HAWAII EYES HEMP AS AN AGRICULTURAL RESOURCE

WAHIAWA, Hawaii - Surrounded by a 12-foot-high fence and infrared
surveillance, a university scientist scattered the first seeds in an
experiment that will test the viability of industrial hemp as an
agricultural resource for the state.

"Pineapple and sugar, the double roof of our economy for generations, have
now grown old," said House Speaker Calvin Say, D-Oahu, at Tuesday's planting
on a quarter-acre plot in Oahu.

"Perhaps in time, we can lead the way in industrial-hemp technology in the
same way our technological ability in sugar and pineapple were unsurpassed
anywhere on this Earth."

Because hemp belongs to the same family as marijuana, it has been illegal to
grow in the United States since World War II. While some states have moved
to allow the growing of hemp, Hawaii is among the first to begin a test
project.

Hemp-stalk fibers can be used to make clothing, shoes, building materials,
strong cords and ropes, a substitute for fiberglass, paper "and the list
goes on," said University of Hawaii plant geneticist David West.

Hemp-seed oil contains essential fatty acids, protein and other vital
elements, and serves as a base for skin and hair-care products, said West,
who will oversee the research.

Hemp production in the United States ended in 1958, and the National Seed
Storage Laboratory, charged with preserving important genetic resources,
allowed all the seeds to die, West said.

The research project - which received $200,000 from Alterna, a hair-care
company that uses hemp seeds in products - will attempt to develop the most
productive hemp plant for Hawaii's climate, West said.

The project also involves testing varieties of hemp for their levels of THC,
the hallucinogen found in marijuana.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the White House's Office of
National Drug Control Policy previously held that permitting hemp farming
would send the wrong signal to young people and would allow marijuana
farmers to hide their crops with industrial hemp plants.

The DEA, which outlined the security measures needed to plant what federal
and state law still defines as illegal marijuana, is no longer blocking the
project.