Jamie LaBranche, one of two agriculture commissioner candidates trying to unseat incumbent Commissioner Mike Strain, has big plans for the future of Louisiana’s farm industry.
The LaPlace Democrat tells Jeremy Alford in this week’s 1012 Corridor that Louisiana is ripe for billions of dollars in new private investment from pharmaceutical companies through what he calls a “medical agriculture” program — the nation’s first poppy farm:
The plan involves a partnership with the private sector to cultivate a wide variety of medical plants, like poppy, his cornerstone crop in the plan. The opium poppy, or Papaver Somniferum, is big business around the world and is regulated by international agencies. It’s a popular source for drugs like codeine, heroin and morphine.
The candidate's campaign platform also outlines a perfect place for farmers to begin the innovative Farm to Pharm venture — 7,000 acres at Angola State Penitentiary:
LaBranche said it’s still ripe for investment. “Unfortunately there is not a single industry that produces this plant for market of its medical uses in the United States,” LaBranche said. “The United States relies solely on foreign traders for its medical supply derived from the poppy. It is astounding to know that the two Nations that supplies the U.S. with this product that is so critical to our well being are China and Afghanistan -- two countries that are hell bent on destroying us as a nation.”
“Under my plan, Louisiana will be to the pharmaceutical industry as to what Silicon Valley is to the technological industry.”
Read more here.
Jamie LaBranche photo courtesy of his campaign website.
MAY 20 This post by blogger CB Forgotston draws parallels between Gov. Bobby Jindal and two individuals he probably doesn't want to be aligned with: President Obama and former governor Edwin Edwards. CB says Jindal's trying to jack up the debt ceiling (an Obama play, according to CB) and buy votes from GOP leges who normally wouldn't go for that (an Edwards play, CB says).
MAY 20 Here's a post in the Baptist Message from an alumnus of Louisiana College. The author, Larry Burgess, calls on the leadership of the private school to take care of some pressing problems. Physical plant issues are critical and unaddressed, some faculty make so little they need government health care, and there is an atmosphere that does not encourage honest discussion, he writes. It's time to get things back in order, he says.
MAY 20 This post in Gambit tells of a benefit concert scheduled to raise money for the 19 people shot during a Mother's Day second line on Frenchmen Street in NOLA. Among them was Gambit blogger Deb Cotton, who spoke frequently about violence in the city and reported on the city's second line culture. Gambit's foundation, along with other NOLA non-profits, also is selling t-shirts to raise money for the victims.
MAY 20 Blogger Robert Mann is critical of the personal interest some legislators take in their work here, sharing the comments one NOLA solon made in explaining his decision to vote against a bill that would require people to stop discriminating against female workers. His wife might lose some salary, so he was going to have to vote against the equal pay bill, Conrad Appel said. Appel and everyone who heard him should have been ashamed, but they weren't, and that's what is wrong in that building, Mann argues.
MAY 20 American Press columnist Jim Beam writes about the budget again here, urging kudos for the House and its efforts to try to fix the budget as opposed to passing on a flawed and messy rubber-stamped document as it usually does. The Senate already is poo-pooing the effort, but instead Senators should be trying to find a way to improve it as well, Beam argues. He also has some predictions in here from LABI and CABL.
MAY 20 Here's a link to the photo gallery from Tulane's graduation this past weekend. Dr. John and Allen Toussaint played together and received honorary degrees. The Dalai Lama was so entranced by their performance he got up from his seat and walked across the stage to stand next to them. He even participated in a second line with his own personal, saffron-colored umbrella. To the graduates, he urged them to think about creating a peaceful, hopeful life and society.
MAY 20 This Picayune story questions the rhetoric of NOLA officials who say the city, aside from having a "murder problem," is safe. The talking points generally are that the criminals are killing each other, but everything else is OK. The police chief there says that even Lafayette is more dangerous than NOLA. But crime experts interviewed here say that NOLA's numbers indicate one of two things: either people are so used to violence they don't report it, or somebody's "fudging the numbers."
MAY 20 The Advocate's Mark Ballard writes about some of the background maneuvering that took place during the development of budget alternatives in the Legislature. From Rep. Joel Robideaux being called a "tax and spend liberal" to robo-call influence, Ballard lets us in on some of the work that happens behind the scenes but usually doesn't make it into the Advocate's daily coverage of the session.
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