SCHWARZENEGGER AGAIN VETOES INDUSTRIAL HEMP BILL

Governor Cites Federal Ban in Rejecting Redrafted Legislation

On Thursday Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the Industrial Hemp
Farming act again, even though the bill's authors said they had
redrafted the legislation from last year's version to address the
governor's concerns.

The bill authorizes farmers in four counties to grow plots of
nonpsychoactive hemp as a pilot project, but has no effect on federal
legislation.

In a statement on his Web site, Schwarzenegger said, "I would like to
support the expansion of a new agricultural commodity in this State.

"Unfortunately, I am very concerned that this bill would give
legitimate growers a false sense of security and a belief that
production of 'industrial hemp' is somehow a legal activity under federal law."

The redrafted bill permits farmers only in King, Imperial, Yolo and
Mendocino counties to grow hemp in plots from 1 to 5 acres, using
seeds grown in California or lawfully imported.

In addition, laboratories registered with the Drug Enforcement
Administration must sample and test the crop to ensure the plants
contain less than 0.3 per cent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the
psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Authors of the bill, Assemblymen Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Chuck DeVore,

R-Orange County, argue California farmers could benefit by growing
the plant here instead of importing the raw materials from foreign countries.

"This bipartisan measure would have cut costs for business, opened up
new opportunities for farmers, reduced the use of agricultural
chemicals and cut carbon emissions," Leno said in a statement released Friday.

According to the Hemp Industries Association, U.S. retail sales of
hemp products have risen to nearly $300 million annually. California
companies earn more than three quarters of all U.S. retail sales of
hemp foods and body care products, according to a fact sheet prepared
by Leno's office.

What industry experts refer to as industrial hemp has less than 1
percent THC and can be processed into more than 25,000 different
products made from fiber or oil seed, whereas marijuana has from 3 to
25 percent THC content, the fact sheet stated.

While hemp and marijuana are biologically the same species, Cannabis
sativa L.,the plants have been bred for tens of thousands of years
for different qualities: Hemp for fiber content in the stalks and
marijuana for high drug content in the flowering tops, said
University of Minnesota professor George Weiblen, a botanist who
studies marijuana.

Opponents argue biological similarities make it difficult to
distinguish between the two varieties and can hinder law enforcement.
John Lovell, legislative council with the California Narcotics
Officers Association, was pleased with the governor's decision.

"When you talk to experienced narcotics officers, (they) can't tell
the difference" between industrial and drug cannabis plants.

"You've got to do something different, you have to actually test the
plants for THC content, and no one has any equipment to do those
tests in California," Lovell continued.

DeVore said in an interview Friday afternoon, "I understand it may
make things difficult for law enforcement, but so does the Fourth Amendment.

"The problem we face with this, is it takes some explaining to do as
to why our California farmers should be free to compete in growing a
nondrug, perfectly legal crop," DeVore continued. "If industrial hemp
was truly a problem, then you shouldn't be able to import it."

Leno also is frustrated by the decision.

"It is disappointing that Gov. Schwarzenegger chose to embrace an
irrational application of federal drug law that prevents California
farmers from producing a valuable raw material for our own U.S.
industries," he said in a statement Friday.

Hemp is grown in 30 countries worldwide. North Dakota is the only
state to legalize industrial hemp.