HEMP-GROWING RULES TAKE STEP FORWARD IN NORTH DAKOTA

BISMARCK, N.D. -- State rules for growing industrial hemp are close
to taking effect, although federal drug agents will have the final
say on whether farmers may cultivate it, Agriculture Commissioner
Roger Johnson said.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem issued a letter Wednesday saying the
proposed rules comply with state law. A legislative committee that
reviews North Dakota agency regulations still must go over them
before they take effect, Johnson said.

Industrial hemp is a relative of marijuana, but does not have the
hallucinogenic chemical that provides a "high" when the leaf is
smoked. It is used to produce an assortment of goods, including
paper, rope, clothing and cosmetics.

Industrial hemp cultivation is legal in Canada and other countries,
but it is banned in the United States, a situation that Johnson and
North Dakota lawmakers have been working to reverse. Johnson and
other state agriculture officials met with U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration officials last February in Washington, D.C., to
discuss the issue.

North Dakota farmers who want to grow industrial hemp must undergo a
criminal background check, provide their fingerprints, and let law
enforcement officials know the exact location of their fields, the
proposed Agriculture Department regulations say.

Farmers must document the amounts of harvested hemp they sell, and to
whom, and show that their hemp seeds have less than three-tenths of 1
percent of the hallucinogenic chemical THC.

Even if the state conditions are met, the Drug Enforcement
Administration must agree to allow hemp to be grown before any state
license is issued, Johnson said.

Hemp has a number of benefits for producers, Johnson said. It grows
rapidly, generates a great deal of usable fiber, and does not require
much, if any, pesticide, he said.

"I think from an agronomic standpoint, it will be very attractive ...
assuming that there's a decent market for it," Johnson said. "The
reason it will take a while to develop is because it's been illegal
in this country for a long time."