I wanted to put forth the information that [SIZE=-1]Robert Connell Clarke put in his excellent book
Marijuana Botany[/SIZE]
World politics also threaten Cannabis. Rural Cannabis farming cultures of the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Cen tral America and Mrica face political unrest and open aggression. Cannabis seeds cannot be stored forever. If they are not planted and reproduced each year a strain could be lost. Whales, big cats, and redwoods are all protected in preserves established by national and international laws. Plans must also be implemented to protect Cannabis cultures and rare strains from certain extinction.
Agribusiness is excited at the prospect of supplying Americas 20 million Cannabis users with domestically grown commercial marijuana. As a result, development of uniform patented hybrid strains by multinational agricultural firms is inevitable. The morality of plant patent laws has been challenged for years. For humans to recombine and then patent the genetic material of another living organism, especially at the expense of the original organism, certainly offends the moral sense of many concerned citizens. Does the slight recombination of a plants genetic material by a breeder give him the right to own that organism and its offspring? Despite public resistance voiced by conservation groups, the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970 was passed and currently allows the patenting of 224 vegetable crops. New amendments could grant patent holders exclusive rights for 18 years to distribute, import, export and use for breeding purposes their newly developed strains. Similar conventions worldwide could further threaten genetic resources. Should patented varieties of Cannabis become reality it might be illegal to grow any strain other than a patented variety, especially for food or medicinal uses. Limitations could also be imposed such that only low THC strains would be patentable. This could lead to restrictions on small scale growing of Cannabis; commercial growers could not take the chance of stray pollinations from private plots harming a valuable seed crop. Proponents of plant patenting claim that patents will encourage the development of new varieties. In fact, patent laws encourage the spread of uniform strains devoid of the genetic diversity which allows improvements. Patent laws have also fostered intense competition between breeders and the suppression of research results which if made public could speed crop improvement. A handful of large corporations hold the vast majority of plant patents. These conditions will make it impossible for cultivators of native strains to compete with agribusiness and could lead to the further extinction of native strains now surviving on small farms in North America and Europe. Plant improvement in itself presents no threat to genetic reserves. However, the support and spread of improved strains by large corporations could prove disastrous.
Like most major crops, Cannabis originated outside North America in still primitive areas of the world. Thousands of years ago humans began to gather seeds from wild Cannabis and grow them in fields alongside the first cultivated food crops. Seeds from the best plants were saved for planting the following season. Cannabis was spread by nomadic tribes and by trade between cultures until it now appears in both cultivated and escaped forms in many nations. The pressures of human and natural selection have resulted in many distinct strains adapted to unique niches within the ecosystem. Thus, individual Cannabis strains possess unique gene pools containing great potential diversity. In this diversity lies the strength of genetic inheritance. From diverse gene pools breeders extract the desirable traits incorporated into new varieties. Nature also calls on the gene pool to ensure that a strain will survive. As climate changes and stronger pests and diseases appear, Cannabis evolves new adaptations and defenses.
Modern agriculture is already striving to change this natural system. When Cannabis is legalized, the breeding and marketing of improved varieties for commercial agriculture is certain. Most of the areas suitable for commercial Cannabis cultivation already harbor their own native strains. Improved strains with an adaptive edge will follow in the wake of commercial agriculture and replace rare native strains in foreign fields. Native strains will hybridize with introduced strains through windborne pollen dispersal and some genes will be squeezed from the gene pool.
Herein lies extreme danger! Since each strain of Cannabis is genetically unique and contains at least a few genes not found in other strains, if a strain becomes extinct the unique genes are lost forever. Should genetic weaknesses arise from excessive inbreeding of commercial strains, new varieties might not be resistant to a previously unrecognized environmental threat. A disease could spread rapidly and wipe out entire fields simultaneously. Widespread crop failure would result in great financial loss to the farmer and possible extinction of entire strains.
if the plan is good and there is plenty of support. it would help the economy. increased taxes, no more war on weed= 100 million in wasted funds. less people in jail= millions more. its worth $50 to a lot of non smokers as well.
