Subj: Ireland: Gone To Pot? Cannabis Unlikely As Irish Fuel



Pubdate: Thu, 22 Apr 1999



Source: Reuters





ubject: GONE TO POT? CANNABIS UNLIKELY AS IRISH FUEL



LONDON (Reuters) - Irish homes and businesses are unlikely to be

powered by cannabis despite four years of encouraging research that

shows the plant has real potential as a fuel crop, scientists said

Thursday.



Cannabis sativa, or hemp, does not work economically as a biomass crop

at the moment in Ireland said Bernard Rice of the government's Teagasc

agricultural research agency.



"As things stand, hemp is not a viable fuel. It tends to be wind power

projects that pick up the tenders for renewable energy schemes. Hemp

would have to be considerably cheaper to produce and burn in order to

compete," he told Reuters.



Fears that burning the hemp might produce a narcotic effect are

unfounded, say experts. Hemp is the variety of cannabis sativa that

contains hardly any of the drug delta-9 tetrahydrocannabiol (THC).



"You would have to smoke a joint the size of a telegraph pole to

experience any effects" said John Lowe, of hemp processing company

Hemcore.