In case you missed it | Old Glory, in hemp

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Old Glory, in hemp

If there weren’t already enough reasons to support U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, this is a slam-dunk justification to vote for him in any future political endeavor he pursues.

Polis was granted a request for an American flag made of hemp to fly over our nation’s Capitol on Independence Day.

Please recall that, aside from your views on marijuana — which is a distinctly different substance than hemp — many of our Founding Fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, grew hemp. And in fact, the first American flag was made of the material.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Polis, along with Thomas Massie — wait for it, a Republican from Kentucky — and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) helped pass an amendment to the FARM Bill that allows colleges and universities to grow and cultivate industrial hemp for research purposes in states where industrial hemp cultivation is already legal.

Polis held up an American flag made of hemp last week on the floor of the House of Representatives as he argued for the amendment, which passed 225-200.

“Hemp is not marijuana, and at the very least, we should allow our universities — the greatest in the world — to research the potential benefits and downsides of this important agricultural commodity,” Polis said in a prepared statement. “Many states, including Colorado, have demonstrated that they are fully capable of regulating industrial hemp.”

The flag that was flown over the Capitol building was made in Colorado from “a bolt of hemp fabric found locally.” The Rocky Mountain Hemp Association had it made and silk-screened in Colorado, according to a press release.

We like that part where it says “a bolt of hemp fabric found locally.” Can’t divulge who grew it, since growing it is still, like, illegal. And “bolt” is a super-cool term for a chunk of cloth.

You go, Jared. Hemp him out, people.

Boulder breweries overlooked

What are we, chopped liver? On July 8, CNN’s travel section, in one of those strange did-they-get-paid-for-this? listicles, named 10 “luxury beer vacations,” and Boulder didn’t make the list.

So no, maybe there isn’t a whole lot luxurious about the day-packs-on, dogs-allowed crowd on a Boulder brewery’s patio.

And granted, the focus was upscale beer-themed vacations like resorts with breweries and brewery farms with lodging, but still. Even though the Boulderado doesn’t have a brewery in its basement yet — nudge, nudge, Catacombs — Boulder County still has more than 25 microbreweries, and plenty of high-end places to stay nearby.

Maybe we need to jump on this bandwagon and convince Twisted Pine to allow camping in its parking lot or get Oskar Blues to change the name of its Longmont restaurant to “Liquids, Solids and Bunks.” We also like the motto “Room With A Brew,” which we have shamelessly horked from Cameron’s in Half Moon Bay, Calif., where you can literally stumble upstairs to your room after imbibing at the bar.

At least Denver placed fifth in the related article linked to the beercation story: “8 best beer towns in the USA.”

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com