GROUP SEEKS CROP STATUS FOR NONINTOXICATING HEMP

WASHINGTON -- A coalition of agricultural, commercial and environmental
groups is pushing the Clinton administration to overturn the prohibition on
cultivation of all cannabis strains so those that lack the intoxicating
properties of marijuana can again be grown.

Hemp has developed a reputation for being an earth-friendly crop with
extensive uses in fiber products that draws high praise from some
manufacturers.

But officials at the White House drug office quickly dismissed that notion,
branding it a subterfuge for legalization and noting that the idea of
allowing hemp farms had already been studied and rejected. "Many of the
people who are interested in hemp are interested solely as a means of
legitimizing the production of marijuana for use," said David Des Roches,
an official at the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Under the coalition's proposal, licensed farmers would be permitted to grow
the crop and would have to use seeds genetically selected and federally
certified not to produce significant amounts of the mind-altering compound
that turned the species from a commonplace cash crop years ago into a
banned one.

They said they would petition the Drug Enforcement Administration and the
Department of Agriculture on Monday to write new regulations recognizing
the difference between strains of the plant.

But federal officials said that was unlikely to happen unless Congress
first changed the drug laws.

The group is taking pains to distance themselves from those who would
legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use, saying their goal is to
revive industrial-grade hemp as a major domestic crop. To that end they
have chosen a carpet manufacturing official, a Republican legislator from
Hawaii, and a senior biologist from Indiana University to speak for their
cause. The coalition included representatives of the North American
Industrial Hemp Council, which represents potential producers and
consumers, and the Resource Conservation Alliance, an environmental group
that favors alternatives to forest products.

"The fiber is better than any other natural product for our commercial
markets, even to include wool," said Ray Berard, senior vice president of
technology at Interface Inc., a $1.2 billion carpet manufacturer. "I would
like to be able to buy the material here in this country."

The hemp advocates said the system they are proposing would accommodate
law-enforcement concerns while allowing farmers to grow a crop that is
harvested in dozens of countries, recently including Canada, Germany and
Britain. Although marijuana and hemp are synonyms for the same plant
species, the industrially useful strains have almost none of the
psychoactive ingredient THC, or delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol.

The hemp plant, once widely cultivated in the United States, can be used
for an array of commercial materials, like textiles, balms, paper, lumber,
paints and oils.

Typically grown without harmful chemicals, the plant is said to be
environmentally benign, and its products, like industrial carpeting, are
easily recycled and used in composts. Environmental advocates often see it
as an alternative to conventional materials like wood pulp or cotton, or
perhaps as a source of renewable energy.

In recent years, a lively market for products made from hemp has emerged,
from rough-hewn jeans and natural-tone knitwear to "Extra Strength Hemp Zap
Vegan Analgesic Balm."

But law-enforcement officials said that hemp's true cachet comes not from
its earth-friendly image but from the perception that hemp products are
hip, especially when they carry the readily recognized logo of the cannabis
leaf.