Drug policy, food security & nutrition

The relationship between drug policy and food security/nutrition is incalculable. I recently posted the following information to the UN forum on Food Security and Nutrition in an attempt to bridge the two discussions:

To some degree, rising food prices are the result of imposed protein scarcity, attributable in large part to the so-called "drug war." 'Marijuana' prohibition has effected food security and nutrition by restricting industrial hemp cultivation, limiting availability of the world's most nutritionally complete food resource, and editing awareness of the benefits of hemp agriculture. Emphasis on GM soy for protein production creates dependence on increasingly expensive agronomic inputs, characteristic of chemical-intensive farming.

The following report gives insight into the economic benefits of bio-intensive farming.

"Bio-intensive Farming System: Economic Transformation Achieved by the Farmers."
Journal of Himalayan College of Agricultural Sciences & Technology
Green Field, 2007, volume 5, issue 1
Page 96

http://www.hicast.edu.np/publications/Janauray-June_2007_vol_5_issue_1.PDF

Now that the Executive Director of UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, has stated that the present drug policy is not "fit for purpose" I suggest there may be an opportunity to re-evaluate the impact of drug policy on food security and nutrition. Considering the unique and essential food value of hemp seed, the possible benefits of reintroducing hemp into the agricultural rotation cannot be understated. A return to bio-intensive farming would be much more feasible if hemp agriculture was not stigmatized by association with drug crops.


"Making drug control 'fit for purpose': Building on the UNGASS decade"* can be seen in full here:
http://www.tdpf.org.uk/drug%20control%20%27fit%20for%20purpose%27.pdf