STATE TO BEGIN TAKING APPLICATIONS FOR HEMP FARMERS

BISMARCK, N.D.-- North Dakota farmers may start applying for state
licenses to grow industrial hemp next year but no seed may be sown
until federal drug agents approve, Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson says.

"We'll see where it goes," said Johnson, who has been pushing
industrial hemp as a crop in North Dakota for more than a decade.
"Hopefully, North Dakota will be the first state where producers can
grow hemp for legitimate uses."

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency remains a major hurdle for
would-be growers of marijuana's biological cousin.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said last month that the rules
crafted by North Dakota's Agriculture Department comply with state
law. A state legislative committee approved the rules on Monday, with
no changes, Johnson said.

"Nobody has ever put something like this in front of the DEA," he
said. "We want to make industrial hemp happen.

"We have put these rules together in such an airtight fashion that we
know we are not going to have illicit drugs being grown in North
Dakota," Johnson said."

Hemp contains trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a banned
substance, and it falls under federal anti-drug rules, said Steve
Robertson, a DEA special agent in Washington.

"There is no differentiation between hemp and marijuana," Robertson
said. "The regulations for hemp are the same as they are for marijuana."

The rules, which take effect on Jan. 1, require a criminal background
check on farmers who want to grow hemp. The sale of hemp and the
location of the hemp fields must be documented.

The application fee for the state license will cost at least $150,
said Ken Junkert, the state agriculture department's plant industries
manager. He said the total amount of the application fee won't be
known until next month.

Industrial hemp would be an alternative cash crop for North Dakota
farmers because it's used to make food, clothing, cosmetics, paper,
rope and other products, Johnson said. It's the only crop that would
have to be licensed in North Dakota, he and Junkert said.

Johnson and Junkert said several North Dakota farmers are interested
in getting a state license, despite the unknowns with DEA.

"I don't think there is going to be a stampede, but there are going
to be some farmers who will want to go through this process with the
intent of at least planting a small amount of industrial hemp this
spring," Johnson said.

It would be up to farmers to seek the final approval from federal
drug agents once the state license is approved, Johnson said.

"Only after they do that can they can humbly ask the DEA for its
stamp of approval," Johnson said.

Robertson said the DEA would review each application fairly under the law.

Johnson said farmers who want to grow hemp might go to court if the
state issues them a license but the DEA ignores or denies it.

"It's possible their (DEA's) response will be no response," Johnson
said. "The license holder then would probably be in a position to
take the matter to some sort of legal proceedings."