HEMP AGRICULTURE CASE SHOULD TRAVEL TO CONGRESS

The effort by Pine Ridge Oglalas to establish the right of Indian farmers to
grow crops of industrial hemp continues to move along. The good news is that
the community of people who are managing reservation hemp fields have opted
not to confront the Drug Enforcement Agency. In long and sometimes heated
discussions, the hemp-cropping families, their various lawyers and other
advisors came to the conclusion that martyrdom at the hands of federal
agencies was not a good route to go. We are glad that reasonable voices won
over the advice of some of the lawyers who were encouraging confrontation.

The issue at Pine Ridge is economic development based on a productive
agriculture. But the DEA has threatened to unrelentingly pursue its mandate
to eradicate and, if necessary, prosecute any hemp growers who challenge the
federal law. Arrest and seizure of hemp crops, followed by prosecution and
imprisonment of family heads, can result only in untold hardship for
children and other dependent family members.

Making the case for hemp in the context of a criminal prosecution of Indian
families might make good headlines for media-savvy lawyers but it will not
win the hemp case for the Oglala. Rather than widen the base of support for
the Oglala's hemp case, confrontation tactics and federal prosecution of
growers under current drug laws will push away the support of many people
who will not want to be identified in a similar manner.

The case for hemp agriculture is strong, however. Joe American Horse, a
former tribal president and traditional chief, points out that: "Industrial
hemp can be used to make paper, clothes, medicines, foods and building
materials. It has applications as a nut butter, shampoos and cosmetics. The
hemp stalk's anti-bacterial qualities makes it useful for horse bedding."

The plant, easily separated from its cousin, marijuana, by careful testing
for low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels, grows well on reservation lands.

Its product, if allowed to come to fruition, would yield immediate sales to
willing buyers from various industries.

Invoking tribal sovereignty, Oglala Lakota President John Yellow Bird Steele
has endorsed the hemp planting and recently wrote to the U.S. Attorney for
South Dakota that the tribal government stands behind its hemp-cultivating
members in this issue. Steele requested that federal agents "have no further
contact" with tribal members cultivating industrial hemp.

Steele cited the 1998 Tribal Ordinance 98-27, which distinguished hemp from
marijuana and establishes procedures for reservation farmers desiring to
cultivate industrial hemp. Steele reminded the federal agency that Lakota
farmers were encouraged by the U.S. government to plant hemp during World
War II.

Under an immunity agreement, but with full intent to pursue their case, the
Oglala farmers allowed federal agents to destroy their hemp crops July 30.
Their attorneys are presently working on a civil suit against the federal
government. One argument is that since industrial hemp is not a
mind-altering product, it should not fall under the Controlled Substances
Act.

We encourage the Oglala farmers and their supporters to make their case
loudly and forcefully in the court of public opinion. Theirs is a case that
might travel to Congress and has every possibility of gaining attention and
support. While many public servants are reluctant to enter the debate over
America's highly questionable approach to drug enforcement, the Oglala
farmers' case is particularly commendable. However, it needs a champion in
Congress; it needs a full hearing before the Indian Affairs Committee.

The Oglala tiospayes should never allow themselves to be painted as
criminals. They are decent people attempting to support their families, now
targeted as so many times in the past, by overreaching federal mandates.
They should be supported in their effort to conduct a thorough public
national campaign.