ND FARMERS LOSE APPEAL TO GROW HEMP

BISMARCK, N.D.--A federal appeals court on Tuesday affirmed a lower
court's decision to dismiss a lawsuit by two North Dakota farmers who
said they should be allowed to grow industrial hemp without fear of
federal criminal prosecution.

Wayne Hauge and David Monson received North Dakota's first state
licenses to grow industrial hemp nearly three years ago, but they've
never received approval from the Drug Enforcement Administration. The
farmers sued the DEA, and their case has been before the 8th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals for more than a year after U.S. District
Judge Daniel Hovland dismissed it.

Hemp, which is used to make paper, lotion and other products, is
related to the illegal drug marijuana. Under federal law, parts of an
industrial hemp plant are considered controlled substances.

Hovland told the farmers the best remedy might be to ask Congress to
change the law to explicitly distinguish hemp from marijuana.

"I guess the next step is we'll have to take it to Congress," said
Hauge, who grows garbanzo beans and other crops near the northwestern
North Dakota town of Ray. "The fastest and easiest way to handle this
would be for the president to order the Department of Justice to stand
down on all actions against industrial hemp."

Dawn Dearden, a DEA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said the agency
could not comment on the case.

The farmers' attorney, Tim Purdon of Bismarck, would not comment on
the appeals court decision.

David Monson, a Republican state legislator and farmer from Osnabrock
in northeastern North Dakota, said Congress likely has no time to deal
with the hemp issue.

"With all the other things, hemp is not high on their priority list,
and I can understand that," Monson said.

"Somehow, we need to get enough states involved so Congress can take
action on it," Monson said.

North Dakota officials issued Monson and Hauge the nation's first
licenses to grow industrial hemp in 2007. But without permission from
the DEA, the farmers could be arrested for growing the crop.

Hemp contains trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a banned
substance, and it falls under federal anti-drug rules, the DEA says.
Hemp proponents say it is safe because it contains only trace amounts
of THC, and not enough to produce a high.

Vote Hemp, the lobbying arm of the hemp industry, has helped fund the
farmers' legal battle. Spokesman Adam Eidinger said the group has
spent about $60,000 to date. He said he was disappointed with
Tuesday's ruling.

"The 8th Circuit is kind of conservative, so I can't say I'm totally
surprised," he said.

Eidinger said only a handful of states have passed pro-hemp farming
laws. He said North Dakota is the first state to craft rules to
license industrial hemp farmers.

Monson had planned to seed 10 acres of hemp on his farm the
northeastern part of the state. He said hemp is grown 25 miles north
of his farm in Canada, where production has been legal since 1998,
after 60 years of prohibition.

Hauge said he hopes someday to seed 100 acres of hemp on his
farm.

"My great-grand dad homesteaded here more than 100 years ago, with a
sod house on the wide-open prairie," Hauge said. "If he could do that,
I can stand a small amount of adversity to grow industrial hemp."

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On the Net:

Vote Hemp: http://www.votehemp.com

DEA: http://www.dea.gov