December 2018 Issue
Newsletter
Dear IHBA Members, I wish you all happy holidays whatever you are celebrating at this time of year thought we should probably remember that any festivities at the shortest day were usually delayed as is Christmas until we were sure that the sun was returning before we scoffed all the food. Any way to keep this newsletter short there are a couple of news items to make you aware of. the first has to be concerning the International Cannabis Policy Conference which I attended on your behalf. The IHBA had a display stand in order to educate the delegates and other exhibitors something we have not done for several years and I think it was well worth it though I had a slight different approach to most of the other exhibitors in that I decided against the usual aluminium frames and plastic display backgrounds as I thought we should make a statement about sustainability seeing as this was the focus of the event linking Cannabis to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. To this end result I made my own collapsible display stand from hardboard tape and bamboo poles which folded down from an area of 1.8 m x 1.5 m to fit into my suitcase so as to also reduce costs of shipping another important element of sustainability I think. Anyway I had been asked to make 2 presentations one in the panel discussion entitled From Eradication to Propagation where i outlined the IHBA’s response to the 17 U.N.SDG’s rather than focusing on a selected few as I couldn’t see how any of them could either be left out or did not have a solution offered by the use of Hemp. The second presentation was at a workshop together with Sergie Kovalenkov of HEMPIRE UKRAINE and Hana Gabrialova of Hempoint from the Czech Republic. One of my surprises was the lack of knowledge about just how far the use of Hemp for Buildings has come and this was reflected very pleasingly when after the dinner on the Sunday evening the IHBA was awarded the Cannabusiness Award for Sustainable Services! one of 3 awards given by the organisers from FAAAT (Foundation for Alternative Approaches to Addiction Think & Do Tank ) selected during the conference by a public vote. I was extremely honoured to receive this accolade and to be recognised for the work we do. The other awards went to Sergie Kovealenkov for Sustainable business model, management or company practices and the Sustainable Product went to the suppliers of the wonderful Hemp Beer from Czech republic which I am ashamed to say I can’t remember the name of but it wasn’t surprising that they won as they tirelessly pulled glasses of the brew all day long throughout the event. It had to be said that despite the beer Hemp Building did extremely well seeing as we were up against some stiff competition especially from the likes of Hanf Farm from Germany and the great system and machinery they have developed for growing and harvesting Hemp very sustainably. The conference was fascinating for many reasons mainly for me as the topics under discussion have been largely sidelined in the Industrial Hemp debate and many aspects of how the prohibition of this amazing plant were illustrated from all angles. The views of Women’s Issues or indeed Prisoners are not normally covered by the E.I.H.A. For me one of the highlights was meeting up with some young guys from Ireland who I had previously met as part of the SSDP (Students for Sensible Drug Policy) in University College Cork, however this time they were not introducing Howard Marks but there concept of how Block Chain Technology could be used to circumvent the control the new big Pharma are trying to exert over the medical cannabis industry. Their plan is not something I can immediately explain but was bascially a way of making comparisons between all such medicines for the patient to make their own choices.I am gong to be meeting up with them in the New Year and hope to be able to explain the who scheme to you all then. Another issue that raised it’s head was the desire to end the differentiation between Cannabis and Hemp which from a legal or purely Botanical point of view I can understand but from an Agricultural angle I disagree as they have been bred to do entirely different tasks. It seemed to be an emotionally charged issue for some. The proceeding day of attending the actual U.N. hearing regarding the Commission for Narcotic Drugs is reported here |
Director Steve Allin receiving the International Cannabusiness Award for Sustainable Service in Vienna December 9, 2018 |
There were many other aspects of the conference I am only now digesting and the IHBA will be making a full submission to FAAAT and hopefully to the U.N. regarding the Sustainable Development Goals as I think we have some very positive and important connections and information to contribute. We will be posting videos of our participation at the event when the editing is finished and hopefully one of them will be visible here https://youtu.be/IDlwFMs57eU |
Tropical Hemp Living Flamingo Guanacaste Costa Rica |
Hemp Bathroom Costa Rica style |
As can be seen from the pictures above some people are building with Hemp in tropics far away from the cold wet aad snow of Christmas here are some pictures from the project completed by Zegreenlabs IHBA members in Costa Rica |
The New Year holds much promise as many Hemp Building workshops are planned and we have the Asian Hemp Summit to atart the Hemp Year of 2019 with a Bang. Stay tuned for more news next year Best Wishes |