Is marijuana the cannibis plant itself illegal? Or just the THC component?

Plant.

For that reason we import all of our hemp products.

The plant itself is illegal. The chemical is a controlled substance and under specific circumstances is illegal to possess but there are legal situations when you can possess THC, as stated in the article.

In the US the plant is illegal. The federal gov’t is very clear about this.

The article sounds interesting. I didn’t know that horizontal gene transfer really can be that easy when it comes to a plant, Sounds weird to me. But it sounds interesting with their claim to a spray. I wonder what method they use to deliver and insert the active gene into the dna.

Shhhh… All of you! Don’t tell anyone about that article!

I think Heinz might want to consider adding a 58th variety.

Back in ancient times, we were the originators of such foolishness as this by carving plug holes in watermelons and filling them with vodka. We let it soak then ate the watermelon. This was so long ago, the color television wan’t even invented yet. Our business venture selling vodkamelons failed because we used cheap Schmirnoffs Vodka. We would be millionaires today if we used Grey Goose.

OK, this is silly stuff. Right? Only one article on the net. Telling the story. And, lots of blog chatter. Cant find a reputable media source. So I have to call the story a sham.
Though, I so do want to believe. Got to go, little green men at my door.

@ChazMaz Good call. There is no “Montsaint Genie Tech Inc” in Oakdale, CA. In fact, there’s no organization with the name “Montsaint” in the entire state of California.

The closest we get is a Genie garage door opener distributor. Best line: “Click here for a dealer near you!”

Oh I so want to get my hands on some of this research….
I’ll wait for a bit till the blogosphere calms down and some actual third parties back this up… but neat :D

Yeah… none of their “sources” are checking out at all. The only results are to these very posts today. I believe I shall call shenanigans until I’m able to sink my teeth into the product :)

the plant in its original state is illegal. law enforcement will get a tip on its whereabouts and subsequently burn it wherever it is growing.

I did a little searching with google scholar and found a paper detailing a method that increased the efficacy of direct gene transference in plants by 1000x to yield a 2% success rate. The process involved temperature shock, voltage, chemical baths. So the odds that a spray will work are likely on the order of 1 part in 50,000.
Sorry @AstroChuck we won’t be seeing that 58th variety on the shelf for a while.
Darn!

A little off topic, but here goes. I am reminded of an episode in my undergraduate years. I went to visit a relative, and while waiting for someone to open the gate, admired a tall feathery plant nearly twice my height. When the relative appeared, I congratulated him on the plant and his reply was, “Oh God, I told the gardener to cut down that marijuana plant!” That was my first sight of the ganja weed. Throughout the West Indies, possession of any part of the plant, including the seeds, is illegal.

I still do it anyways…. :)))

@bea2345 When I was a plant inspector in Florida there was one property that had a glorious hedge. It was, of course, Cannabis sativa. When I found an insect infestation on it, I recorded it as being False Dizygotheca (False False Aralia) because the two look rather similar, and the innocent homeowner had purchased the house with the hedge already at full height.

@Darwin – that sounds very West Indian.

@bea2345 – The former owners were Jamaican (no surprise, really).

http://thecrit.com/2008/10/05/florida-biochemist-designs-a-citrus-tree-with-thc/