STATE MOVING TOWARD UNCERTAIN FUTURE OF HEMP

Minnesota is moving ahead with efforts to allow its farmers to grow
industrial hemp, a close cousin of marijuana that proponents say could
offer an alternative crop with high potential.

Gov. Jesse Ventura is expected to write to federal drug authorities today
outlining his plan for implementing pro-hemp state legislation enacted last
spring. His plan, however, calls for cooperation from the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA), which wields full authority over
controlled substances and has strongly opposed reviving the U.S. hemp
industry.

Meanwhile, fierce debate continues over whether hemp offers enough
commercial potential to justify the costly security controls likely to be
imposed on its cultivation.

Controls are in store because DEA officials and hemp enthusiasts agree on
one thing: Food-and fiber-producing hemp and smokable marijuana are nearly
indistinguishable varieties of the same Cannabis plant, differing only in
their content of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Ventura's letter is expected to propose that would-be hemp farmers apply
for permits through the state Board of Pharmacy and the DEA. And rules for
commercial hemp cultivation would be set by the DEA, which so far has had
one simple rule: Don't do it.

"The policy has not been changed," Tim McCormick, head of the DEA's
Minneapolis office, said Wednesday. "But we are seriously looking at it
right now. The decision will be coming out of Washington." The decision
could come in less than a year, he said.

The government's review has been accelerated by growing interest in hemp
production. Pro-hemp laws were enacted this year in Minnesota, Hawaii,
Nebraska and North Dakota. North Dakota, in fact, is farther along the hemp
trail than Minnesota, having reclassified hemp as an oilseed crop. It also
has enacted provisions for growing and processing hemp.

But even if the DEA allows hemp crops, it's unclear how profitable they may
be. Some raise specters of the Jerusalem artichoke scam that ravaged rural
Minnesota in the 1980s.

"There may well be zero market for this stuff," said Minnesota Public
Safety Commissioner Charlie Weaver, who has consulted with state trade and
agriculture officials to shape Ventura's hemp policy. "But we have an
obligation to be helpful to those folks who are interested."

Hemp seeds produce an oil that can be used to make tofu, butter, cheese,
salad oils and other foods. Hemp fiber can be used to make clothing, ropes,
paper, particle-board products and more.

But even "Hemp John" Birrenbach, of St. Paul, an avowed marijuana advocate,
said, "There are marketing and processing problems." In addition, mandatory
security measures probably would cut deeply into producers' profits.

McCormick said the DEA likely will require farmers to post bonds of up to
$1,000 an acre to pay for government seizure and burning of hemp that
crosses a THC threshold of about 0.3 percent. THC levels of .5 percent or
greater are considered potent, he said. Hemp farmers also probably would
have to pay license fees for criminal background checks and government
inspections, he added.