the solution to economic woes:

padington

the_flying_pig wrote: »

mm, not so sure.

it's essentially a tropical plant, much cheaper & easier to grow it elsewhere.

it's only really the illegality of it and consequent upwards pressure on prices that makes UK growing economic.

Our empire was built on hemp. Henry the 8th loved the stuff. It grows in the uk like a ... Weed.

the_flying_pig

padington wrote: »

Our empire was built on hemp. Henry the 8th loved the stuff. It grows in the uk like a ... Weed.

UK does still grow plenty of industrial hemp. as a foolish teenager a few friends & i once pinched a fair bit from a farmer's field with a view to seeing if it had any, er, potency [it didn't - i doubt that industrial strains of hemp would ever have any THC content at all & the stuff that we picked was nowhere near ready to flower, not that i knew the significance of this at the time].

but the very little that i know about growing the real stuff outdoors in the uk tells me that it's a tricky business, with growing only really possible in a very narrow 'season', & the grower forever worrying about frost, sunlight, & so on. different kettle of fish somewhere subtropical.

padington

the_flying_pig wrote: »

UK does still grow plenty of industrial hemp. as a foolish teenager a few friends & i once pinched a fair bit from a farmer's field with a view to seeing if it had any, er, potency [it didn't - i doubt that industrial strains of hemp would ever have any THC content at all & the stuff that we picked was nowhere near ready to flower, not that i knew the significance of this at the time].

but the very little that i know about growing the real stuff outdoors in the uk tells me that it's a tricky business, with growing only really possible in a very narrow 'season', & the grower forever worrying about frost, sunlight, & so on. different kettle of fish somewhere subtropical.

There is no difference to growing psychoactive lady jane to 'industrial hemp'. The UK is well positioned to have a thriving industry in it, as it already does in none psychoactive variants that it currently grows.

Generali

the_flying_pig wrote: »

for reasons that make no sense my strong reaction to that was one of envy.

You can make it yourself. My mate rented a house that had opium poppies growing in the back yard and he made some.

You do need to be careful with it though as it's quite strong.

padington

Generali wrote: »

You can make it yourself. My mate rented a house that had opium poppies growing in the back yard and he made some.

You do need to be careful with it though as it's quite strong.

I had a friend with shingles, he said poppy tea was the only thing that gave him any reprieve. I had medical grade stuff when I had my wisdom teeth out, it made me very grumpy the next day but bloody hell, what an experience. That's what you want when your swan song plays. Just knowing that medical science has that stuff available in an emergency is quite a relieving thought.

Wouldn't touch it recreationally though, almost as addictive as nicotine.