SOUTH DAKOTA VOTERS TO DECIDE ON INDUSTRIAL HEMP

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota -- South Dakota voters will be able to decide
whether to legalize hemp in November's election.

More than 13,000 signatures calling for the South Dakota Industrial Hemp
Act to go on the ballot were turned in to the Secretary of State's office,
state Election Supervisor Chris Nelson said Tuesday.

If passed, the proposal would draw a legal distinction between hemp and
marijuana, paving the way for the legal development of hemp in the state.
Under the proposal, hemp would be a legal crop if it contains no more than
1 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the substance in marijuana that makes
people high.

It will remove any South Dakota barrier from the production of industrial
hemp," said Bob Newland of the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Council, which
sponsored the proposal.

Industrial hemp is a form of the Cannabis sativa plant, which is also known
as marijuana. But unlike marijuana, hemp cannot be smoked to get high.
Instead, it can be used to make products such as rope, paper, cloth, soap
and animal feed.

Under current law, the federal government is able to unjustly tell states
what they can and cannot plant, Newland said.

Newland is also running for state attorney general as a member of the
Libertarian Party. He said his first act, if elected, would be to file suit
against the federal government on the issue, claiming state sovereignty.

Newland said that 85 percent of South Dakota voters support the
legalization of industrial hemp, according to a statewide poll commissioned
by the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Council.

"Could some voters could interpret the initiative as a vote to legalize
marijuana?"

"There's always the 15 percent ignorance factor," Newland answered.

The Industrial Hemp Act has also been endorsed by the South Dakota Farmers
Union.

Members of the Farmers Union see hemp as a useful alternative for farmers
who have suffering financially because of drought and low prices, said
Chuck Groth, communications director for the Farmers Union.

And support of the hemp act does not mean the Farmers Union supports the
legalization of marijuana, Groth said.

Anyone who would assume that our support means we're one step away from
(supporting marijuana legalization) would be badly mistaken," Groth said.

Farmers who would grow hemp would have no problem telling the authorities
and allowing them to inspect their crop, Groth said.