FARMERS TO SUE GOVERNMENT OVER HEMP PRODUCTION SOURCE

NEW YORK (AP) Saying it has none of the psychoactive properties of its
cousin marijuana, farmers and trade organizations want the federal
government to make hemp a lawful crop again, The New York Times reported today.

Hemp growing was made illegal 25 years ago under the Controlled Substances
Act of 1972.

The farmers and trade groups contend in a lawsuit against the federal
government that hemp's illegal status violates a 1937 determination by
Congress that the plant doesn't share marijuana's psychoactive effects, the
Times reported.

The lawsuit was expected to be filed today in U.S. District Court in
Lexington, Ky.

Plaintiffs claim the hemp prohibition by the Drug Enforcement Administration
violates the constitutional doctrine of separation of government powers, the
Times said.

Farmers have long complained that the government makes no distinction
between marijuana and hemp, which has industrial uses from rope to paper to
clothing.

Farmers in the South and Midwest view disease-resistant hemp as a rotation
crop among grains and vegetables, and in eastern Kentucky, provide a hedge
against tobacco's uncertain future.

Government officials fear that hemp farming would provide a camouflage for
growing marijuana.

Hemp and marijuana are both varieties of the cannabis sativa plant. But hemp
typically contains less than 1 percent of the active ingredient, THC, that
makes pot smokers high.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, the first of its kind, include The Kentucky Hemp
Growers Council, a group of 60 would-be hemp farmers.

Terry Parham, a spokesman for DEA, said the agency had not seen the lawsuit.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett