LOBBYISTS MAY PUSH FOR LIMITED LEGALIZATION OF HEMP

Original Source: The Free Press of Mankato Contact:
Editor@mankato-freepress.com Website: http://www.mankato-freepress.com/

ST. PAUL (AP) -- Rep. Bob Gunther, a fairly conservative grocer from
Fairmont, knows he will be joining an interesting group of lobbyists if he
goes ahead with plans to push for the limited legalization of hemp.

Gunther sees the fibrous plant as a new alternative crop for farmers in
southern Minnesota not to be used for smoking but for paper and fabric
production.

But in calling for legislation to allow a crop of hemp to be grown as a
demonstration project, Gunther will be joining a cause often associated
with hippies, head-shop owners and stoners.

" It makes you wonder if you really want to do it, " said Gunther, a
Republican whose district includes southwestern Blue Earth County. " But I
look at the greater concern, the pocketbooks of my constituents, and then
I' m not so reluctant."

Growing hemp is illegal in the United States, even the non-narcotic variety
Gunther proposes as an alternative cash crop to soybeans and corn. The hemp
he' s talking about contains virtually no tetrahydrocannabinol. Better
known as THC, that' s the stuff which makes marijuana a potent plant for
those who smoke its leaves and buds.

Gunther' s idea, however, is far from revolutionary. Canada already allows
farmers to grow it and Kentucky is allowing it to be raised in a
demonstration project.

" It proves to be more profitable in Kentucky, apparently, than corn and
soybeans, " Gunther said.

He also notes that hemp was grown in Blue Earth County and other parts of
Minnesota during both world wars to supply rope to Allied forces.

Still, law enforcement officials are resistant to seeing hemp legalized in
any form. They' re still trying to get rid of the plants growing wild since
World War II, so they' d rather not see any more planted.

" It would be a great concern, " said Le Sueur County Sheriff Dave
Gliszinski, who also heads the county Drug Task Force. " We have
eradication of wild hemp presently in summer and fall. It' s growing wild
all over."

The wild plants generally don' t pack much narcotic punch, but that doesn'
t stop it from being smoked and sold, Gliszinski said.

" We have young kids finding it also and trying to smoke it or sell it, "
he said.

The presence of wild hemp also makes it easier for people to hide their own
plantings of marijuana, Gliszinski said.

" They hide it in corn fields, they hide it in wooded areas, along marshes,
in county ditches where you have a good camouflage of other weeds, " he said.

In addition, those transplanted marijuana plants can cross-pollinate with
the wild hemp and increase its potency, Gliszinski said.

He hates to think how much illegal marijuana might be hidden in a field of
legal hemp, especially when a major crop of pot went unnoticed in a more
obvious place in the mid-1980s.

" We seized approximately 2, 000 pounds of high-grade marijuana growing in
a corn field in Le Sueur County, " he said, adding that it wasn' t
discovered until a drug ring was broken.

But Gunther said industrial hemp acts almost as a natural herbicide when it
comes in contact with other weeds, overgrowing and killing them, making it
impossible for marijuana plants to be mixed with hemp in a field.

Most importantly, according to Gunther, hemp might turn out to be a
valuable crop for farmers and for Minnesota' s paper industry.

" We' re doing too good a job of raising soybeans and corn and hogs, "
Gunther said, referring to low prices wrought by a glut in the market for
those commodities. " We need some alternative to that. They say this is one
alternative."

Any widespread impact would probably take time because farmers would need
to find the equipment necessary to grow and harvest the crop, and buyers
such as the Blandin and Boise-Cascade paper companies would need to be
developed, Gunther said. But a demonstration project and some accompanying
research funding might be the start of something positive for struggling
Minnesota farmers.

" A lot of research has to be done, and all I want to do is allow that
research, " Gunther said. " If it proves to be a viable alternative to
soybeans and corn, I think it could be very useful."