INDUSTRIAL OPENING

Regarding your July 11 article "Hemp advocates pitch plant as farmers' gold"
Pivotal hemp facts: 1) Hemp, legal in 30 nations including Canada, is grown
with certified seed containing less than 0.3 percent THC, while marijuana
contains 10 to 25 percent THC. 2) The "pro-marijuana crowd" is absolutely
opposed to legalizing hemp, because cross-pollination would ruin any
marijuana crop within miles. 3) Hemp plastics and composites are
biodegradable or recyclable. 4) A substantial percentage of the German
Mercedes-Benz is made from hemp -- door panels, dashboards, headliners, and
carpets.

True, the N.C. Farm Bureau opposes hemp, but 24 state Farm Bureaus have
endorsed it. Hemp is legal is six states. Law enforcement has no problem
distinguishing between 12-foot-tall hemp stalks and low bushy marijuana.

North Carolina farmers need a low-labor, sustainable, non-polluting
industrial crop. Farmers should demand hemp be removed from Schedule 1
drugs. Arguments against hemp are irrational and illogical. Deliberate
ignorance is no excuse to keep our farmers and industries in a losing
position in the coming hemp initiative.

Gale Glenn

Vice-Chairman, North American Industrial Hemp Council

Durham