LEGISLATORS TO CONSIDER LEGALIZING THE CULTIVATION OF HEMP

State legislators are expected to consider a measure this week that
would allow hemp to be grown in California, rekindling the debate
over whether such a move would increase cultivation of illegal
marijuana and conflict with federal laws regulating the drug.

A committee of the state Senate is scheduled today to review
legislation to permit California farmers to grow industrial hemp. The
bill - AB684 - would establish a five-year pilot program in several
California counties and define "industrial hemp" as separate from
"marijuana" under the state's Health and Safety Code.

Last year, a similar bill reached the desk of Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, but he vetoed it, saying he was "very concerned that
this bill would give legitimate growers a false sense of security and
a belief that production of 'industrial hemp' is somehow a legal
activity under federal law."

The new bill was co-authored by Assemblymen Mark Leno, D-San
Francisco, and Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine (Orange County), the same
lawmakers who pushed last year's hemp legislation.

"It's such an incredible crop," said Leno, referring to the
versatility of hemp.

Hemp seed oil is used in soaps, lotions, shampoos and deodorant, as
well as in such foods as hemp milk, snack bars, shakes and candy. The
oil also can be converted into fully biodegradable plastics. Hemp
fibers are used to make clothing and paper.

Similar to the marijuana consumed for recreational or medicinal use,
hemp is a form of the plant Cannabis sativa L. But unlike marijuana,
hemp has less than 1 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol - or THC, the
plant's primary psychoactive ingredient - making it ineffective for
use as a drug.

"You would die of smoke inhalation before you're going to get high on
this stuff," said John LaBoyteaux, a certified organic farmer from
Humboldt County who testified before the Legislature in support of an
industrial hemp proposal last year.

The current bill would require that industrial hemp contain no more
than three-tenths of 1 percent of THC. For the state, farmers would
have to: attain a growers' permit; report the progress of the crop's
growth; test and keep copies of the test report proving the crops'
THC content; and use a GPS tracking system to monitor their crop's
movement through the state.

Restrictions on growing hemp in the United States are partly a result
of federal laws that classify all cannabis plants as illegal because
of a "high potential for abuse."

"Cultivation of industrial hemp is unambiguously illegal under
federal law," said John Lovell, a lobbyist for the California
Narcotic Officers' Association who has repeatedly testified against hemp bills.

Hemp farming is legal in more than 30 countries in Asia, Europe and
North America. Great Britain lifted its ban in 1993, followed by
Germany in 1996 and Canada in 1998. China is one of the largest
exporters of hemp fiber, while Canada accounts for the majority of
hemp seed and seed oil exports. According to a Congressional report,
the United States is the only industrialized nation where hemp is not
an established crop.

According to Vote Hemp, a hemp advocacy group, 28 U.S. states have
introduced hemp research or farming legislation since 1995, and 15
have passed such measures. In addition to California, hemp bills are
pending in Hawaii, Minnesota, Oregon, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

Charles Meyers, a third-generation farmer in Kings County near
Bakersfield, said he has grown cotton on his family's land for nearly
40 years but would like to grow hemp as he prepares to pass the
business on to his two sons.

"I don't know what the big deal is," he said of opposition to the
California legislation.

Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the current version of the
hemp law, which would limit cultivation to four of the state's 58
counties - Kings, Imperial, Mendocino and Yolo.

Groups representing law enforcement officers oppose the measure,
concerned that marijuana growers would be able to hide their illegal
crop inside legal hemp fields. Lovell said law enforcement techniques
such as aerial surveillance would be unable to distinguish the crops.

Jeff Jones, director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative and
a hemp retailer, said, "None of these hemp farmers are going to risk
their permits to do something that's illegal."