HEMP INITIATIVE OFFERS SOUTH DAKOTA A LEANING PROCESS

We all think we know what marijuana is, but how well do any of us know the
distinction between the weed that is smoked and the plant that has
industrial uses?

At the very least, South Dakota voters have the chance to expand their
knowledge on the subject in the coming months. Petitions bearing more than
13,000 signatures were filed last week to put an industrial hemp initiative
on the fall ballot. If the initiative passes, it would create legal
distinctions between industrial hemp and marijuana, and pave the way for
commercialized hemp development in the state.

It presents an opportunity to understand the important differences between
hemp and marijuana. The "weed" that is smoked to produce highs and the
plant used for industrial applications such as paper, clothing, fuels,
lotions, particle boards, foods, bird seed, detergents, paints and soaps
are two different things. By not fostering the hemp industry in this state,
South Dakota is rejecting a valuable revenue source. That's one reason why
the South Dakota Farmer Union supports the ballot measure, called the South
Dakota Industrial Hemp Act.

The greatest adversaries to the act are the various misconceptions about
hemp and its kinship to the more deleterious members in its family.

There are important differences between hemp and common marijuana.
According to the Hemp Industries Association, both hemp and marijuana come
from the same plant, known as Cannabis sativa L. The term "hemp" applies to
the stalk and seed, while cannabis refers to the flowers and leaves smoked
to produce a high. Also, the plants are cultivated in different ways and
harvested at different times. The key is the amount of TetraHydraCannibinol
(THC), the element which produces highs in the people who smoke pot. While
cannabis has THC levels of 5-10 percent, industrial hemp contains levels of
less than 1 percent. Since high levels of THC are needed to produce an
intoxicating "buzz," industrial hemp cannot achieve that effect -- unless
you wish to count a headache as a high.

Since the plant grows in temperate climates and needs no fertilizer or
pesticide to thrive, industrial hemp would seem like an ideal enterprise in
this region. Indeed, it was once grown by more than 400,000 farmers until
stiffened marijuana laws crippled the industry.

As for concerns that other, illegal forms of marijuana could be grown amid
the industrial plants, some industrial hemp experts state that most of the
"ditchweed" plants commonly found growing wild here are actually remnants
from the days when industrial hemp was more common. It has very little
psychoactive value; South Dakota marijuana isn't exactly in high demand by
pot consumers. Also, hemp also contains an element, CBD, that blocks the
production of a marijuana high. (This ultimately must produce questions of
some of the laws and efforts aimed at marijuana in this and many other states.)

But these are all facts South Dakotans should learn in the months ahead.
While it is important to make an informed decision on every measure, it is
worth the effort for voters to sort out the hemp facts from the marijuana
fiction. There are a lot of misconceptions standing in the way.