U.S. STANDS ALONE IN HEMP BAN

The United States is the only developed nation that fails to cultivate
industrial hemp as an economic crop, according to Congressional Resource
Service (CRS) report published last week. Hemp is a distinct variety of the
plant species cannabis sativa that contains only minute (less than 1%)
amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive ingredient
in marijuana. Farmers worldwide grow hemp commercially for fiber, seed,
and oil for use in a variety of industrial and consumer products, including
food.

"In all, more than 30 countries in Europe, Asia, and North America grow
hemp," the report states, adding that the European Union instituted a
subsidy program in the 1990s for hemp fiber production. "The United States
is the only developed nation in which industrial hemp is not an established
crop."

Federal law makes no distinctions between cannabis and industrial hemp, and
makes it illegal to grow hemp without a license from the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA). According to the CRS, "The DEA has been
unwilling to grant licenses for growing small plots of hemp for research
purposes," even when such research is authorized by state law, because the
agency believes that doing so would "send the wrong message to the American
public concerning the government's position on drugs." As an example, the
report notes that the DEA "has still not ruled on an application submitted
in 1999 by a North Dakota researcher" to grow a trial plot of hemp in
compliance with state law. More than a dozen states have enacted laws
authorizing the licensed cultivation of hemp for research purposes.

"The federal ban on hemp cultivation and production is a direct outgrowth
of the government's absurd war on cannabis," NORML Executive Director Allen
St. Pierre said. "This report should help to galvanize support among U.S.
farmers, industrialists, and environmentalists for the legalization and
regulation of hemp as an agricultural commodity."