FARMERS, HEMP ADVOCATES NOT DISSUADED BY HOUSE VOTE

DUNBARTON, N.H. - Henry Burnham is an unlikely poster boy for
legalizing hemp.

A part-time farmer, he says he doesn't need the big profits
marijuana's controversial cousin could bring him. He doesn't own any
hemp clothing and, to the best of his knowledge, has never in his 74
years used hemp hand lotion.

But Burnham's farm has been in his family since 1779, and he figures
that if he's going to keep farming, he might as well make some money
at it.

"Agriculture is at a sort of standstill in this area. We raise a lot
of hay and that's about it," Burnham said. "We're trying to do
something more productive than just haying."

The Legislature couldn't decide this year whether hemp should be
treated as an illegal drug or farm product. The House voted in January
to let farmers apply for federal permits to grow it, but under
pressure from law enforcement, including Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and the
attorney general, it backed off this month. Instead, the Environment
and Agriculture Committee will study the idea.

People on both sides of the issue acknowledge the fight to grow hemp
isn't going away.

"I don't think it would be a cure-all, but it's another opportunity,"
said state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Taylor. "Nothing's going to
happen until the cops are happy about it. But it's going back to study.

"I'm amazed at how tenacious the sponsors have been. They have a
surprising amount of support."

Some farmers, like Mark Lathrop of Chesterfield, say hemp could be
just the crop they need to make a living. Others, even if they don't
really need the money, like the idea of clearing around $300 an acre.

Taylor says figures vary, but farmers can earn about $150 per acre on
hay. Burnham says he actually loses money growing hay, but he grows it
because he enjoys farming and wants to prevent brush from taking over
his fields.

But police worry about sending the wrong message. They don't want to
legalize anything in the cannabis sativa family, which includes hemp
and marijuana, because they say it would create a perception of
legalizing pot.

Hemp contains just a trace of marijuana's psychoactive chemical not
enough to get high, experts say. Its fibers are used in rope, building
materials, and as a liner for automobile clutches and brakes, among
other things. Its seeds are used in health foods and can be pressed
for their oil to make skin lotion.

It was grown in the United States until 1937, when the Marihuana Tax
Act cut into its profitability. Farmers had also found it to be less
profitable than tobacco and cotton.

During World War II, production jumped briefly because there was
little access to tropical fibers, but it was finally banned under the
Controlled Substances Act of the early 1970s.

Hemp is now legally grown in 32 other countries, including Canada,
which ships about 85 percent of its product to U.S.
manufacturers.

Nine states Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota,
Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and Virginia passed pro-hemp bills
last year that provide for research, study or potential production of
the crop, and test plots were planted in Hawaii in December.

But in New Hampshire, police opposition put a halt to the movement.
Assistant Safety Commissioner John Stephen said that in addition to
sending the wrong message, legalizing hemp would force the state to
buy a $55,000 machine that could tell the difference between hemp and
marijuana, and hire a technician to run it.

Officials would have a hard time telling whether a farmer was growing
hemp or marijuana, Stephen said, and legalizing hemp would make a lot
more work for them.

"Law enforcement is telling me, 'We can't tell the difference,"'
Stephen said.

Hemp supporters say no one would be interested in growing pot with
their hemp, because the two would cross-pollinate, weakening the
potency of the marijuana.

Stephen also points to studies that show hemp might not be as
profitable in the future as it is now.

A report by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture in November
estimated that farmers could earn a profit of $316 an acre on hemp.
But a federal study last month warned that all of the hemp fiber, yarn
and fabric imported into the country could be grown on 2,000 acres,
and overproduction would drive prices down a notion Taylor agrees with.

Hemp supporters like Rep. Amy Robb-Theroux, D-Claremont, counter that
demand is rising sharply. For example, the Body Shop, an international
chain of cosmetics stores, bought $108,500 worth of seed oil last
year, and expects to buy twice as much this year.

Company founder Anita Roddick promised to buy the state's entire crop
of seed if it were legalized.

In the meantime, hemp supporters say they want to avoid run-ins with
the law.

Jefferson resident Donald Noyes, a retired paper company worker who
has a farm, says he wants to learn more about hemp, which he believes
could be a financial boon. But, he says, "As far as getting into
conflict with the state police, I don't need that."