking a pine cone."
Which is why the Mounties aren't shutting
down Old Mac and his friends. This
particular marijuana harvest is on the up and
up. As a matter of fact it has the blessing of
the federal and provincial governments.
Authorities are anxious to see if hemp can't
be turned into a profitable Canadian corp.
About bloody time.
For the past 50 years every citizen in
North America has been prohibited - on pain
of going to jail - from growing hemp. Why?
Because of one rather loony American, that's
why.
His name was Harry J. Anslinger. He was
U.S. commissioner for narcotics for 32 years
- from 1930 - 1962. During that time
Anslinger conducted a continent-wide
vendetta against all illicit drugs, but most
especially marijuana, which he called "The
Assassin of Youth". Anslinger's obsession
with marijuana was so strong that he
badgered the American Medical Association
into banning cannibis for all medicinal use.
He had less trouble convincing the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to prohibit the
cultivation of hemp - and we Canadians,
like the good little sock puppets we are,
By Raymond Canon
is written, it will sell for under $20,000 in
Canada (plus the usual taxes of course).
That is not bad considering that it cost
Ford almost $9 billion to bring it on our
markets. Added to this cost will be another
hundred million to promote the vehicle.
There is more to the story. What Ford is
doing is a concerted effort to bring down the
cost of introducing a new car. Mondeo, and
its brother Contour, is an attempt to set the
stage for a decade of new cars and Ford is
arguing that for the $9 billion it has gotten
three new models, two new engines, two
equally new gear boxes and nine new or
rebuilt factories.
All this will result in the company being
able to turn out close to one million of the
new model each year.
All has not been milk and honey in
Fordland. The Contour is, according to the
company, about a year late in reaching the
markets. This can be blamed for the most
part on the fact that the North American and
the European sections of Ford were too
separate to work together on such a large
project with the necessary degree of
harmony and efficiency.
This fault is being corrected at the present
lime by a team of 170 executives located at
the head office in Dearborn, near Detroit
which has the job of setting up a new global
organization that will see, by the beginning
of next year, the merging of the North
American and European operations. There
will be five sections, each with the job of
carrying out specific tasks.
All this will be in the mid-range sector
since Ford frankly admits that such cars as
the Lincoln will never sell in Europe nor will
the pick-up trucks so common on our roads.
Different branches of the same section will
communicate with each other, regardless of
whether they arc in Europe or North
America, by means of video conferences and
computer nets.
Il is interesting to note that Ford did not
quickly and obediently followed Uncle's
lead.
So for the past half century there has been
no hemp legally grown in North America.
Which is kind of stunned when you think
of it, because mankind has been cultivating
the hemp plant for at least the past 5,000
years. We learned centuries ago that you can
make an excellent paper from hemp, not to
mention wood fibre products ranging from
cellophane to rope to cloth. It grows like a
weed without requiring costly and poisonous
pesticides. There are those who say serious
hemp cultivation could relieve the pressure
on our dwindling forests.
And it would free up a few thousand
Mounties, FBI agents and other representa
tives of the Genus Flatfootus. They could
give up their binoculars and hours of
surveillance crouching in corn fields in
favour of doing something useful for a
living.
Like eating donuts and selling tickets to
the Policeman's Ball.
There are lots of good reasons for
investigating hemp as a cash crop. Most
other commodity markets are flat right now.
We’ve got a whole herd of tobacco farmers
looking for a healthier product to grow.
Hemp is useful, in demand and environ
mentally friendly.
But there's one other, better reason we
should be looking into it seriously.
Harry J. Anslinger's dead. We don't have
to do what he wants anymore.
jump into this blindly. It goes without saying
that there was a careful study made of one
company which has enjoyed great success
on international markets - McDonald's. Of
special interest to Ford was the hamburger
chain's achievements in standardizing
systems wherever it is located. As a result
Ford has been able to reduce its number of
suppliers to about 270, only a third of the
usual total.
It is understandable that the entire industry
is watching closely as Ford carries out its
billion dollar project. If it is successful, there
will be a number of imitators; if not, it is
back to the drawing board and an expensive
lesson for the second largest company in the
world.
Looking Back
From the flies of The Blyth Standard, The
Brussels Post and The North Huron
Citizen
SIX YEARS AGO
AUG. 31,1988
Reconstruction of the Brussels Legion
began so the building would be ready in
"time for the Christmas party".
The contract was awarded to Bcrken
Construction Inc. for $169,000.
Two former Brussels residents had been
charged with arson in connection with the
fire which destroyed the old Legion.
The Legion Pipe Band performed at the
Clinton Pipes and Drum laloo.
Cone. 12 in Grey Twp. was paved.
Julie Coulter of Brussels discovered a
small folder containing the list of officers for
St. John's Masonic Lodge in Ainlcyvillc for
1873. The list was found in the door jamb of
her home during renovations.
Master of the lodge was Worshipful
Brother W.J.R. Holmes.
Walton WI Hall marked 50 years.
Six vic for Queen of the Furrow title. The
Huron County match was to be held al the
farm of MP Murray Cardiff.
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1994. PAGE 5.
By Bonnie Gropp
Remember —
there are a lot
of good ones, too
It's easy to forget there are plenty of good
ones out there.
Young people today don't always get the
credit they deserve. Some thing make it
hard, however. Though a recent report
shows that violent crimes in Canada have
decreased, those committed by youths have
actually risen. Kids today often seem less
disciplined and more aggressive. They are
wandering without direction and have little
respect for authority.
At least the ones we hear about do. With
so much knowledge of the world events,
through the media we are often inundated by
stories of teens gone bad. It is, unfortunately,
the notorious who get noticed.
This often results in our forgetting or
overlooking the many special young people
out there who have made significant
contributions or at the least seem to have
their own lives on an even keel.
Over the course of the next few weeks
students will be returning to school, many to
post secondary education, where despite a
future fraught with adversity and
uncertainty, they continue to build their
lives, their independence.
We have all been witness to teens who
treat their elders rudely, whose apparent lack
of respect comes out in displays of
aggression. Many of the people from the 60s
will maintain that though that generation
opposed all the establishment stood for, it
was done with polite rebelliousness. The
voice of protest was well-mannered, if
obstinate, in the presence of the older
generation.
I have heard many adults complaining
these days of the strong language and lack of
consideration displayed by youths for those
around them, both younger and older. I have
expereinced this myself at dances and while
covering sporting events, particularly
hockey. This past weekend, however, while
covering the Midget provincial
championships in Belgrave, I was impressed
by many of the young athletes in the dugout
next to me. Besides playing a clean spirited
game, they were polite and co-operative
when I made some inquiries.
They were boisterous without being
obnoxious, competitive without being
aggressive, and 'real guys', without being
jerks.
And by the way, they were the host team.
Their coaches and parents should be proud.
With the horrors committed by some a
constant reminder on television and the
papers of how volatile unbridled youth can
be, it is important to acknowledge the good
ones. Let people know about the ones, such
as the inner city kids who created a student
run, not-for-profit natural foods company to
raise money for college, who prove the bad
ones are still the exception.
The Ontario Community Newspaper
Association is presently seeking nominations
for Junior Citizen of the Year. If you know a
young person who has been heroic, made a
significant contribution or persevered in
adversity, let us know — actually, we'd be
pleased to hear about them anytime.
The young people today are tomorrow's
strength and hope. Looking at some, that
may be a terrifying prospect, so it might be a
an idea to change your focus at that point
and think about the good ones. We need to
-otq lo 2bn£znorfT .'{Joiooe ni Lm»OJ o? bobnoqzoi oriw hev
let them know we really do believe in them.
A'A — jnoiollib Yl^nirlzoilai xcw gOfricO dJlsownomtnoD odT .ybuil