N.D. FARMERS SUE DEA TO GROW HEMP CROP

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Two farmers granted the first licenses in the
nation to grow industrial hemp filed a federal lawsuit Monday to get
final permission from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to recognize that hemp is allowed to
be grown in North Dakota, said the farmers' attorney, Tim Purdon.

Industrial hemp, a cousin of marijuana, is used to make everything
from paper to lotion. But without permission from the DEA, the farmers
could be arrested for growing the crop in the U.S.

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, a mind-altering chemical-not enough to produce a high.

"What they say is hemp, we say is marijuana," said Garrison Courtney,
a spokesman for the DEA in Washington. "As long as the active
ingredient is THC-that's what makes it illegal, and it's still
marijuana under the law."

Dave Monson, a state legislator who has pushed for years to grow hemp,
said it is grown legally in Canada, just 25 miles to the north of his
farm near Osnabrock.

"After 10 years, I've lost patience," Monson said. "I've come to the
conclusion that the only way to get any progress is to file this
lawsuit and get them off the dime."

The other plaintiff in the lawsuit is Wayne Hauge, who said he planned
to seed 100 acres of hemp on his farm. Hauge and Monson were granted
the state licenses to grow hemp in February.

State Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson hand-delivered the
farmers' applications to grow industrial hemp to the DEA, along with
their nonrefundable $2,293 annual federal registration fees. He asked
the DEA to give permission by April, in time for planting.

Courtney said the review of the farmers' applications was "still in
process" and he would not comment on the specifics of the lawsuit
filed against his agency.